Home-Built Brush Grapple
Picking up brush and downed tree limbs is a breeze for Ken Calvert since he built a brush grapple for the front-end loader on his 68 hp Kubota tractor. Between ice storms, tornadoes and drought, Ken Calvert has lots of limbs and brush to move on his 300-acre property in East Texas.
"I just scoop the branches with the forks to line them up, clamp down on them and move them wherever I want to," Calvert says.
"All of the material to build the grapple came from my scrap pile," he adds, noting that he and his son are construction engineers. "The only thing I bought was the hydraulic cylinder and a lot of welding rods."
The double-acting hydraulic cylinder has a force of about 12,000 lbs. and opens the mouth of the grapple up to 60 in. The forks and grapple raise about 10 ft., and the loader is capable of lifting 3,800 lbs. without counterbalance weights on the back. Calvert limits loads to about 1,000 lbs.
He made the upright pieces out of 2 by 6-in. channel iron. Angles were calculated so the grapple is perpendicular to the forks.
"The thing that was most critical is the 2 3/8-in. OD tubing that pins the grapple," Calvert says. "It was tedious to make sure it was in line within 0.0006 of an inch."
He designed a latching T mechanism that allows him to take the grapple off and just use the forks or to attach other front-end implements.
Calvert uses the grapple mostly to move brush, but also moves rebar and other iron. It also holds big round hay bales.
"I have approximately $300 in the grapple," he says. "A commercial device of this type, but not nearly as big or versatile, sells for about $2,500."
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Ken Calvert, 1321 Jeffries St., Lindale, Texas 75771 (ph 903 882-9994; kenbcalvert@sbcglobal.net).
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Home-Built Brush Grapple MISCELLANEOUS EQUIPMENT Miscellaneous Picking up brush and downed tree limbs is a breeze for Ken Calvert since he built a brush grapple for the front-end loader on his 68 hp Kubota tractor Between ice storms tornadoes and drought Ken Calvert has lots of limbs and brush to move on his 300-acre property in East Texas I just scoop the branches with the forks to line them up clamp down on them and move them wherever I want to Calvert says All of the material to build the grapple came from my scrap pile he adds noting that he and his son are construction engineers The only thing I bought was the hydraulic cylinder and a lot of welding rods The double-acting hydraulic cylinder has a force of about 12 000 lbs and opens the mouth of the grapple up to 60 in The forks and grapple raise about 10 ft and the loader is capable of lifting 3 800 lbs without counterbalance weights on the back Calvert limits loads to about 1 000 lbs He made the upright pieces out of 2 by 6-in channel iron Angles were calculated so the grapple is perpendicular to the forks The thing that was most critical is the 2 3/8-in OD tubing that pins the grapple Calvert says It was tedious to make sure it was in line within 0 0006 of an inch He designed a latching T mechanism that allows him to take the grapple off and just use the forks or to attach other front-end implements Calvert uses the grapple mostly to move brush but also moves rebar and other iron It also holds big round hay bales I have approximately $300 in the grapple he says A commercial device of this type but not nearly as big or versatile sells for about $2 500 Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Ken Calvert 1321 Jeffries St Lindale Texas 75771 ph 903 882-9994; kenbcalvert@sbcglobal net
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