Being a mechanical engineer, I seem to always have projects going on at home. If I need a piece of equipment I just design it and then build it. This is the latest addition to our pile of equipment. Looked at a lot of grapples, seems anything at the $1k range wasn't going to hold up for us, and I wasn't about to pay what Deere wants. So it began, design took me about a month to get all dialed in, then another month for plasma cutting the parts.
Ended up installing a divert valve on the tractor then wired in a push button switch to flip the solenoids on or off. Unplugged my bucket tilt, then jumped the fluid to my solenoid valves, wired the one side NO off the relay and the other side NC. Plugged bucket tilt in to one side of this valve and grapple to other side. This way bucket tilt would still operate as it always has, tilt joystick left bucket up tilt it right bucket down. To operate my grapple I push the button which flips which solenoid is engaged (push button is mounted within my joystick ergo grip so I can push it w my thumb). Now my left joystick opens the grapple and right joystick closes it.
Works great and was way cheaper than buying all the hydraulic valves and controls from Deere. Can't wait to put it to work this winter.
Attached are some pics of right after I got it hooked up.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Ended up installing a divert valve on the tractor then wired in a push button switch to flip the solenoids on or off. Unplugged my bucket tilt, then jumped the fluid to my solenoid valves, wired the one side NO off the relay and the other side NC. Plugged bucket tilt in to one side of this valve and grapple to other side. This way bucket tilt would still operate as it always has, tilt joystick left bucket up tilt it right bucket down. To operate my grapple I push the button which flips which solenoid is engaged (push button is mounted within my joystick ergo grip so I can push it w my thumb). Now my left joystick opens the grapple and right joystick closes it.
Works great and was way cheaper than buying all the hydraulic valves and controls from Deere. Can't wait to put it to work this winter.
Attached are some pics of right after I got it hooked up.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk