Grapple blade?

[Greg]

I like the snow blade Dusty made for his tractorhttp://www.orangetractortalks.com/forums/showthread.php?t=947, and i think I will make one for mine. But I was thinking....

I am going to be adding 2 grapple cylinders to my loader bucket this spring. Has anyone ever heard of mounting a blade to the bucket in similar fashion to a grapple? I would like to be able to push the snow around with the blade, and then simply flip the blade back to open the bucket to move the snow if needed. I don't see any reason why this wouldn't work. Snow Blade all winter, grapple all summer.

Any thoughts?

 

[Eric McCarthy]

Sounds like the same concept as a 4in1 bucket.

 

[Greg]

It's not quite the same. It's a lot less complex and a lot lighter. The fact that is would change to grapple in minutes makes it a lot more versatile.

(would also be a hell of a lot cheaper to )

 

[dusty-t]

Hi Greg. Is what you are thinking of a blade that would pivot down in front of the bucket and hinging above and behind the bucket. If so are you thinking of making them into a separate quick attach system to switch between grapple and blade or integrate them so that the grapple is permanent and the blade can pin to the top of the grapple in some way. This is a very Coool!! idea and you really need to keep us posted on your plans. P.S. I am including a pic of the huge skid plates I had to build to keep that blade from heading for China.......Dusty

 

[Greg]

Hi Greg. Is what you are thinking of a blade that would pivot down in front of the bucket and hinging above and behind the bucket. If so are you thinking of making them into a separate quick attach system to switch between grapple and blade or integrate them so that the grapple is permanent and the blade can pin to the top of the grapple in some way. This is a very Coool!! idea and you really need to keep us posted on your plans. P.S. I am including a pic of the huge skid plates I had to build to keep that blade from heading for China.......Dusty

Dusty, you're on the money on my line of thinking. At first thought, my blade would have been a separate quick attach piece of equipment. But then I realized the most difficult part of that build is the hinge/quick attach part of it. Since I will already be designing and building this into my grapple tines, I figured I would simply design the tines with holes to quick attach the blade. I will be building 2 sets of grapple tines, short for holding logs and rocks and the like, and a longer 3' long pair for hold brush and branches when I have fork tines mounted on the bucket. I will have a very modular tractor this time next year!

This build will happen, but not until I get my tractor in good running condition. But I will post plenty of pictures. I also like the skid plates and will incorperate them into my build, thanks for the heads up on that.