[BalaamsJackass]

[QUOTE="Montana Dan, pos'
John Deere AP11F Is made by Frontier. I'd as soon get something off Amazon.

 

[BOBL]

The JD forks are very good forks. Tough as nails and there is a model for every machine.

 

[rtgt]

John Deere AP11F Is made by Frontier.

Frontier doesn't "make" anything. They contract vendors like Woods and others to make implements for them.

The mechanical grapple you bought is most likely made by Westendorf and is basically the same as the "Brush Crusher" mechanical grapple they sell under their own name.

I am not sure who makes the pallet forks for Frontier. I haven't heard of any failures or issues with Frontier pallet forks.

You didn't listen when several told you not to get a mechanical grapple. If you want to strike out twice, most of your Amazon hits for pallet forks will be Titan.

 

[BalaamsJackass]

Frontier doesn't "make" anything. They contract vendors like Woods and others to make implements for them.

The mechanical grapple you bought is most likely made by Westendorf and is basically the same as the "Brush Crusher" mechanical grapple they sell under their own name.

I am not sure who makes the pallet forks for Frontier. I haven't heard of any failures or issues with Frontier pallet forks.

You didn't listen when several told you not to get a mechanical grapple. If you want to strike out twice, most of your Amazon hits for pallet forks will be Titan.

My JD guy says he has some Frontier pallet forks for $1400. Hopefully I can sell the grapple for about $2000 and at least break even, maybe even come out ahead.

 

[DRobinson]

My JD guy says he has some Frontier pallet forks for $1400. Hopefully I can sell the grapple for about $2000 and at least break even, maybe even come out ahead.

Good luck.

 

[RacenJason]

Glad i came across this post. I got a frontier mechanical grapple in March, have used it to clean up about 6 acres so far with many more to go. I have not noticed any issues or even had a pin bend, but i will be keeping an eye out. thanks for the info.

 

[BOBL]

Kenny,
I actually went to my dealer to look at this out of curiosity. My now retired engineering mind found a simple way to "help" with this issue.

Note that the lower jaw contact points are adjusted low in almost every case, allowing the lower jaw to open as wide as possible. Doing this places an extreme pulling force on the pin, which eventually leads to failure.

By adjusting the grapple and placing the boom stops in their highest position the majority of the force is now transferred to the pins downward. This helps to eliminate the pulling force on the pin associated with the extreme opening of the grapple jaws. You can't change physics.

 

[jbihlman]

Note that the lower jaw contact points are adjusted low in almost every case, allowing the lower jaw to open as wide as possible. Doing this places an extreme pulling force on the pin, which eventually leads to failure.

By adjusting the grapple and placing the boom stops in their highest position the majority of the force is now transferred to the pins downward. This helps to eliminate the pulling force on the pin associated with the extreme opening of the grapple jaws. You can't change physics.

The Brushcrusher has adjustments. Unfortunately for the Frontier MG20F, it has no adjustment for the lower jaw position. Its boom stop is fixed, so the jaw hangs open very wide unless we do a modification to it. I posted in another thread on this issue with a rough free body diagram of the exact thing you are talking about and I 100% agree with you on the forces and their directions. A force directed perpendicular to the lower jaw tines pulls the pins with a force roughly 2.5 times that (rough scaled dimensions still, I haven't taken a tape measure to it).
I would like to weld additional steel to the lower jaw so that it is not allowed to fall much below horizontal, but still contacts the same location on the underside of the loader arms. I'm confident this would eliminate the problem. I'd lose a bit of opening grapple distance but it appears there would still be plenty of room with the top jaw curling open.

 

[Kennyd]

Kenny,
I actually went to my dealer to look at this out of curiosity. My now retired engineering mind found a simple way to "help" with this issue.

Note that the lower jaw contact points are adjusted low in almost every case, allowing the lower jaw to open as wide as possible. Doing this places an extreme pulling force on the pin, which eventually leads to failure.

By adjusting the grapple and placing the boom stops in their highest position the majority of the force is now transferred to the pins downward. This helps to eliminate the pulling force on the pin associated with the extreme opening of the grapple jaws. You can't change physics.

I think this was also suggested by @jbihlman in his thread.

 

[BOBL]

I think this was also suggested by @jbihlman in his thread.

Sorta, kind of, not really as I explained.

 

[rtgt]

FWIW, I've never had to "re-engineer" my grapple.

A good design is what I paid for.