Not another grapple thread!?!?

[Raincoast]

Thanks guys. Just in for lunch, after giving the grapple a good workout. My aging and abused back is very thankful. The heaviest thing I lifted by hand was a ten ft. cedar bough that fell out on the way to the fire pile.
Ripping a couple of old stumps out of the dirt was a serious challenge for the tractor, but we got 'er done. Probably should have used the hoe first, to loosen things up a bit.
Time to go set the fire alight now.
I am definitely planning to extend the valve control arm. It'd be a lot easier to find with my hand, if it was closer to the FEL controls.
I did take some pics, but be patient with this old fart, OK? I don't get any joy outa fiddling with computers and avoid it whenever possible.
Cheers all.

 

[txdon]

I did take some pics, but be patient with this old fart, OK? I don't get any joy outa fiddling with computers and avoid it whenever possible.
Cheers all.

Yea!!!!:cool2::drink::confused3:

 

[TomSeller]

Thanks guys. Just in for lunch, after giving the grapple a good workout. My aging and abused back is very thankful. The heaviest thing I lifted by hand was a ten ft. cedar bough that fell out on the way to the fire pile.
.

Right. Burning a pile of slash is so much easier with a grapple.

 

[Raincoast]

I promised some pics & think I finally figured it out. I'm just learning how to use my iMac... Way different than the old PC.

I didn't get a good close shot of the whole grapple, but here's my new favourite Safety Sticker. Kinda says it all, doesn't it?



A chunk of cedar stump that was buried under a ton of dirt



A big mouthful of limbs.



More to come...

 

[TomSeller]

Looks very nice. More pictures please.

 

[Raincoast]

More...

Shiny new remotes.



Hoses clamped to loader arms. I still need to do some work on the hyd hoses forward of the loader arm. There is a lot of hose needed & it catches on pins etc while curling & uncurling. I think I need to find one of those spring stanchion things I've seen on other attachments.



This pic doesn't really fit here, but since I was on a roll...
This is my hoe bucket. The tractor came with an 18" bucket, which I found pretty much useless. Too wide for trenching & digging stumps & too narrow for ditch cleanup. Kioti doesn't make a narrow bucket for this BH. So, I cut out a section on each side & had a local guy weld it back together for me. (I coulda bought a decent used stick welder for what he charged, but it was WAY cheaper than buying a new bucket.) I'll re-paint it when I take the hoe off, next month.



Cheers All. Dan

 

[txdon]

Where's the grapple? All I see is brush at the end of loader arms? Do you have any pictures of the just the grapple front and side view?

 

[k0ua]

Good job Dan. I am using a rubber bungee to keep the grapple hoses up. It stays with the grapple hoses on one end, using tyewraps to fasten it mid hose, then the hook end of the bungee goes up to a fitting on the loader up high. It holds it up but allows it to extend fully. The bungee is one of the fabric covered ones so it is not to stiff.

 

[Raincoast]

I knew someone would complain about the pics... ;-). The full Monty pics of the grapple were really blurry, so I didn't post them. I'll take some more today.

 

[Raincoast]

More pics...
Its a pretty tough unit. Don't think I'm gonna wreck it. So far, very pleased with my choice.







Sorry about the blurry pics. Usually the old iPhone does a better job, but you get the idea.

 

[txdon]

Thanks for the extra pics!!
Now I see the grapple. I like the way it opens really wide.
Do you find the cross bar connecting the bottom teeth prevent you from digging as deep as you want?

 

[TomSeller]

More pics...
Its a pretty tough unit. Don't think I'm gonna wreck it. So far, very pleased with my choice.

Sorry about the blurry pics. Usually the old iPhone does a better job, but you get the idea.

Yes, nice lower tines for a rake. Good for all around use.

 

[IslandTractor]

I'm a fan of light duty 48" open bottom style with curved bottom tines. Never had an issue loading or unloading mine.

Question: what are you guys greasing on your grapples??? Mine has never seen a drop of grease in eight years and is fine. The manufacturer did not put zerks on any pins. The main pins are actually 1" bolts which would be trivial to replace but have no evidence of wear. The top jaw just opens and closes and has very little friction.

 

[txdon]

Question: what are you guys greasing on your grapples??? Mine has never seen a drop of grease in eight years and is fine. The manufacturer did not put zerks on any pins. The main pins are actually 1" bolts which would be trivial to replace but have no evidence of wear. The top jaw just opens and closes and has very little friction.

