What is AR 400 Steel?

[Egon]

Mild steel could also be surface coated with hard rod in the abrasive areas.

 

[EddieWalker]

Egon,

Good point. I don't see any advantage to the AR400 steel for what I'm doing. I don't have rocks, I don't have anything that is abrasive and I can't imagine how mild steel will wear out grabbing and holding load after load of small trees.

For the money, a difference of $2,000, I think buying two small grapples of mild steel that are well build and have a proven design makes allot more sense then one big one built of heavy duty steel.

There is an auction on Saturday that I'm going to. If I don't see anything there that will do what I'm looking for, I'll order the Tatro grapples next week and start a new thread on it.

Thank you,
Eddie

 

[3RRL]

Thanks. I'm also looking at the same ones that Rob has on his Kama. http://www.tatrosite.com/GRAPPLE_INFO.html

There's a pretty big difference in price too. These are $400 each, plus shipping, hoses and valves.

Thank you,
Eddie

Eddie,
Andy Tatro's grapples do NOT come with valves or hoses. They DO come with the hydraulic cylinder and all the pins and bucket mount, which you can weld or bolt to your bucket top lip. Be sure to give him the right dimensions of your bucket so he makes them large enough. If you have a tooth bar, you might consider using that as the lip measurement so the tips of the grapple jaws extend at least to the tips of your teeth on the bucket. I find that very handy instead of having the tooth bar bump into something and the grapple jaws not getting out there to grab it.

Anyway, If I have mislead you, I apologize, but I don't think I ever mentioned his coming as a complete kit with valve and hoses like some of the others do. If your TLB does not have front hydraulics on it, plan on spending another (approx) $400 o $500 bucks for hoses, QD's and the electric solenoid valve, maybe some brackets and a joystick with electric switch. You can reference to Loretta's grapple build to see the cost for her components. Not the grapple (it was home built), but the valve accessories for the plumbing. Hers was for a true third function electric over hydraulic solenoid valve. It included the joystick with switch built in, the solenoid valve and sub-plate, the electrical connectors starting on post #24 and after that.
My Very Own Grapples

You commented in that thread. Remember, the components and cost to get hydraulics to the front were based on her tractor's hydraulic flow. To give you an idea, those components alone were about $270 bucks + shipping, but that included a $112 joystick and switch too. Also in her case, the hoses and QD's etc for plumbing was another $300. I don't know much about your TLB but I'm sure the hydraulic flow is greater. Maybe longer hoses and larger QD's, that's why I said four to five hundred for yours. Consequently, you would need to get a valve to handle it. At this point I'm hoping your TLB is equipped with a valve and hoses to the front? If it is not, I will certainly help you get the right components if you can tell me more about your TLB. After that, maybe I could come to visit you for a week to help you install it and put all the components together? Do you have local steel yard, hydraulics place and a welder at your place? We would need them nearby to plumb it with correct hose length and make brackets etc., after the grapples are mounted.

Another thread is where I mounted the Tatro grapples on my Kama, but I don't think I did as good a job of explaining the components. The late great Madreferee helped me a lot back then when I didn't know anything about doing it. It does, however show the dual bucket grapples and how they work. It also shows the relative size of Tatro's grapples to give you an idea of how wide and how long you will want your grapples to be on your larger bucket.
Tatro Grapples with WR Long Valve

 

[EddieWalker]

Hi Rob,

Sorry, but I think I was the one who wasn't very clear in my pricing. The $400 number was in refrence to just the listed price for the grapple. Then I ment to say that the hoses and valves would be on top of that $400 number for each grapple, with a total of $800 for the grapples, plus shippping, plus hoses and valves. My thought was $200 for shipping and $500 for hoses and valves for a grand expected total of $1,500 or half of what the toal kit would cost for the grapple made from AR400 steel.

I don't have a tooth bar and I'm still unsure if it's something that I want or not. The distance from the top edge of the bucket to the bottom lip of the bucket is 36inches. I'll ask when I order them, but I was thinking that it should be that long or a bit longer for the very reason that you said. So that I can get everyhing possible when closing the grapple!!!

I'm planning to visit my friends at the parts department over at New Holland to find out about the hydraul lines and where a good place to tap into them will be. With the backhoe not being used while the front loader is in use, I think that would be the place to add a few T's to the lines. I also need to find out how much hydraulic preasure that I have. Too much and I'll have to reduce it for this to work.

I don't know how long it will take to get the grapples here if/when I order them, but right after I do that, I'm going to start odering everything else that I think that I will need to do this. I have a very good hose shop and an even better hydraulic repair shop in town that I can go to for everything that I will need. I figured that I would just remove a hose and take it down to the hose shop to get ther right fittings. Then I would go to the hydrualic repair shop and have him order the parts that I need. He's very good on his prices and has saved me thousands on both parts and work when it's too far gone for me to do a simple rebuild.

I hadn't thought about brackets, but can see where that will come up when I start routing hoses and mouting the valves and possibly preasure reducer. I have a small amount of steel on hand, but Tyler Steel has a very good selection in town.

I sure do appreciate the offer of you coming out here to help with this!!!! We don't have any place to put you up, but there is a hotel less then a mile away from here. It's nothing fancy or even what most would call nice, but I stayed there when I was looking for land and living in California, and thought it was ok. I'm booked up with work until the end of November right now, so I don't think I can take off more then a day or two. People have been waiting three to four months for me to get to them and I hate taking time off once I start a project for a client. I'd sure appreciate your help, so if your good with hanging out or out exploring the area, we'd love to have you out here. Of course, we hope Loretta would be with you too!!!!!!!!!!! Might even be able to find a hog or two. LOL

Eddie

 

[3RRL]

Eddie,
The hotel would be just fine.
If you get all that stuff ordered and still need my help to put it together, I will gladly come out. We have Loretta's sister coming from New York some time in November, so after that would work for us too. I already told Loretta about the offer I made so she would come too.
A hog hunt on your place would be icing on the cake.
Just let me know when it gets closer to your free schedule. Also if you want me to bring anything special from California that you miss, like about 10 pounds of fatty chicharonas they make in Woodlake.

 

[Charlesaf3]

Eddie, for what its worth I've got around 4k lift (pin) on the m59, and I've only tweaked my millonzi 48, which is clearly undersized (while moving big boulders) I wouldn't worry too much unless you are using the grapple heavily daily.

 

[wkpoor]

BoDozer grapple from Borgford Mfg. Probably the heavy dutiest on the market.

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