Markham Grapple's Here!

[Lunk]

No - I don't have any pics yet (I don't even own a digital camera, so I will have to enlist the kids help to post some).

It arrived yesterday afternoon, along with my new toothbar. Came with 6' hoses, and about 4' of abrasion resistant sleeving installed.

Wow - Those Markham folks sure know how to build stuff!

I have to p/u the hoses this afternoon after work, so hopefully I can report out as to its function sometime tomorrow.

Feel like a kid on Christmas Eve, with a bike-shaped gift under the tree wearing my name...

 

[polo1665]

Congrats on the new tool. I've been toying with the idea of a grapple myself. Please post some action pics as soon as you can.

Mark

 

[HCJtractor]

Lunk, I think you and I were shopping at the same time. I got mine about 2 weeks ago and had a blast on it the first weekend. Cleared 1/2 mile of grown up roadway, ripping out trees with ease and creating house sized mounds of brush. Hope you enjoy your new toy! I think you will be impressed. Watch out for those hydraulic lines, for if any thing screws up, that's where it will be. I bought 20' of additional sleeve to encase my lines from the valve to the grapple quick connects, and then had a buddy put it through it's range of motion to check the movement of the lines, then secured it to protect it as best I could. When you are diving into trees and brush, it would be easy to snag one. We also found it better to carry big piles of debris away in reverse so that the limbs and vines weren't pulled back into the tires and hydraulics. Hit the trees high to push them over, back up, lower the tines to engage the roots, then curl and ease forward. 6" trees just pop out! I also used it to pick up and carry large (>1000 lb.) rocks. Way easier than trying to pick one up in a bucket. After putting it through it's paces, let us know what you think.

 

[Lunk]

Lunk, I think you and I were shopping at the same time. I got mine about 2 weeks ago and had a blast on it the first weekend. Cleared 1/2 mile of grown up roadway, ripping out trees with ease and creating house sized mounds of brush. Hope you enjoy your new toy! I think you will be impressed. Watch out for those hydraulic lines, for if any thing screws up, that's where it will be. I bought 20' of additional sleeve to encase my lines from the valve to the grapple quick connects, and then had a buddy put it through it's range of motion to check the movement of the lines, then secured it to protect it as best I could. When you are diving into trees and brush, it would be easy to snag one. We also found it better to carry big piles of debris away in reverse so that the limbs and vines weren't pulled back into the tires and hydraulics. Hit the trees high to push them over, back up, lower the tines to engage the roots, then curl and ease forward. 6" trees just pop out! I also used it to pick up and carry large (>1000 lb.) rocks. Way easier than trying to pick one up in a bucket. After putting it through it's paces, let us know what you think.

Well,
I got home last night and put all the fittings together, and routed the hoses as neat as a proffessional zip-tie installer can. Slapped it all together and fired it up. Hit the remote lever and the jaws open up about halfway, and start shuddering...won't open any further, or close properly.

Now I shut it down, and check the hydraulic fluid - Nothing in the sight-glass. It would appear that 44' of hoses and an extra cylinder sucked up enough fluid to cause a low condition, and my pump was cavitating. Checked one of the quick couples, and the fluid that dripped out was well aerated...

D'oh!

Manual says to only use Branson Hytrans fluid (of course), but I'm betting that the stuff from TSC will do just fine. I'm calling the dealer this morning to be sure...

Good things come to those who wait...(I hope).

I'll keep you posted, and hopefully have some pics up after the weekend!

 

[Lunk]

Lunk, I think you and I were shopping at the same time. I got mine about 2 weeks ago and had a blast on it the first weekend. Cleared 1/2 mile of grown up roadway, ripping out trees with ease and creating house sized mounds of brush. Hope you enjoy your new toy! I think you will be impressed. Watch out for those hydraulic lines, for if any thing screws up, that's where it will be. I bought 20' of additional sleeve to encase my lines from the valve to the grapple quick connects, and then had a buddy put it through it's range of motion to check the movement of the lines, then secured it to protect it as best I could. When you are diving into trees and brush, it would be easy to snag one. We also found it better to carry big piles of debris away in reverse so that the limbs and vines weren't pulled back into the tires and hydraulics. Hit the trees high to push them over, back up, lower the tines to engage the roots, then curl and ease forward. 6" trees just pop out! I also used it to pick up and carry large (>1000 lb.) rocks. Way easier than trying to pick one up in a bucket. After putting it through it's paces, let us know what you think.

HCJ -

I added 2 gal of premium hyd fluid to bring it up to normal, tried it again, and got nothing but a slight shudder from the grapple. It's almost as if it's trying to work, but won't.

Did you have any issue with yours?

Is it possible that the air in the lines / cylinder is causing this issue? I cannot believe that high-pressure fliud wouldn't displace any air in the system, but this is new stuff for me...

Thoughts?

Anyone?

 

[kennyd]

The lines/cylinder will self-purge, but may take a few tries with 44' of hose! You are using a rear remote to operate it?

 

[Lunk]

The lines/cylinder will self-purge, but may take a few tries with 44' of hose! You are using a rear remote to operate it?

Yes I am!

2-16 footers for the grapple, and the 2-6 footers on the grapple.

I'll fool with it some more tonight when I get home. I hope it "self-purges" for me. I'm ready to loosen fittings up front to allow the air out if necessary, but don't want to deal with fluid being shot all over the place...

Bad news is that I won't be able to do much with it once it's working though...The great thaw has now set in, and everywhere I want to work has standing water and / or muddy conditions. I don't plan to stick the tractor for the sake of using the grapple.

The significant other is shaking her head at this point, muttering something about "a big waste of money..." I need sucess!

Thanks for the input. I hope you're right!

Lunk

 

[firemen122]

congratulations on your grapple.... I love mine. did you get the bugs worked out?

 

[Lunk]

congratulations on your grapple.... I love mine. did you get the bugs worked out?

Not yet.

I've been busy, so It's been one of those "spend 20 min dinkin' around" each day" narrowing the problem down.

I've removed each rear quick coupler from the hoses, and pumped the air out of the system using the valve control. The grapple opens when I do one, and closes fine when I do the other, but hook them both up - Nothing.

I wonder - The NAPA folks who made the hose used a male quick-coupler that was different than the ones on the back of the tractor, so I just bought female couplers to match the hoses, and simply replaced the ones on the tractor. They were the same size coupler, so that shouldn't make a difference, should it?

 

[kennyd]

Is that a factory valve for your rear remote, or one you installed? If the later please post a part number for it.