Hello, first I am glad to have found this forum. I think it is awesome. I had a question about building a grapple rake for a skid loader though. All the plans that I have found here have been for tractor loaders mostly. I was planning on building a smaller version of the loader styles. I was wandering what size of hydraulics to use and how to attach it? Any help or links to the forum is apprectiated.
skid Grapple
- Thread starter hounded6
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well ... I got quite a bit done today. I don't really know if I am making it right or not. The CAD drawings are almost done though. Its basically based off of one of the HD grapple rakes from gatorattachments.com. I am doing custom demensions though because I don't know if my skid loader could handle to heavy of a grapple. I went looking for a hydaulic cylinder today. I havent really seen any sizes on this forum for demensions, so mine is a 10x2 stroke diameter. with a 1" 1/8 rod. working pressure is right around 2500 psi? Does this sound about right? I like the size and reach. I was wandering about how most people design there bushings? Do most people just use pipe and then greasable pins?
dex3361
Elite Member
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- Kubota L4400-1 HST,FEL, 3x3 remotes, TNT. BX1500 54 mmm
Sound close to what my Anbo grapple is. I is the GRM 66.
dfkrug
Super Member
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- Tractor
- 05 Kioti CK30HST w/ Prairie Dog backhoe, XN08 mini-X
I use 1.000 ID DOM tubing for bushings, and 25mm or 63/64" rod for pins.
There are many discussions about this. e.g.:
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/build-yourself/127693-dom-tubing-question.html
You might also look at the many many grapple threads, if you have not
already.
You don't say what kind of skidsteer you are designing this for. A run-of-
the-mill Bobcat delivers 3000psi or more, so be careful buying cheapo
2500psi cyls.
ETpilot
Gold Member
Before buying cylinders do the planning first. I am working on a FEL grapple. I have a wooden mock up done. I made a cylinder mock up of PVC pipe and EMT tubing. I had planned on using an 8" cylinder but when I tried it on the mock up, it did not open enough for me. I then changed to a 10" cylinder and that one would work great. I am ordering some steel tomorrow. I will probably get started in about 2 weeks when the steel gets here.
dfkrug
Super Member
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- 05 Kioti CK30HST w/ Prairie Dog backhoe, XN08 mini-X
Mock-ups are a very good way to go. Also, learning from the mistakes of
others is a Good Thing. There is plenty of work to do in the fabrication
without re-inventing every wheel, so-to-speak. For very complicated
projects, it is a good idea to even purchase plans. The cost of plans
are often much less than the cost of the mistakes made in designing
everything from scratch.
Thanks for all the feedback. I like the idea of using the rod for the pins. As for model construction. I plan on finding the right cylinder that I am looking for and designing it around that. Ya it might sound stupid, but I can match everything up in an animated solidworks assembly. I think this would also be more accurate in the end. Does anyone know if there would be to much stress on the pins if I made the top claw and cylinder detachable? So I could make it into just a bottom rake?
