My very own grapples!

[tlbuser]

The boat is steam. I machined the engine from a set of castings that a friend had purchased and never completed. The engine is a 3X5X4. The hull is from a WW2 liberty ship. The boat sure draws the looks when we are launching or pulling out. People can't believe that it runs on wood.

Any chance we could see more of your steam boat? Complete with a steam whistle too ( noticed the drawing set) ?

 

[JustGary]

Rob -

Thanks for the pin info. I remember reading about them now that you reminded me. The Kubota pins have recessed zerks, and I plan to do that for the grapple pins. It makes a lot of sense.

I'll probably use the existing loader pins for the rake and make three new pins for the grapple. To tell you the truth, I had considered just milling the grease slots and zerks, and then just using the pins unhardened. Since you mentioned it, though, I'll do my best at giving them a good temper.

I'll post pictures of the progress I've made as soon as the new hoses come in. I'm trying to get the hydraulics done first (so I can change the transmission oil) before I start the rake and grapple.

The Pit of Despair has taken up a lot of my "spare" daylight hours, but I'm sure I'll have more questions soon...

Regards,

- Just Gary

 

[3RRL]

Ha, I see now why you want those grapples.
You should have made them before you started removing all that bamboo. They would've come in handy for all that clean up work for sure!

 

[JustGary]

Rob -

Actually, the grapple is for the 40 acres we just had cut. The timber men did a great job, but I have a few improvements I want to make before we replant, so I figured I ought to jump on the grapple while I can.

I'll probably still have to hire a dozer for the pond work, but the grapple will allow me to do the rest of the things I want done. Also, a grapple will be very valuable the next time a hurricane hits. Moving mountains of brush and fallen trees is never fun, but with a grapple it could come close...

On the other hand, I did order a tooth bar for the bamboo job. Unfortunately, they still have not shipped it. When I ordered it back in August, she thought they had enough teeth on hand to ship that week. It would have helped a lot to get through the roots and dig the first layer of dirt out. I don't understand their tooth ordering process, but it would seem that they run out just as soon as they get started.

I have not approached them about possibly doing the rake and grapple build because I haven't heard anything about the tooth bar. If I get the rake and grapple done before I get the tooth bar, I'll cancel the order and build my own.

- Just Gary

 

[kcprecision]

3RRL It looks like I missed a few posts here, darn.

Instead of building a bucket for the loader I found one at a implement dealer that had some use but was still in like new shape. The bucket did not fit my loader but with some cutting and welding it does fit now.

I have some more questions if you don't mind.

I am working on plans and building the grapples for the new bucket. The bucket has a different configuration than the one that you have, so some angles have/are being changed.

The grapples are being made from stuff that I have in the goodie box. For instance the teeth were cut from a 1/2 plate with a O/A torch, not the smoothest cut in the world but it will have to work.

I am at the point that I am trying to fit the cylinder to the grapples and have the grapple open up to the point that the grapple teeth are above the cutting edge.

Now that is where I am having problems, getting the collapsed cylinder distance from pin to pin to make the grapples open all the way.

Now the question, How big was the cylinder you used?

I appreciate any help that you can give me.
Charlie.

 

[3RRL]

3RRL It looks like I missed a few posts here, darn.

Instead of building a bucket for the loader I found one at a implement dealer that had some use but was still in like new shape. The bucket did not fit my loader but with some cutting and welding it does fit now.

I have some more questions if you don't mind.

I am working on plans and building the grapples for the new bucket. The bucket has a different configuration than the one that you have, so some angles have/are being changed.

The grapples are being made from stuff that I have in the goodie box. For instance the teeth were cut from a 1/2 plate with a O/A torch, not the smoothest cut in the world but it will have to work.

I am at the point that I am trying to fit the cylinder to the grapples and have the grapple open up to the point that the grapple teeth are above the cutting edge.

Now that is where I am having problems, getting the collapsed cylinder distance from pin to pin to make the grapples open all the way.

Now the question, How big was the cylinder you used?

I appreciate any help that you can give me.
Charlie.

Hi Charlie,
The cylinder I used is a 2" bore x 6" stoke.
They are readily available at Surplus Center with several choices and costs. I think I got one for about 60 or 70 bucks.

Regarding finding your base position of the cylinder, I presume you're using some sort of CAD and have already picked a pivot point for the grapples themselves on the bucket? You need to use the fully extended length of the cylinder when the grapple is closed. Draw a circle using that dimension using the centerline of your front grapple cylinder connection. Then rotate the grapple up to full open and draw a circle using the closed cylinder length. Where the two circles intersect is where the rear cylinder pivot should be. If they don't intersect at all, you'll need to pick another spot for the front cylinder connection and redo the procedure until you get the two circles to intersect. You might have to do this a couple times or even change how much the grapple opens up.

 

[kcprecision]

Thanks Rob, the cylinder size was what I needed. I have been trying to find the anchor points for a larger cylinder. I don't have the cylinder yet, the one that I was going to cut down definitely would not work so I need to find another one.

Finding the anchor point suggestion is a big help, thanks very much.The drawing program that I am using is called Auto Sketch.

Now, TLBUSER, some how I missed your request about the boat, sorry.
If you go to the following link and check the left hand column and click on "steam launch" that should give you some pictures. My boat is the yellow one.

kcprecision - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

 

[3RRL]

You're welcome Charlie...
When you get farther along, start a new thread and post lots of pictures. You are taking pictures, right? We all want to see how it comes out.

 

[kcprecision]

Yes I will start my own thread, but as far as posting pictures we will wait until I see how it turns out.