Grapple Say Hello To My Little (grapple) Friend

[Bud Soda]

That is one bad mofo

 

[handirifle]

I gotta say, there are surely easier ways to move cars around....

Seriously, that thing looks like it would have been perfect in one of the old Japanese movies,

John Deere vs Godzilla

 

[Piston]

That is one heck of a nice package right there!

It's no secret that I'm an advocate of grapples, and that right there may convince me to go out and take on some serious debt! :thumbsup:

I expect to see a few grappling photos that dwarf the rest of our tractors over in this thread:
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/211635-grappling-fun-picture-thread-4.html

I'm seriously jealous of that grapple and FEL lift capacity. I can't wait to see some more pics of it in action :thumbsup:

 

[pclausen]

Who am I, but carry yours loads low my friend...

Looks like she's ready to tip w/ the car on it.

Be carefull...

I hear you!

I did not actually drive around with the Saab. Just testing the loader capabilities.

What is the max allowed weight for that particlar tractor w/ a OE bucket, less any rear 3pt implements?

Max weight allowed for tractor is 10,980 lbs (with ballast). Presumably this figure excludes loader or 3pt implements. The tractor by itself weigh 8000 lbs.

Are the tires filled w/ anything?

No. I got radial tires and prefer the ride without any liquid. I do have a pair of 95 lb iron weights on each rear wheel.

 

[jmc]

Here's another angle:

What is keeping the Saab balanced on the fork tips?

 

[pclausen]

What is keeping the Saab balanced on the fork tips?

My "feel" on the joystick control.

Seriously, I could have tilted it down more for levelness, but it didn't slide when I raised it. I wanted to avoid getting in to close to mess up the door skins, so I started lifting while I still had like 6" or so of clearance before hitting the pallet "wall".

 

[Rockgod]

Here's another angle:

The car looks tiny next to that beast! :laughing:

 

[J_J]

The Skidsteer solutions one weighs 300 lbs. more than the capacity of the B20 loader. the ripper shank one would could likely lift about the same amount of brush a person could drag across the a yard.

What would you say is the load rating for the B20 loader at the pivot points? Tractor weighs about 1962 lbs

And how much weight did you say you can drag across the yard?

I can lift about 1000 lbs on my PT-1445, with that grapple.

 

[yoann]

Very nice, so do you have any pictures of this graple all aroud? to see all detail about parts. Maybe It could be a good DIY project.. Thanks

 

[hydroholic]

I look forward to seeing those two in action. Very, very nice!

OK, gotta jump into the frey (well sunshine part anyway). I was going to wait until next Tuesday but I'll take a go at it just so the 'procrastinators' won't have any excuses this weekend for 'getting it done'.

(BTW: this is part of my follow-up on valve types, i.e. closed center, open center etc..) Yesterday, (Friday) I installed my new valve, a Prince MB series single spool, I got NEW off ebayism for $94.00 shipped)

Pictures next week of the whole setup. I have to first thank J_J and all those who jumped in and fed me enough information to finally get it all put into working order. Without going into all the, "maw I did it wrong again" detail it's safe to say "IT WORKS".

A little background is necessary: I have a JD401-C CAT 2, 3 point diesel system 62hp. Whew! I am a REAL novice when it comes to hydraulics hence, all the questions I had to previously ask. So, taking the Prince 4W3P (single spool, tandem) valve and inserting the included plug (separate bag) into the 'C' port, I made it into a "closed center" valve. I then installed it into my existing CLOSED CENTER system in PARALLEL, which means, I had to break into the ldr/bukt valve feed and return lines and install 'T's' (that's tees' for those from rio-linda) and connect that to my new valve. Fired up the tractor (no leaks) and wallah, the my "midnight lash-up rig" worked. I do have to extend one of the hoses from the valve to the rig as I was a tad short. There's a lot more detail to all of this but I'll leave that for later.

I will include pictures next week when I install the short length of hose I need and maybe throw a little paint on the rig to show the detail. Keep in mind this was all a "build it as you go idea" from parts I had laying around. And the total weight of the bucket mounted rig is about 275 lbs. The short stroke cylinder came from the junk yard but I had the mounts welded up at a shop close by. (total cost for rig parts and material, not counting valve, was $375.00USD)

That valve is rated at 8gpm and 3500psi. With my tractor it opens in less than a second, so it falls well within my expectations. I'm not sure if there is any interest in building something along these lines but ALL grapple rigs are the same when it comes to the cylinder and fork arrangement operation. I did a lot of math on mine only to realize that it operates just like a storm door closer or hatch back piston. All that for another day. Yeah, love that BIG green job at the top of this thread.

hydroholic here