FEL Grapple from scratch

[GuglioLS]

I really wanted to test out those grease fittings I machined into the pins for the hydraulic cylinder clevis & the jaw pivots, so I did.

This is the Zerk on the jaw pivot.



This is the one I really wanted to test -





Larry

[GuglioLS]

After greasing all the fittings and seeing it completely surrounding the pins & clevis, I was satisfied the machining in the pins was going to work as planned.
So then it was on to hydraulic hose and fitting installation. I made up a couple brackets to mount the hose and fittings, one welded to the bucket the other to the FEL lift arm.




There are a couple of Live swivels in there to reduce hose flex & wear.



Well it's pretty much done - I tested it out and it works GREAT ! ;D I'll get some video posted of it in action soon - as soon as I can round up a camera man! Esther is in Santa Fe for 12 days house sitting & Katie is at work. I am "Home Alone" I have to do all the cooking, cleaning & grapple making all by myself.

Larry

[GuglioLS]

After purging out all the air from the lines & cylinder I got to exercise the jaws, checking out the range of motion from closed to full open, It moves smooth. Between my hand sketched bucket dimensions, Rob's CAD drawing, the plasma cutting, then putting it all together it fit's like a glove so I am super pleased it all came together like it did.

here are a couple of photos in various positions:



















My Dad just came over to the house to check it out and take some videos of it in action.


Larry

[GuglioLS]

One thing I would do and can still add - a small protective shield / brace under the extended part of the cylinder rod, placed between the two 2" square tubes, shaped like this -



Rob drew that bracket up in his CAD program and e-mailed it to me. ;D



OK some video:



Here I am able to move the bucket and jaws simultaneously. I am learning to coordinate the new grapple solenoid buttons on the joystick. I need to change the length & angle of the joystick for better control.




Larry

[GuglioLS]

Finally, here are some action shots of the grapple in use.

Grabbing some brush, relocated it for chipping with the genuine Jinma 6" chipper (I just love that chipper)






It works good to relocate rocks:



It even picks up stumps:



This last one is of a tree Rob pushed over with my Dozer. He got carried away and pushed it deep into the woods , he just kept going & going . So I retrieved it to be cut up for firewood.



Larry

[GuglioLS]

I got the Cylinder protector plates Rob designed for me plasma cut. Have not installed them yet, been busy cutting firewood. Maybe this weekend before I go up the new road to collect all the stumps with the grapple.



Rob,

They came out great (as usual) thanks for drawing them up, no surprise it fits perfect.

Thanks again,


Larry

[GuglioLS]

Well, it didn't rain, so I got firewood AND installed the grapple cylinder protector plate AND primed / painted it.



Not only will this protect the cylinder rod from odd shaped rocks protruding through, (which has already happened), it stiffens up the jaw assembly to protect against bending.

Larry

[GuglioLS]

I never did find the perfect match gold metal flake paint. However I did find some gold metallic spray paint at home depot. I figured as long as the welding burned the original paint job, I would paint it gold just to see what it looked like -



I know this was a very long thread, my hope is that you enjoyed this joint grapple project that Rob and I worked together on through e-mail and a few phone calls. Maybe it will inspire you to build your own grapple? They do come in handy and I would encourage you to think about adding one to the bucket of your FEL. Special thanks to Rob for all his engineering work on this project, without his help this would not have been possible - thanks Man!

Larry

[3RRL]

Well, I was going to add something to your thread but I see you covered it all. ;D
Super nice job Larry!

[3RRL]

Ok, I will add something.
I gotten several PM's on TBN from guys who want me to either sell them drawings or sell them the grapples all welded together.
About 5 or 6 now.
My new drawings contain everything now, even the upgrades as suggested by Larry and also some I added for Loretta's grapple.
Hmmmm...
Rob-

[biggkidd]

Larry,

Color coordinated and all your grapples came out great. With those teeth on your bucket you have a killer combo. I have used similar and know you can clean up brush piles in 1/10 the time now. That doesn't cover the ability to pick up big heavy odd objects. Super cool post.

Rob,

You should have know you started something. Larry & you with those super cool grapples. I could use a set my self but thats another one of those things just not in the budget. I have used 4 in one buckets for many years. From what I can tell with the little I have used machines with grapples are way better.

KIDD

[GuglioLS]

I gotten several PM's on TBN from guys who want me to either sell them drawings or sell them the grapples all welded together

Well then what are you going to do? Have you responded to any of their inquiries? Maybe this could be a joint venture? I can get plasma cutting pretty cheap. A small decent CNC Plasma cutter runs about 10 G's. The shop I go to has their cutter running every hour of every day. So they must be a good investment.

I would imagine there would have to be several length's of jaws and brackets to fit the many buckets on the market.


KIDD,

Thanks - Grapple jaws and everything that goes with them are not as pricey as you might think. IMHO 4in1 buckets are cool too, the ultimate bucket would be a grapple attached to a 4in1. Maybe Matthew will one day install a grapple and his will be the coolest on the planet.


Larry

[FLICK]

the ultimate bucket would be a grapple attached to a 4in1. Maybe Matthew will one day install a grapple and his will be the coolest on the planet.

I've been toying with ideas of making some form of grapple to use in conjunction with pallet forks for moving piles of scrub ...

I'd like to hang the forks from the back part of the bucket and have some easy attach grapples to go on the front opening part of the bucket that will open and close with the bucket...

I just need to find some used forklift forks at a good price

Matthew.

[3RRL]

My idea of adding grapples to a 4 in 1 would be to mount 2 of them sideways, one on each end of the bucket sort of like a hay bale squeeze. Then you have something out of this world.... like a 20 in 1 bucket. That's what I would do.
Ever see the Arnold movie "Predator"?
Rob-

[biggkidd]

Larry,

Its not that its so much money its that all my money is going into the place in the country right now. Once we have a house there and are living up there I will try and build a set if my 354 makes it through the work thats required. I know I am pushing it to the limit frequently. ;D I do need to go ahead and find teeth for the bucket though. I am going to spend that little bit ASAP I know what a difference they make.

KIDD