# Lets see everybody's home made grapple or accumulator



## Ranger518 (Aug 6, 2016)

Just wondering if anybody has built ther own small square bale grapple or accumalator and if so if they would share some photos.


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## big_country (Aug 29, 2011)

This is the 10 Bale Grapple/Accumulator I built. Now I will be trying to build a 10 bale Accumulator.I will send you a PM with some information on it


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## Ranger518 (Aug 6, 2016)

big_country said:


> This is the 10 Bale Grapple/Accumulator I built. Now I will be trying to build a 10 bale Accumulator.


Looks great I like how you used bearings for the hook bars. What size and thickness steel did you use. Also are you going to build a accumulator for the front of the tractor or a towed type?


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## broadriverhay (Jun 13, 2014)

The gussets at the top of mine broke loose. They were similar to yours. I had to add some longer ones and have had no other problems for several years. I do haul bales up to a quarter mile to the barn. This is quite a strain on the grapple bouncing back and forth across the field.


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## Ranger518 (Aug 6, 2016)

Well I finely got some time to start my grapple projects this weekend and so far so good.


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## YODA (Oct 24, 2013)

Are all you folks planning on using a Accumulator, or are you planning to pick up individual bales in the field (group as you go). If the latter may I suggest a single removable side bar that you can swing against the bale to get it lined up to grab. I dont slide along the ground to gather as the fields are rough. I hook and unhook for my small 4 bale grapple. While I bought mine, I did add extra hooks so I can pick bales up both ways so I can cross stack as I load for stability. I found that sideways I needed at least 3 hooks per bale - 4 would have been better at times in one of my rough fields. A note of caution, position hooks clear of the tie string locations. I at first was having to re-tie a few.  I sometimes take the side bar off to unload and stack in the barn, but recently got good enough when using to work around it. Hope folks dont mind the thoughts. All your efforts look great.


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## Ranger518 (Aug 6, 2016)

YODA said:


> Are all you folks planning on using a Accumulator, or are you planning to pick up individual bales in the field (group as you go). If the latter may I suggest a single removable side bar that you can swing against the bale to get it lined up to grab. I dont slide along the ground to gather as the fields are rough. I hook and unhook for my small 4 bale grapple. While I bought mine, I did add extra hooks so I can pick bales up both ways so I can cross stack as I load for stability. I found that sideways I needed at least 3 hooks per bale - 4 would have been better at times in one of my rough fields. A note of caution, position hooks clear of the tie string locations. I at first was having to re-tie a few.  I sometimes take the side bar off to unload and stack in the barn, but recently got good enough when using to work around it. Hope folks dont mind the thoughts. All your efforts look great.


Yes i am going to be using a accumulator and have plans on building 1 side that will allow me to put it on the left or right side and also be able to remove it when not needed. I only have planes on using 2 hooks per bale but I will take a look and may add more if need be. Thanks for the info.


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## Wethay (Jul 17, 2015)

I bought an accumulator and bale handler for small squares, 4 bales wide by 2 long. I did not spend the $ for a rotator and found I could pick up a group of bales from the side. It's real nice to be able to do for a tie layer or to grab four bales from the side to put in between trailer fenders, etc. If I was to build something it would have the ability to grab bales from the side securely. Just my 2 cent, and with inflation and all.....


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## big_country (Aug 29, 2011)

Started on the accumulator


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## broadriverhay (Jun 13, 2014)

Started my 3pt hitch grapple today. I got most of the frame done today.


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## Ranger518 (Aug 6, 2016)

Here is my finley finished grapple.


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## Ranger518 (Aug 6, 2016)

broadriverhay said:


> Started my 3pt hitch grapple today. I got most of the frame done today.


Good deal lets see some pic when you get time!


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## broadriverhay (Jun 13, 2014)

Ok ,I'm making it just like a front grapple but 3pt so I ca haul 20 at a time. Sure will save a lot of time. Just don't know why I did not build it years ago.


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## Wethay (Jul 17, 2015)

Looks great. Somebody seeing that will ask what dealership you got from.


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## broadriverhay (Jun 13, 2014)

Ok Ranger518 here are some pictures. I will be a few weeks finishing up.


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## broadriverhay (Jun 13, 2014)

Just about done


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## broadriverhay (Jun 13, 2014)

Here is a picture


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## Ranger518 (Aug 6, 2016)

broadriverhay said:


> Here is a picture


Looks great! Did you make or buy the brackets that conect the hydraulic rod to the grape hook rods?


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## broadriverhay (Jun 13, 2014)

Made them, I only bought the hooks and hydraulic cylinder.


