PROJECT: Building a grapple bucket for the LS

[TSO]

Been wanting a grapple for awhile, but ended up spending the money on other things ... oh well. So, recently, I found this new 60" Rock bucket on a local auction site, and won it for $228. :thumbsup: I figured I'd either sell it for a profit OR make a grapple out of it. Well, I wen't with option 2, so here's the project so far:

The bucket:





The metal: I picked up all the metal needed for less than $100 from my local metal shop (using scraps & cut-off's like always ) The lid/tines are 3/8" thickness steel X 5" width. I cut them to shape and welded them into the proper angle. Added some biting-teeth to them as well.








The lid is attached to the bucket with two 3/4" bolts at the pivots. The top of that bucket is 3" tube steel, so it's a good strong base to mount things, although I used some 3"x3" angle iron as the pivot mounts. The lid opens to around 36".



This is the progress so far, but it's only been a couple days so it's moving pretty quickly I suppose. Next step is to fab up the cylinder mounts, and add some more bracing & a center half-tooth to the lid.





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QUESTION for the guys that have already used their hydraulic remotes, as I haven't looked at mine yet: What size & style connectors did you use to connect to the factory remotes? How much hose is needed to run up to the front from the rear remotes?

 

[Dr Dave]

That was a great purchace, adding a grapple will be very handy, I wish, I had one.

Dave

 

[stuckmotor]

I wish I had one, too. The rock bucket gave you a good platform to hang the lid on,

 

[mangus580]

QUESTION for the guys that have already used their hydraulic remotes, as I haven't looked at mine yet: What size & style connectors did you use to connect to the factory remotes? How much hose is needed to run up to the front from the rear remotes?

I have been using the 'standard' connector available from TSC for my implements.

At the front for my Third Function connections, I used the same size as what the loader uses from the factory. (Where you take it off)

Hope this helps...

 

[Rainbody]

Local auction site? I could use a rock bucket at that price!

 

[murphy1244]

1/2 inch Pioneer Ag connectors

 

[TSO]

Well fellas last night I ordered a cylinder, it's 2.5" bore, 8" stroke, non ASAE, 2500psi, straight column load rating around 12500lbs. Should do the trick, now it just needs to get here. Luckily I have all the dimensions needed for the pin spacing so I should b able to fab up everything before it gets here.

QUESTION: is 3/8" hydraulic line Ok? They have 4000psi line in long lengths at my local store.

 

[TSO]

More progress:

 

[mangus580]

QUESTION: is 3/8" hydraulic line Ok? They have 4000psi line in long lengths at my local store.

Should be plenty. Pretty sure thats all mine has on it, and its almost too fast as it is!

 

[Dr Dave]

Looks good, it might be a good idea to plate the joint on the sides with a dimond or triangle plate. This area will take alot of stress.

Dave

 

[TSO]

Looks good, it might be a good idea to plate the joint on the sides with a dimond or triangle plate. This area will take alot of stress.

Dave

You know, I had made a plate for one side, intending to weld them on both arms... But wasn't sure if I'd need them.

Maybe I should just to be safe...

 

[TSO]

Added plates to the teeth:

 

[nybirdman]

Nice project.I added a thumb to my bucket.One problem:add a physical stop so your thumb can't come over backwards.Mine can go beyond what the cylinder can push forward.Kind of hard to explain,depends on the geometry of your unit.

 

[TSO]

Well, OK... I finished the grapple build.

Here's the "hydraulic brackets" I built & shaped for maximum clearance for the geometry of the cylinder.




Here's the "lid" finished and painted.



Also made a trip today to my local Farm supply store and picked up all the necessary hoses & fittings for the hydraulics. In case anyone is following along with this, I needed approx 17 feet of hose to reach from the rear remotes to the front loader cross support. They sold lengths of 10' and 7' and together, those worked perfectly. I then used a 4' and 5' hose to connect to the ends (1 is longer so it can reach the farther cylinder attach point) of the longer hose section on the loader cross support. I added quick-connect fittings so it can easily come on/off. I was going to go with 1/4" but they didn't have that in long lengths, so I stuck with 3/8" and that works fine. The grapple lid opens/closes at a nice rate.





After I finished everything I tried it out, and quickly broke the large cylinder bracket off of the bucket top. I then welded on some support tabs, better connecting the brackets to the bucket. This proved to work very well, however, since I neglected to first weld on a thicker piece of angle-iron to the top of the bucket, I tore the metal right off the bucket when using it tonight.

Bad news is I'm going to have to try to retro-fit some kind of support that will keep the bucket from tearing again...

Good news is that the grapple works very well. Before that tore, I was able to grab & move logs, brush, and even a large 24" + diameter X 8 foot long Log... that was heavy enough to lift the back tires, even WITH my HD 8' back blade !!! The grapple was able to clamp on it and keep it held, so the design works! Just need to reinforce that top.

 

[Guesseral]

Well that really sucks you get all excited because the plan is coming together and then it talks back, man you got to hate that. So what are you going to do? I am not sure an angle would be enough, I would have to cut the brackets off straighten the ripped area weld a 3/8 or 1/2 plate the same width and the whole length across the bucket, but then again I am not there looking at the real problem. Oh by the way really good looking work I like the way you make the brackets that shows real talent.

 

[Xfaxman]

Did it break from the power of the cylinder or forces on the lid?

If from the cylinder you can put a pressure reducer on it.

 

[TSO]

Did it break from the power of the cylinder or forces on the lid?

If from the cylinder you can put a pressure reducer on it.

Yes. But don't I need that power?

 

[Guesseral]

Yes. But don't I need that power?

I would assume that you would want (if not need) the power. With mine I have to make sure I put as much pressure to it as I can in order to hold onto a heavy item like concrete or a large rock, but I have a rake style so you might not need as much pressure because of the wrap around style grapple. Oh heck lets not kid ourselves you need the extra power your a guy!

 

[TSO]

True dat G... lol, "More Power, urgh urgh urgghhh"

I was able to bend the metal back into place by forcing the lid up into a thick tree branch, so once I get the little one down for a nap I'll see what I can do to repair & strengthen it.

 

[TSO]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTsC7zmoIDg