Grapple mounting

Britanne87

Treehouser
Joined
Sep 22, 2022
Messages
12
Location
Iowa
So my dad has a grapple mounted on an old b model Mack. It was bought on eBay for 1500$ rescued from being junked. It has some issues for sure. he uses it to pick up rocks for his business which wouldn't be a problem except he literally has tow bar on the front that he hooks up to his gmc dump truck and pulls the thing. I'll post pictures soon just so you get an idea of what he's working with. I want to help him figure out a a way to mount the grapple part onto one of his dump trucks and was wondering if anyone had any ideas bc this way is so inefficient not to mention if the DOT saw this operation they'd shut it down for sure and probably fine him an ungodly amount. Any help appreciated!!
 
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  • #4
Welcome to the house. Ol “B” model, that takes me back. Why won’t it drive under its own power?
Well it will for sure but when he's out picking up rocks out of fields he has to have the dump truck to put them in to haul them to his farm til he takes them to wherever they're going. Boulders anywhere from softball sized to 6+ feet
 
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  • #5
Welcome to the tree house. Can't wait to see the project.
Well im no engineer but I have welded once. However my dad said my welding privileges have been revoked. Apparently 4 boxes of welding rods is too much to use on a Pinterest project. But anyways I'm more or less kind of hoping to kick around ideas with anyone that has any because like I said I'm no engineer. An old man said to me the other day "you're very interesting. You know a little about a lot of things... Just enough to be dangerous." So take that how you will but here I am 🤓
 
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  • #9
I must have overlooked the project thread. Im new this whole forum thing lol it's foreign to me
 
Welding thread.
 
Here's Kyles project thread. But there's more.
 
I'm just a welder owner guy, LOL. What I know is this sort of weld can see a massive amount of strain. So giving that to a guy who actually can weld for good is strongly advised.
But I can't wait to see the details of your project.
 
So that gets towed on highway but mostly lives off highway? And if I understand correctly you want a place to stow he grapple while in transport?.
BTW howdy!
 
Ok, how I understand it is that you want to mount the whole crane setup on an other truck. It isn't just a matter of the grapel itself.
If so, basically, ditch the old almost dead truck, rescue the crane and give it an other life on one of your father's dump trucks.
Then, if you want a smiling dot guy (if that ever existed somewhere), bolting the crane on the truck's frame is probably the way to go. First, it is removable if needed, and two, it wouldn't mess up the structural integrity of the frame (if not a top pro welder).
 
We need some better pictures of how it's joined to the truck frame please, which will also show how they're powering it. Obviously pto, but is the hydraulic system on the truck or the boom. Not sure what you had in mind but keeping it on a trailer that he can pull behind a dump truck would likely be the best setup, mainly because dump trucks don't usually have a bunch of extra capacity or room.
 
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  • #19
@Britanne87 that does look..... creative :lol:. Do you have pictures of what you want to mount it on?
We need some better pictures of how it's joined to the truck frame please, which will also show how they're powering it. Obviously pto, but is the hydraulic system on the truck or the boom. Not sure what you had in mind but keeping it on a trailer that he can pull behind a dump truck would likely be the best setup, mainly because dump trucks don't usually have a bunch of extra capacity or room.
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  • #20
I don't think the EPA would approve of this beasy either. I saw a sticker on an old cabover Pete once that said CERTIFIED DIRTY IDLE on it 😂 that's what this thing needs. See I was thinking the frame is long enough for a dump box right on it but since the Mack is on its last leg why not just take it all off down to the frame and start over with a donor truck maybe. My dad worked on trucks his whole life bc my family owns a gravel company so he could do it. Maybe it's harder than it looks idk 🤷🤓
 
I don't think the EPA would approve of this beasy either. I saw a sticker on an old cabover Pete once that said CERTIFIED DIRTY IDLE on it 😂 that's what this thing needs. See I was thinking the frame is long enough for a dump box right on it but since the Mack is on its last leg why not just take it all off down to the frame and start over with a donor truck maybe. My dad worked on trucks his whole life bc my family owns a gravel company so he could do it. Maybe it's harder than it looks idk 🤷🤓
Love the dirty idle ...
Anyway, having the hydraulics and such is huge. So is having a donor truck. Already has out riggers?
 
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  • #23
Love the dirty idle ...
Anyway, having the hydraulics and such is huge. So is having a donor truck. Already has out riggers?
Yes it has the outriggers etc that's why I was wondering if it would be easier to just strip the cab and start fresh so not only the dot and epa will be happy but it won't look like jeepers creepers-ish 😂
 
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  • #25
Lol sometimes this is what his dump truck looks like except with rocks
 

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