New add on grapple

[stancsr]

Just finished adding thumb grapple to my b1700, works great used diverter valve for control

 

[catskinner]

what material are you looking to handle with that setup mostly?

 

[stancsr]

We just bought 10acres of woods, we have a lot of brush and dead trees to move and cleanup

 

[Gordon Gould]

Welcome to TBN
Great addition to your tractor :thumbsup: You will find it extremely useful for all kinds of stuff. Logs, brush, rocks, ........ Mine is a similar bolt on grapple. I couldn't live w/o it. You have better teeth than on mine. I welded some teeth on my grapple fingers right off then later added some to the bucket edge. Helps to grip hard slippery, frozen or wet, logs like beech. The teeth are pieces of 1/2" rebar.

 

[nybirdman]

Yes they are a nice addition,I like mine.I also added a tooth-bar and it works really well with the thumb.

 

[ovrszd]

Great addition!!! Just warning ya,,,, it'll make a lazy man outta ya!!!

 

[/pine]

Just finished adding thumb grapple to my b1700, works great used diverter valve for control

That is one mighty little tractor you have and the loader/grapple makes for a hard to beat combination when it comes to getting the most out of your tractor as a labor saver...!
...I know because I have a B1700 w/LA301 loader...I made my grapple...not much different than 'The Thumb'...(not quite so HD)
O/T questions...what size tires are on the front? are they original? what style is on the rear?

Glad to see your post...not too many b1700 owners around...it's a mighty little tractor (just wish it weighed a little more...)

 

[stancsr]

I will get size off front, rear is more of an industrial I guess, I am guessing they didn't sell a lot of b1700's don't see many, mine was a one owner dealer serviced, bought it about 6 months ago with 320hrs on it,

 

[rockb]

I know this is an old post but found a 1700 for sale kind of local. I need something with a grapple to start cleaning up all the downed trees from Hurricane Micahel. Can you expand on the "diverter valve for control "?

 

[oosik]

Fantastic. Great addition. As you will find - it doesn't take a lot of exotic, expensive equipment to make a very useful implement. Old or new thread - this is great info for all who may be interested. Today this would, most likely, be called a bucket grapple.

 

[Nathaniel]

Welcome to TBN
Great addition to your tractor :thumbsup: You will find it extremely useful for all kinds of stuff. Logs, brush, rocks, ........ Mine is a similar bolt on grapple. I couldn't live w/o it. You have better teeth than on mine. I welded some teeth on my grapple fingers right off then later added some to the bucket edge. Helps to grip hard slippery, frozen or wet, logs like beech. The teeth are pieces of 1/2" rebar.

What type of grapple is that?

 

[Gordon Gould]

What type of grapple is that?

ATI bolt on grapple kit.

gg

 

[Wyobuckaroo]

I like the teeth on the sides of the bucket shown in post #4...

In my "good idea" sketch book I'm going to note this. However, I'm thinking about a bolt on flat bar stock with teeth cut in it.

 

[N2DFire]

I know this is an old post but found a 1700 for sale kind of local. I need something with a grapple to start cleaning up all the downed trees from Hurricane Micahel. Can you expand on the "diverter valve for control "?

A diverter valve is an electrically operated solenoid valve that will allow you to selectively operate 2 functions from one existing control valve. (Think of it as a A-B selector switch for hydraulics)
In a grapple type set-up it it usually installed between the loader valve and the curl/dump lines on your loader with a single push button switch on your loader control stick.

In the Normal (Off) position your loader control stick operates the curl/dump function as normal. in the Diverted (On) position the loader control now opens/closes the grapple INSTEAD of curl/dump of the bucket.

The biggest thing to watch out for is whether or not your loader valve has a "Regen" or "Fast Dump" mode on it. If so you may have issues depending on how that's configured.

 

[Nathaniel]

I like the teeth on the sides of the bucket shown in post #4...

In my "good idea" sketch book I'm going to note this. However, I'm thinking about a bolt on flat bar stock with teeth cut in it.

Homemade piranha bar all the way around. I like it