Home-Built Grapple Made Tough
John Betka figures he’ll get more years of use out of his $250 home-built grapple than he would from a $1,600 grapple. It’s already proven to be a useful piece of equipment for moving trees, lifting slash, and transporting boulders around his Walkerville, Montana, property.
“It’s strong, works great, and it’s on a quick-tach adaptor,” Betka says.
He started with a set of forks and built the grapple out of 1018 mild 1/2-in. steel with 3/8-in. steel tubing on the top bar.
“The front and rear arms for the hydraulic cylinder are 1 by 2 1/2-in. steel with 1-in. dia. holes drilled to accommodate the rear cylinder pivot point and the front pivot points, which are adjustable for height and pull,” he explains, adding that he reinforced the front and rear of the arms with 90-degree 1 by 2-in. steel. The grapple opens up to 6 ft. vertically to grab a lot of material at a time.
“The hardest part was the hydraulics - getting the cylinder in the right position to lift and drop without too much force and to set the pressure right,” Betka says.
He used a 24-in. long double-acting cylinder with a 3 by 12-in throw and 3,200 psi.
He estimates that the grapple weighs between 400 and 500 lbs., and it works well on his medium-size tractor.
Betka says he will offer advice to anyone interested in making a grapple, and he emphasizes the importance of good welding skills.
“It uses a lot of torque, and therefore it must be welded well and well-reinforced. Otherwise, the operation of the cylinder will pull the front and rear arms right off the cross braces the cylinder is attached to,” he says.
With planning and attention to detail, Betka has been pleased with how well it works. “I made it myself because I like things that work,” he says.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, John Betka, Walkerville, Mont. 59701 (ph 406 490-2980; upskyranch@crbart.com).
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Home-Built Grapple Made Tough MISCELLANEOUS EQUIPMENT Miscellaneous ohn Betka figures he’ll get more years of use out of his $250 home-built grapple than he would from a $1 600 grapple It’s already proven to be a useful piece of equipment for moving trees lifting slash and transporting boulders around his Walkerville Montana property
“It’s strong works great and it’s on a quick-tach adaptor ” Betka says
He started with a set of forks and built the grapple out of 1018 mild 1/2-in steel with 3/8-in steel tubing on the top bar
“The front and rear arms for the hydraulic cylinder are 1 by 2 1/2-in steel with 1-in dia holes drilled to accommodate the rear cylinder pivot point and the front pivot points which are adjustable for height and pull ” he explains adding that he reinforced the front and rear of the arms with 90-degree 1 by 2-in steel The grapple opens up to 6 ft vertically to grab a lot of material at a time
“The hardest part was the hydraulics - getting the cylinder in the right position to lift and drop without too much force and to set the pressure right ” Betka says
He used a 24-in long double-acting cylinder with a 3 by 12-in throw and 3 200 psi
He estimates that the grapple weighs between 400 and 500 lbs and it works well on his medium-size tractor
Betka says he will offer advice to anyone interested in making a grapple and he emphasizes the importance of good welding skills
“It uses a lot of torque and therefore it must be welded well and well-reinforced Otherwise the operation of the cylinder will pull the front and rear arms right off the cross braces the cylinder is attached to ” he says
With planning and attention to detail Betka has been pleased with how well it works “I made it myself because I like things that work ” he says
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup John Betka Walkerville Mont 59701 ph 406 490-2980; upskyranch@crbart com
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