He Built A Massive Homemade Grapple
“The grapple fork we wanted for our 2 1/2-yd. bucket was going to cost nearly $13,000 Canadian with a 12 to 16-week wait time for delivery, so I decided to build one myself. My savings was nearly $4,500,” says Justin Lutz, a rancher near Irvine, Alberta, and a heavy-duty mechanic in the oil and gas industry.
Although he’s not a welder or fabricator by trade, Lutz knew what he wanted. He penciled out his bucket idea on paper and turned it over to Jordan Thomson of JD Designs. Thomson created CAD files so Lutz could make sure the grapple would work before he started fabricating CNC parts.
“The first priority was to build a really strong grapple because it was for a Case 721 industrial wheel loader rather than an ag tractor,” Lutz says. “It needed to handle all types of jobs in all types of weather. In the summer, we’d use it for cleaning corrals, moving big bales, loading dirt and rock, and in the winter, it would fill the feed wagon, move bales, and push snow.”
Lutz says he researched several designs and found that some forks were made out of thinner materials that weren’t properly reinforced, so they wouldn’t last. His grapple mounting brackets and teeth are made of 3/4-in. thick steel. He reinforced the back of the bucket where the brackets mount with 1/2-in. plate steel for added strength.
Lutz made the tooth bar out of 4-in. square by 3/8-in. thick tubing. Teeth mount on 1/2-in. thick plates, and the tooth bar bolts to the main grapple arms with 5/8-in. Grade 8 bolts. All of the pins are bolted in to prevent them from rotating and wearing.
The cylinders to operate the massive grapple have a 3-in. bore and a 20-in. stroke operating under 3000 psi working pressure. He disassembled the cylinders and had a machine shop build 2-in. stroke limiters to meet his design specifications.
Lutz says the bucket lifts 2,500 lbs. of dry material just over 12 ft., which is high enough to dump silage and forage into their 700T vertical mix wagon. The grapples can grab and easily handle two 1,300 to 1,600 lb. large round bales.
“I didn’t keep track of the time it took to build the grapple because I built it in steps at night after work on my main job,” Lutz says. “I’m a self-taught welder and did all the work with an old Miller pipe pro that I bought from a pipe welding professional. It worked great using 7018 sticks with different rod diameters and lots of multi-pass welding because of the material thickness.”
Lutz says his grapple does exactly what they want it to do and can take the breakaway lift and carry capacity of a high horsepower wheel loader. “I built it out of heavy-duty, high-quality materials, and it’s finished with bolted-in lift pins and reinforced hoses that should wear well for a long time,” Lutz adds.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Justin Lutz, Rusty Rose Mechanical, Box 258, Irvine, Alberta, Canada T0J 1V0.
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He Built A Massive Homemade Grapple MISCELLANEOUS EQUIPMENT Miscellaneous “The grapple fork we wanted for our 2 1/2-yd bucket was going to cost nearly $13 000 Canadian with a 12 to 16-week wait time for delivery so I decided to build one myself My savings was nearly $4 500 ” says Justin Lutz a rancher near Irvine Alberta and a heavy-duty mechanic in the oil and gas industry Although he’s not a welder or fabricator by trade Lutz knew what he wanted He penciled out his bucket idea on paper and turned it over to Jordan Thomson of JD Designs Thomson created CAD files so Lutz could make sure the grapple would work before he started fabricating CNC parts “The first priority was to build a really strong grapple because it was for a Case 721 industrial wheel loader rather than an ag tractor ” Lutz says “It needed to handle all types of jobs in all types of weather In the summer we’d use it for cleaning corrals moving big bales loading dirt and rock and in the winter it would fill the feed wagon move bales and push snow ” Lutz says he researched several designs and found that some forks were made out of thinner materials that weren’t properly reinforced so they wouldn’t last His grapple mounting brackets and teeth are made of 3/4-in thick steel He reinforced the back of the bucket where the brackets mount with 1/2-in plate steel for added strength Lutz made the tooth bar out of 4-in square by 3/8-in thick tubing Teeth mount on 1/2-in thick plates and the tooth bar bolts to the main grapple arms with 5/8-in Grade 8 bolts All of the pins are bolted in to prevent them from rotating and wearing The cylinders to operate the massive grapple have a 3-in bore and a 20-in stroke operating under 3000 psi working pressure He disassembled the cylinders and had a machine shop build 2-in stroke limiters to meet his design specifications Lutz says the bucket lifts 2 500 lbs of dry material just over 12 ft which is high enough to dump silage and forage into their 700T vertical mix wagon The grapples can grab and easily handle two 1 300 to 1 600 lb large round bales “I didn’t keep track of the time it took to build the grapple because I built it in steps at night after work on my main job ” Lutz says “I’m a self-taught welder and did all the work with an old Miller pipe pro that I bought from a pipe welding professional It worked great using 7018 sticks with different rod diameters and lots of multi-pass welding because of the material thickness ” Lutz says his grapple does exactly what they want it to do and can take the breakaway lift and carry capacity of a high horsepower wheel loader “I built it out of heavy-duty high-quality materials and it’s finished with bolted-in lift pins and reinforced hoses that should wear well for a long time ” Lutz adds Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Justin Lutz Rusty Rose Mechanical Box 258 Irvine Alberta Canada T0J 1V0
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