Grapple Millonzi Grapple Hose Hookups

[kiyiya]

My Millonzi LD48 has shipped and will be here Thursday. I have a NH TC40A and I plan to hook up using my rear remotes. I know the length of hose for the hookup is 18' 9" after doing some research on here but I am wondering what size of hose to use.

If anyone is using the Millonzi please let me know if you are using 1/4", 3/8" or 1/2" hose to feed it. The NH third function hose kit is 1/2" but the hoses on the Millonzi are 1/4".

Advice please.

 

[kennyd]

1/4" is what you want for the grapple. Sometime with the larger hoses the grapple moves to fast.

 

[kiyiya]

Thanks Kenny. I wanted to make sure before I picked up my hoses.

 

[jinman]

Thanks Kenny. I wanted to make sure before I picked up my hoses.

Kennyd is right. 1/4" hoses and a .030" orifice will make that grapple have lots of control. I have the orifice on my grapple and it moves very fast when needed or slow when I just feather the remote lever. Your NH dealer should have orifices, or you may be able to get them at a hydraulics shop. Mine were $4.95 each, so they are not expensive. You can try the grapple without them and see what you think, but if you want more fine control, the orifice will help. You only need one orifice. You could also put an inline metering valve instead of the orifice, but that is more expensive.

 

[kiyiya]

I guess I am a little confused about the orifices. You said I only need one but there are two hoses going to the grapple. Where does the orifice hook in?

Sorry, pretty new to hydraulics.

 

[kennyd]

The orifice, better called a restrictor, is just a washer with a very small hole in it-like .030" that Jinman mentioned. It just goes in between two fittings, like where the hose connects to the cylinder. You only need one because the hydraulic fluid still has to move through both hoses no matter which way the cylinder is moving. But you may find that you do not need it all...

 

[flINTLOCK]

Always had preference for tight orifices, hydraulic or otherwise. Seriously though, the smaller orifice I got at local hydraulic place always seemed to be coming loose. Maybe I didn't get the right one?

 

[IslandTractor]

I had 1/2 inch hoses and fittings on my LD48 with my CK20 but the final hydraulic cylinder fitting was a #4 JIC I believe which is basically a 1/4 inch size if I am remembering correctly. Worked fine and I had no trouble controlling the grapple with the rear remote. I had good enough control that I once thought it would be a good idea to have the grapple turn off the video camera I was using to film the tractor coming towards it (I had second thoughts and did not do it but you get the idea...I could put the grapple tines pretty much exactly where I wanted.

On my new tractor I used some of the same 1/2 hose and fittings I already had but added a couple of 1/4 inch extensions. Bottom line is that it is still functionally a 1/4 inch restricted flow system.

You can use adapters to get from 1/4 inch hose to 1/2 inch QC adapters needed to hook into the rear remotes. 1/2 inch hose is more expensive as are the QC fittings. As others have pointed out there is no real advantage for hydraulic performance with something like a Millonzi grapple as the terminal fitting is 1/4 inch anyway. The one area where the larger hose has arguably an advantage is that it is less likely to be damaged as it has a thicker wall and metal jacket. Nevertheless, if I were to do it over I'd use the smaller diameter hose throughout the system.

 

[kiyiya]

Jim at Millonzi told me that the hoses are 1/4" with a fitting on the end that will accept standard 1/2" hydraulic fittings. As long as the grapple is not "too" slow or "too" fast I will be very happy with it and it sounds like the 1/4" hose will work fine.

I will probably pick up some hose protectors and mount a QD on the front to make switching between the grapple and the bucket easier unless the grapple will load manure easily .