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## 68cuda (Dec 29, 2016)

Can i ask what did you use for the 1 1/4 that the hooks attach to tubing or solid square shaft


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## broadriverhay (Jun 13, 2014)

Tubing , that's what the WR Long has that I bought.


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## broadriverhay (Jun 13, 2014)

Well it's all finished


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## Lewis Ranch (Jul 15, 2013)

Now I have never seen one on the 3pt, that right there is slick.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Lewis Ranch said:


> Now I have never seen one on the 3pt, that right there is slick.


I thought the very same thing.

Regards, Mike


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## Wethay (Jul 17, 2015)

Looks nice. I'm sitting here thinking that it would be real handy having one on the back. Now I'll ask the stupid questions, The upright tube on the back left, parking stand? Why the eye on top? What size of cylinder did you end up using?


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## broadriverhay (Jun 13, 2014)

Parking stand and the eye is to put your finger in to lift the stand. The eye bolt was laying in the shop and seemed like a good idea. Cylinder is 3" X 8" stroke with 1 1/4" shaft. I haul my hay from the field to the barn with the grapple. I feel stupid I have been doing that with just the front grapple for about 5 years and did not think of building one for the 3 pt hitch. This will really cut down on hauling time. I should be able to put 300 to 400 in the barn per hour depending on how far I have to haul.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

A close up of your three point hook-up detail could be useful to our members....and what did you do for the third function for the 3 point grapple or do you have only the lift for the 3 point on one scv and hook set on another scv?

Regards, Mike


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

I got it now.....pretty simple and very cool. I zoomed your pics and clarified.

Regards, Mike


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## broadriverhay (Jun 13, 2014)

I will get some more pictures when I unhook it.


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## Wethay (Jul 17, 2015)

I try to load my hay out of the field onto customers trailers. Instead of trying to get them to drive around the field and always be in the wrong spot if I get enough time I group enough together in one place to make a load. I was thinking that it made sense to reduce the time bouncing across the field. If you don't mind me asking, how much jingle would a guy need in his pocket before starting such a project?


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## broadriverhay (Jun 13, 2014)

About $800


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## broadriverhay (Jun 13, 2014)

I made everything except the cylinder and hooks . They came from Agri Supply.


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## Beav (Feb 14, 2016)

I wish I could weld that well, I really think the 3 point was a great idea are there any available from dealers? How many hours did it take to finish? Looks great


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## broadriverhay (Jun 13, 2014)

Never did see one for sale anywhere. I looked for images of one but never found any. I did not keep up with the time but probably about 40 hours. The small parts are time consuming to make to make . Cutting the aluminum blocks and drilling all the holes for the 1 1/4" tubing that go through took quite a while. And also making the parts for the hook actuator took a lot of time.


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## broadriverhay (Jun 13, 2014)

More pictures of 3 pt grapple. And thanks for the great comments. Vol scolded me so here are the pictures. LOL. Vol has to keep me straight.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

broadriverhay said:


> More pictures of 3 pt grapple. And thanks for the great comments. Vol scolded me so here are the pictures. LOL. Vol has to keep me straight.


First class job! Your work is as neat as a pin. I think you took a overlooked idea and made folks aware of how to cut bale to barn movement nearly in half.

Regards, Mike


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## IH 1586 (Oct 16, 2014)

Might have to think about doing this someday. Sure would be a time saver.


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## Ranger518 (Aug 6, 2016)

Finley had some time to get my accumulator built. Built out of SCH 40 1" pipe that I bent, notched and used but weld elbows.


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## broadriverhay (Jun 13, 2014)

I built the rear grapple


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## Toenden2 (Jan 30, 2017)

Couldn't one just get a loaderbracket for the 3pt and use a normal loader graple in the rear or am I missing something? The whole idea about a rear graple is nice. ????

/mads


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## broadriverhay (Jun 13, 2014)

Yes but why when you can build one much cheaper.


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## Green Fields (Jul 25, 2014)

That grapple on the back of a tractor is a good idea but it's by no means new. I have some farmhand lit that shows that, might be from the 1960s I'd have to check.

I have a homemade grapple that I made several years ago but it's not that pretty so I'm not posting pics. lol I used hooks from an earlier version I made back in 1988, I made them out of old 1/2 inch silo hoops and and they have worked for me for almost 30years now. But I wouldn't bother making my own now since you can buy then several places pretty cheap these days. I mean the hooks.


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## Palmettokat (Jul 10, 2017)

My guess is you get all the parts, cut to size and holes drilled, you could fine a factory or such welder who would do it on the side if welder was available. If not there were welding shops around.


