Swivels

[ericm979]

My grapple came with what's supposed to be hydraulic swivels on the hoses where they attach to the grapple. They don't look like what I have used elsewhere as live swivels:

They're NPT male non-live (dead?) male swivels into female tees. The kind of swivels that are used to keep from twisting up the hose when it's being installed. One of them has failed and is leaking. I'm going to get a new hose made so I can get back to using the grapple, but am I just wasting time because the others will fail soon too as this is not what they are designed for? Are they different from other dead swivels? They move easily which is not always what other regular dead swivels do. Equipping it with real live swivels will cost about $200 for the swivels and $100 for new shorter hoses.

 

[Aquamoose]

It looks like they all have swivels. Not sure what I’m missing here.

 

[ericm979]

Yep all four hoses have them. But they don't look like live swivels (below).

 

[Aquamoose]

You want the hose to freely twist along the axis while in operation? If so, why?

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

You want the hose to freely twist along the axis while in operation? If so, why?

That's what I'm wondering. We log and have a tractor grapple. Get a winch, way more useful. We got a used Forney, grapple is obsolete now.

 

[zzvyb6]

These 'swivels' allow you to install the hose. Otherwise, you would have to wind up the hose in quite a few turns in order to tighten it. Other end is fixed, last connection has a flare fitting to let you tighten it. Once tightened, it's a no swivel joint. Hoses can take 90 degrees of twist, not 10 turns to install them.

 

[ericm979]

You want the hose to freely twist along the axis while in operation? If so, why?

The cylinders that operate the lids are on the other ends of the hoses, and they pivot open and closed which would twist the hoses. And the hoses from the tractor into the tees also pivots the tees as you dump and curl the grapple. The tees fit into brackets on the grapple that let them pivot. Without that the hoses would have to bend more although since the hoses to the tractor are 4' long that's less of a concern than the short hoses to the lid cylinders. Other than the swivel failing, it's a good solution.

I've been assuming that since hydraulic parts companies make live swivels for situations where the hoses have to swivel or twist, that these swivels are not sufficient. It may be that their seals being small just wear out faster. Or maybe the way I ran the hoses make them swivel more than expected. If you look at my pic the swivel on the upper right is the one that failed, and you can see that there is more of the internal pipe part visible than with the others. Maybe that's because the seals are worn?

Anyhow, I got a new one made today and I will try it out after the sealant cures. If another one goes I'll bite the bullet and get live swivels. The grapple's just too useful a tool.

 

[Seven Gables]

Do your lid cylinders pivot a big distance? It be nice if you could post a bigger picture of the whole set up including the lid cylinders

 

[ericm979]

The lids have about 80-90 degrees of rotation. It's a 60" EA Wicked dual lid. Here's their page: https://www.(Temporarily blocked du...e-by-Everything-Attachments-p/eta-wrg-cmp.htm

If that's not useful I can post a video.

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

We take five grapples when we go clean up after a hurricane. That's extras, each machine has one on it already.