American Solutions Grapple BX2660 install

[mjribeiro]

I know this one has been done, but here is one more. I'm super happy with the heavy duty construction of this unit, and Jeff is great to work with.

Mark the location for the bucket brackets. Use a framing square and the measurements in the instructions. If these brackets are crooked, you will have a hard time later with the quick disconnect pins.


Clamp the brackets securely.


Use a 1/2" drill bit to mark the holes.



Then a smaller bit as a pilot, then finish with the 1/2"


There are three holes, but you will only use two. Use the bottom one, and either of the top that will not interfere with the top of the bucket. On a newer LA243 FEL, it's the very top hole.

 

[mjribeiro]

Next I attached the diverter valves. When you order one of these make sure you tell Jeff the size of the cross brace on your FEL. Older BXs are larger than the newer ones and you need the correct size clamps.

 

[mjribeiro]

Next come the lines. You detach the flex lines right where they connect to the hard lines. The stock flex lines go into the diverter valves, the short ones from the valve go to the hard lines.



Long ones go to the bulkhead fitting. Mount this bracket on the back of the bucket in a spot that gives the lines the most range of motion and protection.

 

[mjribeiro]

The switch can go anywhere, I chose the left floor board.


The harness come with blade connections which you would position near the hose disconnects.


Some guys swap that out with a twist plug. I'm a fan of the powerlet connectors.


With the plug out.

 

[mjribeiro]

Mount the grapple to the bucket brackets, tighten the adjuster nuts, install the quick disconnect pins. (How parallel are your bucket brackets??? You will find out here!)


Attach the quick disconnect lines and you are in business!

Me want cookies! Er, I mean, let me go do some serious work cleaning out brush.


It really was not hard to install. It could be done in a couple of hours, 3-4 if you are taking your time.

 

[Jeff F.]

Great job. Now I just need to take my computer to my workshop to follow directions,:thumbsup:

 

[radioman]

looks awesome! those teeth looks impressive!

 

[IslandTractor]

Very nice job. You are now ready for toe to toe combat with Mother Nature. Grapple plus bush hog is a great combination for medium sized brush. You'll need something like that on the rear for ballast anyways.

 

[TripleR]

Very nice job indeed.:thumbsup:

 

[Tom_H]

During the last couple of years, several TBN members reported attempting to contact American Solutions and getting no response. Then someone at AmSol posted on here that they were up and running again. Sounds like the business was sold or the owners went through a family crisis for awhile. Could you please report how your communication with them, pricing, ordering process, wait time, delivery, etc. went, so that others will be up to date on the status of things?

BTW, for those shopping for a BX FEL grapple, there are a number of threads in the archives. Also, Gearmore sells an almost identical model.

Thanks.

 

[keyman1808]

I like the idea that its all comes as one kit. Anyone have a link for them ??? BTW nice install.

 

[mjribeiro]

Jeff's primary business is the manufacturing of fire fighting equipment. Front Line Services, Inc. - Fire is your business. Your satisfaction is ours. He is the owner of a BX and years ago didn't like the grapple offerings that were available. So he used his engineering and fabrication experience to design a strong and lightweight package for the SCUT market. It's only 85lbs so it doesn't take away that much lift capacity, and it uses your hydraulics through a supplied diverter valve system. It is definitely a complete package.

His primary responsibilities keep him pretty busy and I could definitely see how email communications could be delayed. I suggest people call and leave their name and number with his assistant. He will get back to you. He and I played phone tag for a few days (just as much my fault). Once I decided it was the right one for me, it took about a week for the unit to get prepped and shipped. I am very happy with Jeff's service and the quality of the product.

http://www.amerisolutions.net/grapple.htm

 

[Tom_H]

So it is the original owner it seems. There was an extended period when he was basically incognito. No one was getting any replies from him for quite some time, and a lot of TBN members expressed their frustration here on the board.

I am familiar with the development of the product. He developed it in collaboration with Junkman, one of the early TBN members who was extremely knowledgable and a prolific poster. The prototype grapple went on Junkman's BX22:

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/kubota-owning-operating/45827-bx-rock-moving-101-a.html

You will notice that we have an entirely different group of participating members today than back then. In fact, there is pretty much an entire group that came after them that have mostly moved on since.

For those who don't want to deal with sending dozens of emails and perhaps you will finally get a reply or then again maybe not, Gearmore is a major corporation and sells a virtually identical product.

 

[mjribeiro]

The hardware looks the same - But that hose implementation is very exposed. It actually looks like an after thought. Plus it's 60lbs heavier. I didn't need to work with a large corporation - I work for one already.

here is the one in question: http://www.gearmore.com/products/Cat_Pg45.pdf