2024 - Volume #48, Issue #2, Page #03
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He Made A Concave Grapple
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“We were putting new concaves in our John Deere 680 combines, and I suddenly had the idea that the used ones might work for a grapple,” Madsen says. “I started tinkering and building, and it came together quite easily.”
The spring steel Sunnybrook concaves were already manufactured strong and became the perfect top and bottom sections of the fork. Madsen built his own adapter mount for his skid steer and welded brackets for hydraulic cylinder connections. He used old shafts from an air drill for the hinging operation.
“I put two cylinders on the top grapple, one on each side,” Madsen says. “It tilts to any angle with the skid steer.”
The strong grapple works well for jobs like clearing trees, and back blading gravel as the rocks flow through the holes in the concaves while driving. It’ll even scoop dirt when tilted all the way over.
“I can ram trees with them, and the concaves don’t bend,” Madsen laughs. “I cut a bunch of maples off at about 6 ft. high and then knocked them over with the grapple and picked them up by the roots. They were super heavy, but it’ll lift about as much as the skid steer can handle.”
Madsen recommends anyone building their own concave grapple fork should ensure it’s welded properly, as he had to go back and reweld in some places.
He estimates he spent about $500 for the two new hydraulic cylinders and hoses.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Kurt Madsen, P.O. Box # 41, Theodore, Sask., Canada S0A 4C0 (ph 306-521-0097; Kurtmdsn2@gmail.com).
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