Grapple Grapple Legnth question?

[Bedlam]

I am considering the enclosed grapple purchase. It looks plenty sturdy for my setup.There are two legnths, one 28 inch and the other 32 inch. Both same priced. I measure mine as they state, an come up i th a bit over the 28 inches but not close to the 32 inches. Id prefere to have the 32 inch legnth , as it would give some 'overbite' But could possibly not close all the way. I could weld some more "teeth' of some sort to it .
My question is any opinions or experiences with the clamp hitting the cutting edge, and with the overbite?
I can see advantages and disadvantages both ways.
Thanks ahead of time.
allan

 

[IslandTractor]

If you weld a 2x2 bar to the top of your bucket you might find that the geometry works so the 32" grapple arm can close properly. You don't really want an overbite as you will not be able to properly hold small loads. If you have to choose, go with a mild underbite.

 

[3RRL]

I am considering the enclosed grapple purchase. It looks plenty sturdy for my setup.There are two legnths, one 28 inch and the other 32 inch. Both same priced. I measure mine as they state, an come up i th a bit over the 28 inches but not close to the 32 inches. Id prefere to have the 32 inch length , as it would give some 'overbite' But could possibly not close all the way. I could weld some more "teeth' of some sort to it .
My question is any opinions or experiences with the clamp hitting the cutting edge, and with the overbite?
I can see advantages and disadvantages both ways.
Thanks ahead of time.
allan

As usual, good advice from Island. He really knows his stuff.
I presume you are talking about a bucket grapple then? I too personally prefer the underbite condition and have a raised bar on top of my bucket. After several hundred hours of use, I'm glad I chose that condition. After much use, I wish I knew then what I know now, and I would have made my own.

A couple friends asked me to design a bucket grapple for them so I did. IMHO, I included 2 important features. One being the underbite condition and the other was to have none of the grapple jaws extend beyond the lip of the bucket when fully opened. This will allow the user to scoop dirt when right up against a vertical wall when not using the grapple...it won't get in the way for regular bucket use. When the toothbar is installed, it is even a better condition for both, as more of an underbite and more clearance from the wall is achieved. The trick was to find the correct pivot locations to get maximum and minimum cylinder extension and retraction in meeting these 2 conditions.

Here is what theirs look like on their buckets:



Since I am an underbite advocate, this will do the trick, especially when their toothbars are installed (they both have them). There is a small enough gap between the bucket sides and the jaws to securely hold logs and squish brush into the bucket. Another feature I added was a stop on the jaws so they will not "go over the top" at full opening. You can see the generous opening for maximum brush grabbing when fully open. These are for smaller buckets and the jaws are just a shade under 28" from tip to tip. But they will great for my buddies.

They are having the components CNC plasma cut and will start building them next week. I'm sure they post a thread about it.

 

[IslandTractor]

Here is what theirs look like on their buckets:

Sweet!!! I love the big max opening. That grapple bucket is gonna really chow down on brush.

How wide did you make the grapple? I know that most bucket grapples are only 18-20 inches but I have always wondered why someone doesn't build one that covers roughly half or even 2/3rds of the bucket width. It might need to be a bit heavier or have more than two tines but it would certainly increase the ability to hold loose stuff in the bucket.

Are you now in the custom grapple design business?

 

[3RRL]

Island,
Hey, I'm glad you like!
No, I'm not in the grapple business, but lol ... maybe I should be?
Their grapples are 24" wide for their 60" buckets and IMO, needed a little more reinforcement between the 3/8" thick jaws for that reason. The grapple has all kinds of reinforcement between the jaws in the form of 2" square (1/4" wall) tubes and 1/4" thick shields going across jaw to jaw. Shields are to reduce stuff being pushed through the jaws towards the cylinder pivots too, and they are additional reinforcement between them.

Here is a front view showing the balance between grapple width and bucket width (for their buckets).



It looks good to the eye for me anyway. It weighs less than 130 lbs including the 6" cylinder and bucket mounting plates, pins, supports, everything except the welds. That's not too bad for their 1200 lb lift capacity loaders. Larry called and told me he already got everything plasma cut today and he weighed it just now! Shees, I just sent him files last night.

Bedlam, I apologize for posting this stuff in your thread. I hope you don't mind, but when you asked about grapple jaw length and over or underbite I thought the information might help you? Please forgive me if I'm wrong here....

 

[IslandTractor]

Island,
Hey, I'm glad you like!
No, I'm not in the grapple business, but lol ... maybe I should be? ..

Yes, you should be. Your design really is better. I'd never thought about this before but it seems that most of the grapple kits on ebay and elsewhere are being designed and sold by metal fabricators, not by people who have actually used grapples and thought about optomizing them for particular bucket sizes and dimensions. Maybe you could run a custom grapple design service that provided CNC files which your customer could then take to a local CNC plasma shop, get the steel cut and then either weld it up or take it to a welding shop. One step above the "one size fits all" bucket grapple solutions from ATI, eBay etc.

You can never have enough grapples and you've already got me thinking about adding a grapple like the one you designed to a new bucket as an all purpose bucket grapple. I'd keep my regular grapple for serious brush clearing but it seems silly to have those hydraulic remotes sitting on the loader with nothing to do when I have a standard bucket mounted.

The 3RRL Custom Grapple Company. I like the sound of that. Hey, I'll be your first customer.

 

[SkunkWerX]

I agree with Island and 3RRL. I designed mine to be used with my bucket teeth installed, so I matched the tips of the grapple to the tips of the bucket teeth.
I'm going to be altering the front tips a bit to give a little more Under-Bite.

Using a 2x2 tube will not only give you a superior mounting surface and allow the longer of the 2 grapples, but you'll get slightly more capacity. i don't know how significant.

 

[Bedlam]

Thanks for all the information, Its great to feel a lot more educated before I buy. I have considered building my own, but considering the overall cost of material, and the time, and hunting down the material etc, I think I can live with the cost of the ones Im looking at.
The biggest cost is in the shipping anyways.
My main use of it it swwms now will be able to 'grasp' a log of wood and hold it up and dice it from each end.even considered ther might be some overbite, I have thought that I could add some metal teeth on it to have them come into contact with the cutting edge. Its tough to say without having it installed.
Glad you posted a pic with the toothbar. I have one , and ill have to see how the bite would be with it installed.
Luckily I already have valves and hoses setup to the front for the snow plow..

Thanks Again for the posts.
A great help
lAL