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## Toenden2 (Jan 30, 2017)

Sorry forgot about the home made part of the thread ????

It just seemed some of the readers liked the idea of a rear grapple bit didn't have time nor skills to create one (myself incl.) So just trying to clarify if I missed a point.

/mads


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## farmer85 (Jul 2, 2014)

Can someone show the bearings or bushings that the square tubing goes through for the grapples closer? I don't quite get how that is being done. I read someone say they used aluminum blocks so I guess its a bushing but how is it kept in place and not walking from side to side? Thanks


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## Ranger518 (Aug 6, 2016)

farmer85 said:


> Can someone show the bearings or bushings that the square tubing goes through for the grapples closer? I don't quite get how that is being done. I read someone say they used aluminum blocks so I guess its a bushing but how is it kept in place and not walking from side to side? Thanks


I used 1" block bearings with 1" round stock with square tubing slid over it


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## broadriverhay (Jun 13, 2014)

The channel iron on one side is solid, the other side has a hole bored in it . Then when assembled a thin plate goes between the bushing or bearing and the channel iron. Since a slow and only a 90 degree rotation is needed then a bearing is not really necessary but I guess is nice.


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## Ranger518 (Aug 6, 2016)

broadriverhay said:


> The channel iron on one side is solid, the other side has a hole bored in it . Then when assembled a thin plate goes between the bushing or bearing and the channel iron. Since a slow and only a 90 degree rotation is needed then a bearing is not really necessary but I guess is nice.


Yea I would agree that bearings are way over kill and not real neassary and a piece of sch 40 pipe welded in place would work good. But i the bearings real cheep and they were fast and easy to use.


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## ksstang (Oct 6, 2017)

All these look great!! I'm looking to build one like this for my skid loader. If anyone has any blueprints, sketches, materials list, etc that they used while building theirs, I would love to see them!!

Thanks,

Kyle


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## glasswrongsize (Sep 15, 2015)

ksstang said:


> All these look great!! I'm looking to build one like this for my skid loader. If anyone has any blueprints, sketches, materials list, etc that they used while building theirs, I would love to see them!!
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Kyle


http://www.haytalk.com/forums/topic/68786-fabri-cobbled-a-grapple/#entry690778


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## StrongBull (Jun 1, 2020)

So i've read all the posts. Is my understanding correct that the square tubing rotates around the solid 1" bar? or is the square tubing welded to the 1" round material and the bearings manage the rotation?

Thanks -wanting to build my own and with the money saved buy a new welder.


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## Green Fields (Jul 25, 2014)

StrongBull said:


> So i've read all the posts. Is my understanding correct that the square tubing rotates around the solid 1" bar? or is the square tubing welded to the 1" round material and the bearings manage the rotation?
> 
> Thanks -wanting to build my own and with the money saved buy a new welder.


Pretty sure everyone welds the square tubing to the round bar. But I'm working on building a grapple now (my third and hopefully best one) and I'm using solid 1 1/4" squares, the hooks I bought are supposed to be for 1 1/4 inch square. I just got done welding 1 1/4" dia short pieces of solid round bar to the ends to go in 1 1/4" bearings.


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## Ranger518 (Aug 6, 2016)

I slide 1” solid round rod all the way through my tubing which is way overkill but it it stout as can be and should last forever.


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## StrongBull (Jun 1, 2020)

Green Fields said:


> Pretty sure everyone welds the square tubing to the round bar. But I'm working on building a grapple now (my third and hopefully best one) and I'm using solid 1 1/4" squares, the hooks I bought are supposed to be for 1 1/4 inch square. I just got done welding 1 1/4" dia short pieces of solid round bar to the ends to go in 1 1/4" bearings.


Thanks Green Fields - That's what I thought. I can now plan the build. Curious as to why your going solid squares and not just a solid round bar all the way through the sq tubing? To bad they don't make a square bearing


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## Ranger518 (Aug 6, 2016)

They do make square bearings I just used round do to I got them really cheap.


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## StrongBull (Jun 1, 2020)

Ranger518 said:


> They do make square bearings I just used round do to I got them really cheap.


Damn, learn something new everyday!


