PT425 Grapple Build Project

[bubenberg]

here is a version of how i would like to convert my pt grappler with the exception of putting the pistons on the back: http://www.budgetforklift.com/skid-steer-grapple-pallet-forks.html

 

[MossRoad]

Yeah, that was a long post, wasn't it! /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif I don't blame them for closing it. It's still there and I refer to it often.

Thanks for the link to the grapple. That really show a good example. And it show me how they connected the hydraulic ram.

 

[MossRoad]

Gathered some materials today!

Went to the scrap yard and found some 2" thick wall steel tubing. It was brand new cut offs in 2 and 4 foot sections, so I grabbed up about 4 of each. These will be for the cross bars.

Remember how I wanted to build the fingers out of 2" by 1/2" bar stock in the shape of a carpenter's square? Well... I found a steel ring that is about 4 feet in diameter. It is a little over 2" wide and over 1/2 inch thick! I think I can cut it into 1/4 circles. That will make four fingers. All of the grapples that I have seen have curved fingers. This should work out well./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif The ring weighs 75 pounds, so I'll probably have less than 100 total, excluding the cylinger and hoses. So that won't cut down my lifting capacity by more than about 150 pounds. I also found a second ring exactly like the first and I couldn't pass it up/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif I ended leaving with 218 pounds of steel. Grand total... $20.00. So, including the stuff I already bought I have about $60.00 in it.

Now all I need is some time to cut, grind and weld /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

After I get the grapple part done, I'll figure out the geometry for the cylinder.

 

[MossRoad]

Re: PT425 Grapple Build Project Picture

Here's a picture of the ring that I found at the scrap yard that I plan to cut up for the fingers. See attached.

 

[bubenberg]

Re: PT425 Grapple Build Project Picture

the original teeth are a little bit rounder... in my opinion they will do quite well

good luck ... juding from the post and the light in the picture you are burning close to midnight oil!?!?!?!?

 

[MossRoad]

Re: PT425 Grapple Build Project Picture

I might try to find some backhoe bucket teeth to weld onto the tips at a slight angle. This might get more of an arc to the fingers.

That photo was taken about 7:00pm tonight. It is really starting to get dark earlier now.

 

[bubenberg]

Re: PT425 Grapple Build Project Picture

i was sitting here looking at my grappler and could not come up with as good of an explanation as you just made. that will do well. you do need that fine point to get a hold of some of your larger logs etc

 

[MossRoad]

Re: PT425 Grapple Build Project Picture

You think I should make the fingers land right on my bucket teeth like pinchers or between them with a little overlap like scissors? I'm thinking right against the teeth.

 

[bubenberg]

Re: PT425 Grapple Build Project Picture

my teeth don't touch the metal, ... a few "teens" (tenth) of an inch gap exist. i don't think you want all that banging going on all the time.

 

[bubenberg]

Re: PT425 Grapple Build Project Picture

since i already have a grapple bucket i am looking to build a grapple onto the extended lackender baby boomer, here are the types i would like:
http://www.u-forest.ca/eng/products_UF.htm

 

[ernemats]

Re: PT425 Grapple Build Project Picture

MR:
In your picture of the ring , are the teeth on your bucket the ones power trac use on their buckets? I HAVE BEEN LOOKING AT GETTING A TOOTH BAR FOR MY BUCKET AND THE TEETH ON THE TOOTH BARS ARE MORE POINTED AND WIDER LOOKING THAN WHAT THEY LOOK LIKE IN YOUR PICTURE, AM I CORRECT THAT THE TEETH POWER TRAC USE ARE NOT LIKE THE TEETH USED ON SKID LOADER BUCKETS?

 

[MossRoad]

Re: PT425 Grapple Build Project Picture

I think you are correct. The are thinner and flatter than the teeth that I have seen on backhoes.

 

[bubenberg]

Re: PT425 Grapple Build Project Picture

they are elongated flat iron coming to a point. versus most bucket teeth i have found are wedge like. but the pt grapple theeth bucket do the job well.

 

[MossRoad]

I had an hour to kill yesterday, so I took one of the rings that I found at the junk yard, divided it into fourths and spent some "quality time" with my sawzall/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif Boy is that stuff hard. Took about 10 minutes per cut and two blades total. My arms are really sore today. I could have used the torch, but the sawzall gave a nice finish with no grinding.

I cut at an angle from the outside of the ring towards the left about 3 inches. This gave me a nice point on the tooth end of the grapple fingers. I might just use that with no commercial tooth welded on. If it starts to show signs of wear or doesn't grip well, I'll weld on some real teeth. I'll take some pictures of the pieces later this week and post them.

 

[MossRoad]

As promised.. here's a picture of the big steel ring cut into fingers for the grapple project. They are still too long, but you get the idea. I think I'll use three fingers and I'll show you why in the next picture.

 

[MossRoad]

If I use three fingers, one will hit each end tooth and one will hit the middle tooth. The middle tooth will be the one that gets the hydraulic cylinder and the end teeth will have the pivot points. This photo makes the bucket look wider than it is. The distance between the fingers is about 20".

 

[MossRoad]

This last photo show an arrow pointing to where the fingers will be trimmed and pinned to the pivot points that have not yet been mounted to the bucket. The lower arrow illustrates the nice thick point that I was able to acheive with the sawzall. Also, note the tubing laying across the teeth of the bucket. This is what I will use for the cross bracing between the fingers.

 

[bubenberg]

mr. m.r. that thing looks just or even better than the original grapple from pt.

last night we made a new modification to ours. one of the flat iron bands to reinforce the strength of the teeth from being twarted to the left or right, broke. i did not want to start a thread like ..... remember the one of the bent forks .... or what ever the exact heading was, i thought it would never end. so we made modification #a1a.

well, our original modification, the welds, which kept flat iron closer to the end of the teeth in check, broke from allot of abuse, so we went ahead and and welded a angle iron obtained from a sturdy mattress frame (are the hard to cut) to the very end of the teeth.

the boys were loading junk iron with the new modification ... i was amazed how much more dexterity (grabbing capability) we developed with the angle iron acting as an additional grabbing devise .... now i have no more problem loading junk ... but i might have lost my pt.

 

[Boone]

Re: PT425 Grapple Build Project Picture

Check this link for a grapple on the boom.

http://www.baileys-online.com/store/USA.htm

search item SPG

 

[bubenberg]

Re: PT425 Grapple Build Project Picture

very good ... great contribution but i don't think in the right forum ... comedy channel writing would be more appropriate

good luck