Root Rake/Grapple For Kubota B2910

[rswyan]

Trimmed these little nubs off, as they would hit the 10 ga sheet in the above post, when the jaw was closed:

 

[rswyan]

Also did some further trimming on the front side if the upper haw hinge, where there was an interference issue with the bottom of the hydraulic cylinders:

 

[rswyan]

Finally, I got the bushings at the bushings at the base end of the cylinders cut off (again ) and the ends cleaned up:

Actually glad I did this ... cutting the bushings off allowed me to get a good look at the welds and they were ... less than ideal. That caused me to rethink about how I'm going to weld them the next time around to get a better end product.

Now I just need to come up with some material for a spacer. The piece of 1 inch plate I was going to use is too small to clamp in the bandsaw accurately.

I'm thinking a piece of 1" solid round would be better/easier anyways ... don't need to grind bevels on it.

 

[rswyan]

Plan for today is to take the tractor up into the shop and mount the diverter valve and bracket for the front aux hydraulic outlets on the loader and get measurements for all the hoses and get them ordered, since it will take several days to get them shipped here after they are ordered.

The forecast for the coming week looks real promising for grapple testing: no rain the forecast until Wednesday of next week, with temps warming in the 60's and 70's starting on this coming Thursday ...

Very few items left to do at this point, the cosmetic stuff will get left until later this summer just before it gets painted.

One thing I do want to do though is drill and tap for grease fittings.

That and have U. B. make those welds that have to be done with stick.

 

[Xfaxman]

Xfaxman,

Not really possible to brace it in quite the same manner (really nothing above it to weld the brace to)

Here's what I ended up doing: welded in a short piece of 1/4" x 2" plate, with the 2" direction bearing the weight. It's welded on both sides, both on the bar and on the lower frame.

View attachment 464162

Keep in mind that the loader capacity on my B2910 probably has a lot less capacity than that V417.

I'm guessing that it should be sufficient, given the limited capacity of the loader.

Yep, that 1/4" x 2" plate should make it strong enough.

My problem was a poorly made attachment plate that was too wide and only had a 1/4" top lip.

It is a fork frame, so there was a lot of leverage involved when it bent and fell off.

Posting this to let people know this is a high stress area.

 

[RedNeckGeek]

Yep, that 1/4" x 2" plate should make it strong enough.

My problem was a poorly made attachment plate that was too wide and only had a 1/4" top lip.

It is a fork frame, so there was a lot of leverage involved when it bent and fell off.

Posting this to let people know this is a high stress area.

Almost looks from the photos like the QA wasn't seated all the way up inside that top lip. But I agree with you that 1/4" hot rolled steel probably isn't strong enough for that application without some kind of bracing above it.

RS, any particular reason you chose not to put a bead across the top (long direction) of the QA plate we're discussing?

 

[rswyan]

... RS, any particular reason you chose not to put a bead across the top (long direction) of the QA plate we're discussing?

A-yup ...

3/4" to 1" gap requires a lot of fill metal ...

 

[rswyan]

Yep, that 1/4" x 2" plate should make it strong enough.

I think it should as well.

It isn't like a set of forks where there would be a lot of leverage, from the load extending out front.

I had these two pieces cut and really had no other use for them, so I went ahead and used them.

My problem was a poorly made attachment plate that was too wide and only had a 1/4" top lip.

It is a fork frame, so there was a lot of leverage involved when it bent and fell off.

Yikes ... glad you weren't injured. Load get damaged ?

Yeah, that kinda stuff scares the absolute beejeebers out of me.

I've had a few close calls doing loader work ... and I'm not looking to add to the list.

Posting this to let people know this is a high stress area.

Good idea ... :thumbsup:

FWIW, I'm probably going to cut those top bars off the QA plates on my forks and my bucket. I may be able to tie back to the fork frame like you did on yours ... and I'll probably hang some 3/8" or 1/2" bar stock on the end, rather than 1/4.

 

[rswyan]

Got the diverter valve and bracket for the front quick-connects mounted and all hose measurements taken.

I have two 3/8" x 48" hoses up in the shop that I can use for the connection from the front quick-connects to the grapple ... should be plenty long enough. Need to source a spring to pull up the hoses when the grapple is curled back. For the time being a bungie cord will have to do.