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## Green Fields (Jul 25, 2014)

StrongBull said:


> Thanks Green Fields - That's what I thought. I can now plan the build. Curious as to why your going solid squares and not just a solid round bar all the way through the sq tubing? To bad they don't make a square bearing


I guess I could've done that but the hooks I bought from Agrisupply are made for 1 1/4 inch squares, I never bought 1 1/4 inch square tubing, not even sure my steel supply place sells that and not sure what size round bar would go inside and I think it might be less money to just buy the solid square. I didn't put anything thru the 1 1/2 inch square tubing I used on my current grapple. I welded some short pipe pieces on the outside on the ends and on the middle and just used short pipe to go over that pipe for the bearings. Don't really need bearings not like anything is spinning. The support piece down the middle is important anything will bend without that, I found that out on the first grapple I cobbled together. Really ugly looking thing but it worked.

And yeah as Ranger posted they do make square bearings for discs but they are not cheap, I looked into that because yeah that would save some work if they were anywhere near as cheap as round bearings.


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## StrongBull (Jun 1, 2020)

Hi Everyone

What do you think of my universal grappler design. This is a ten bale grappler designed to manage any length of bale 36, 38, 40, or 42 inches. The green bars are the solid rounds with hooks. Blue and orange colors are bale lengths. yellow is the bale width. bales are arranged end to end with the yellow bales turned sideways. I buy my hay so i have to accommodate a variety of lengths.


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## Ranger518 (Aug 6, 2016)

StrongBull said:


> Hi Everyone
> 
> What do you think of my universal grappler design. This is a ten bale grappler designed to manage any length of bale 36, 38, 40, or 42 inches. The green bars are the solid rounds with hooks. Blue and orange colors are bale lengths. yellow is the bale width. bales are arranged end to end with the yellow bales turned sideways. I buy my hay so i have to accommodate a variety of lengths.


Took me a while to understand it but I think I do now only issue I would see is when you make a 36" bale it is going to be hard to make right stacks into a barn do to your grapple is going to be sticking past the bales and won't allow you to. But if you make a 38" plus size bale doesn't look like you will have a issue.


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## StrongBull (Jun 1, 2020)

Yeah Ranger518 you figured it out. 

If the bales are shorter than the maximum length of the grappler you can only stack side by side not in front of an existing stack as the grappler is too long.

My dilemma is I have to buy hay so I have to accommodate variable bale lengths. I suspect the most common bale length is 36" as that gives you a ten bale arrangement thats 7 and 1/2 feet long - the width of a trailer. I haven't started building yet so I might just design for a 36" / 38" bale only.


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## r82230 (Mar 1, 2016)

How about doubling your hooks on the front bar. Longer bales would be double hooked, is my thinking (could be wrong again  ).

Larry


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## StrongBull (Jun 1, 2020)

The Length will be 95". I'm placing holes at 12, 24, 35, 47, 69, and 83". This will allow for some variability of bale lengths. Pics show 2 4" C channels clamped together, and tack welded so the holes I cut will be aligned. Closeup and Slug shows how my annular cutter cuts through 2 clamped pieces of steel - It doesn't! it stops when finished with one. I have to pull that slug out to finish. The holes pic show the hole spacing The width edge to edge will be 83 1/4" giving an inside clearance of about 80". 1" cold rolled rods are 84" in length. I used 150 grit sand paper to remove surface imperfections on the rods. More pics to follow as i progress. Next up is drilling the mounting holes for the pillow block bearings, while the 2 C channels are clamped. (bearings at https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XYW3PPS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1). Before installing the bearings make sure the grease zerk is tight and grease them up a bit. Also I left room between the 1 1/4 square tubing and the end of the rod so i can slide the bearing out from under the C channel to grease if I need too. Also my usage of the grappler is just to unload from a trailer and stack in the barn.

ok its done and it works. You can see my "oops" actuator arm. I didn't extend the hydraulic cylinder completely before setting the anchor point on the arm. As you can see i destroyed it quite well.

What would I do differently?

I think i would use rectangular tubing instead of C-channel and angle iron to form the frame.


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## broadriverhay (Jun 13, 2014)

If you pickup the stack with the tie bales against the back of the grapple bale length usually is not and issue. With the grapple on the back I only haul bales with the tie bales against the backstop of both front and rear grapples. Then when I go to put the bales in the barn , the front stack goes in the barn as I carried it down the field . The rear stack gets set down then picked up with the front grapple which puts the tie bales at the front . This gives me the staggering of the tie bales which makes the stacks more stable. Hopes this makes sense.


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## Bf456 (Aug 13, 2017)

Mine has at least 4 hooks each bale on front row. 3 on most others. Added in due to loose bale problems.
Definitely spend extra time making your side fence swing up above to protect hooks when not in use. Great for rubbing on shed rafters rather than ripping rafter and iron off shed roof. Mine pins on and off. Pain, wish it just swung up 180 deg.


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