Wooden BX23 Grapple

[ametcalf]

My wife said with a thread title like that everyone will think I am crazy. Let me explain my reasoning. While I own a welder, I am not a welder. I want to build a grapple for my BX23 but I wasn't sure of the dimensions, especially the placement of the ears to hold the tines and the hydraulics. After searching TBN it looked to me like a cylinder with an eight inch stroke would be a good size but I wasn't sure how that would all play out in actual use. I am going to have a shop that I really like build it for me and because I don't know what I am doing, I engineer as I go. That could get expensive doing and redoing things trying to figure out what I want. So my thought process is, "I will build it out of scrap wood and have the shop translate it into steel." The first part that I built was my wooden hydraulic cylinder. (It may be the first one you have ever seen.) I wanted something that would emulate Surplus Center's Item# 9-7257-6. I wanted the closed position to be 14 inches long and the extended position to be 22 inches long. I then built the frame that will bolt to the loader bucket. I plan to build it out of 1/4 inch by 3 inch angle iron. Last I built the grapple itself. I should have taken some pictures of the original setup where the 2 ends of the cylinder attach. The end on the loader was a lot taller so I could move the cylinder up and down and the end on the grapple was two 1 X 2s with a series of holes in them so that I could play around with the positioning of the cylinder so I could get it where I wanted it. Then I cut off the 1X2s and just left the ears and cut off the upright pieces to a more reasonable length. The reason the two top pieces on the tines are so long is that I want to be able to bolt on a couple of more down pieces to better utilize the brush forks. I also want to be able to grasp things into the bucket when the brush forks are not mounted. The final product will have a plate to protect the cylinder and more bracing on the tines. I am going to post my plan for the hydraulics on the hydraulic website. I would appreciate any suggestions.

 

[J_J]

I sometimes use wood or PVC pipe to check for fit also. Best to get a working model before the final version.

 

[ametcalf]

J_J,
I consider you a genius when it comes to hydraulics. Is that the first wooden cylinder you have seen? The 0 psi limitation is somewhat of a hurdle.
I have a hydraulic sketch that I plan to be able to post in the next few days. I hope that you will have time to look it over at your convenience.
A.Metcalf

 

[teg]

I like the plan and it's simple enough that you should weld it yourself!!! What are you mainly going to be moving this this? If it's light stuff (no logs) and you only want to hold it in place, should be a good design.