That leaves 8 hoses I need.

Time to do a little research and see how painful it's going to be.

 

[Xfaxman]

Almost looks from the photos like the QA wasn't seated all the way up inside that top lip. But I agree with you that 1/4" hot rolled steel probably isn't strong enough for that application without some kind of bracing above it.
-----------------------------

It was seated all the way up, but I think too much gap at the bottom of the plate let the frame slide up and bend the top lip.

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Yikes ... glad you weren't injured. Load get damaged ?

Yeah, that kinda stuff scares the absolute beejeebers out of me.

I've had a few close calls doing loader work ... and I'm not looking to add to the list.

I was lucky that the load of pipe was still over the trailer when it came off, no damage, no injuries. :thumbsup:

 

[rswyan]

Hoses, fittings, sleeving, and clamps are ordered ...

 

[rswyan]

... I was lucky that the load of pipe was still over the trailer when it came off, no damage, no injuries. :thumbsup:

Good deal.

 

[RedNeckGeek]

It was seated all the way up, but I think too much gap at the bottom of the plate let the frame slide up and bend the top lip.

WOW! Makes me wanna take a look at the QAs around here. :shocked:

 

[Xfaxman]

WOW! Makes me wanna take a look at the QAs around here. :shocked:

Yep, there are several threads about twisted tractor QA cross tubes, from the forks coming off of one side.

 

[rswyan]

While I was checking for hose lengths yesterday I mounted the rod end of one of the cylinders to the upper jaw with it completely closed and then mounted the cut-off bushing from the base end on the base-end pin ... looks like an additional 5/8" extension of the length of the cylinder should do it ... :thumbsup:

Not going to mess with cutting off the 1/4" thick, 2" wide plate on the bottom of the upper jaw arms at this time.

 

[rswyan]

Got the re-welding of the base bushing on the base of the first cylinder done yesterday and got the second one tacked up with the root passes done, finished that this morning after I got back from having U. B. do a couple of stick welds at his place on the lower bar with the rake teeth:

Like the look of these welds on the cylinders a little better than my first attempt:

Also made it over to Home Depot yesterday afternoon and picked up the spacers for the brackets for the diverter valve and front aux hydraulic outlets.

Order @ DHH is shows "shipped" but it hasn't been picked up yet ... hopefully that will occur later today and I'll have the hoses and fittings by Friday.

Just cleaned off the brackets with some mineral spirits and gonna go hit them with a little phosphoric acid and then prime and paint.

Took the upper jaw off a bit ago, so I'll be drilling and tapping that for grease fittings, while the paint is drying.

While I had it off I decided to give the rake portion a little test, even though it's still kinda wet here. Seems to work pretty good ...

First dirt ... :

 

[rswyan]

Did a little work along the driveway where the jungle was trying to encroach:

Multiflora rose ... we have quite a bit of it:

Even works for decent sized saplings ... :

 

[rswyan]

Hoses and fittings are on their way, due to be delivered tomorrow afternoon.

Got the brackets treated with phosphoric acid, heading up to shop here in a minute to see if they are dry. And then start painting.

Will probably work on wiring up the electrical for the diverter some time later today. Will be wiring in both momentary and toggle/rocker switches, so I can flip the diverter on and leave it on without having to hold in the momentary switch constantly.

Wiring scheme courtesy of TBN member DonT-B7500 as provided in this thread:

Grapple Switch

Think I may have to use the lift circuit rather than the curl circuit, due to regen on the curl.

 

[CDN Farm Boy]

If you tie into the lift circuit, I fail to see the benefit of having both style switches. With your style of grapple I can see how that could work on the curl as you could lift and close at the same time to pull stuff out. Having never used a grapple, I don't see how being able to curl and close or open would be a benefit. I understand about needing to work around the regen but think that a momentary switch would be plenty sufficient. Don't most newer machines now have regen on the curl? Other than having no choice, I can't see how tying into the lift would be anything but a pain in normal operation

 

[rswyan]

Seems I recall reading that there was an issue with diverter valves and regen. My loader valve is the 4-position valve type, with regen in the first position, and "power dump" (non-regen) once you move past the detent into the second position.

Plumbing it on the lift or curl circuits is equally easy.