Mine has 8 grease zerks - four on each lid assembly.

 

[Raincoast]

Island Tractor... I agree the grapple lid is not a piece of precision equipment & moves neither far or fast enough to really NEED regular greasing. But, with 4 close tolerance pin & bushing connections, I'm happy the zerks are there. Never been one to worry about a bit of overkill.

txdon... I don't think that will be an issue. Most everything that grows around here has a very shallow root system. I think I will actually find the bar useful for limiting depth of penetration. Time & a bit more experience will tell.

Thanks Tom... I think this is a good compromise for the work I need to do.

Thanks for looking in. Dan

 

[IslandTractor]

Island Tractor... I agree the grapple lid is not a piece of precision equipment & moves neither far or fast enough to really NEED regular greasing. But, with 4 close tolerance pin & bushing connections, I'm happy the zerks are there. Never been one to worry about a bit of overkill.

txdon... I don't think that will be an issue. Most everything that grows around here has a very shallow root system. I think I will actually find the bar useful for limiting depth of penetration. Time & a bit more experience will tell.

Thanks Tom... I think this is a good compromise for the work I need to do.

Thanks for looking in. Dan

I guess I wonder why some manufacturers are bothering to use close tolerance pins on grapple lids. Not exactly precision equipment nor bearing great loads. Probably increases cost too. My dirt cheap ($500) Millonzi 48 is still going strong after 8 pretty hard seasons and while I've bent a few things, one thing I have not touched are the pivots for the upper jaw. I did inspect them incidentally a year or two ago when I removed the upper jaw to straighten the teeth after lifting a big boulder. At that time the pins/bolts looked like they had another 25 years of service in them.

 

[arlen4720]

I do like a rake grapple, but ideally, I need a manure grapple and a flat bottom one too!
Here is my BoDozer...it's everything but cheap.:laughing:

 

[TomSeller]

I guess I wonder why some manufacturers are bothering to use close tolerance pins on grapple lids. Not exactly precision equipment nor bearing great loads. Probably increases cost too. My dirt cheap ($500) Millonzi 48 is still going strong after 8 pretty hard seasons and while I've bent a few things, one thing I have not touched are the pivots for the upper jaw. I did inspect them incidentally a year or two ago when I removed the upper jaw to straighten the teeth after lifting a big boulder. At that time the pins/bolts looked like they had another 25 years of service in them.

I would agree that grapple hinges are low cycle, low speed and don't really need grease. But if the grapple has zirks, what is a little grease amongst your maintenance routine? A couple of pumps here and there should not hurt.

 

[UTCenturion]

i have had a grapple about a year, here are my observations.

I have the open bottom, Blue diamond with an L shaped. I think mine is a 60" which is smaller than my bucket on the 55 hp tractor. Mine does not have a completely flat bottom, but you can get under logs. I like that it is rounded inside because it rolls up brush and you seem to be able bale it up and pack more in there before driving it somewhere. I love my grapple for hauling already rooted material or brush. But in my experience the non-rake "L shaped" grapples are deceptively bad at rooting. In retrospect I think the "rake type" give you a lot more leverage for pulling roots of small trees because its on the strong part of the stroke of your bucket rams. What I do now is I use my standard tractor bucket to push the top of the tree over slightly. This pops up one side of the root ball, which I then push the exposed root with the blade. After I have a big pile of rooted trees/ bushes etc I swap to the grapple and haul a bunch to the pile. I use the grapple most commonly rotated further down than you would with a standard bucket. Kind of like a clamshell but not that extreme until it gets dumped somewhere. In my experience you could operate it like a clamshell and you really wouldn't lose anything. It all stays put really well. Sometimes too well. Mine has serated teeth on the tips for derooting and it catches lots of brush as I'm dumping it on a fire, which can make some tense moments. I would prefer to not have the serates.

All in all it does a wonderful job and I love it. I would swap for a root rake grapple if I could get an even trade, but I think the difference is not a big enough deal for me to spend any money to change.

OH afterthought, mine was designed for a skidsteer and when I first got it, it wanted to crunch my loader zerks until I cut a little groove for them.

 

[IslandTractor]

I would agree that grapple hinges are low cycle, low speed and don't really need grease. But if the grapple has zirks, what is a little grease amongst your maintenance routine? A couple of pumps here and there should not hurt.

I agree. Just not sure why manufacturers include them.