55" EA Wicked Root Grapple Dolly

[bird dogger]

To keep my grapple inside the shop, upright, and easily accessible I made this custom dolly for it.
It can be rolled out of the way when off and back up to the tractor when needed with just a light touch
with four caster wheels underneath.


David

 

[NHSleddog]

Very nice job.

 

[Nicfin36]

Nice. The EA grapple is a bit tedious to attach/detach as it really doesn't stand on its own that well. I have mine on a pallet with a wheel chock under the middle of it, which keeps it from falling over. That stand is really nice for securing it.

Also, the black paint makes it very difficult for me to see the proper spot when attaching the grapple. I'm gonna put a piece of masking tape above each of the quick attach slots next time I use mine.

 

[WRMorrison]

Already have the blue paint on hand or do you just have something against orange? LOL J/K man, nice work!

-WRM

 

[Bmyers]

Very nice. I know that is the one item I don't like about my EA grapple, it is a pain to store when not in use. Need to build some type of stand for it.

 

[B737]

you outdid yourself again, that came out great!

 

[Ping]

Wow, great job and by the looks of it, the frame's definitely not under designed!

 

[UpNorthMI]

Well done, that looks great and so practical.

 

[S-G-R]

Very nice work on the stand.

 

[bird dogger]

Very nice job.

Thanks, Sleddog!!

 

[bird dogger]

Nice. The EA grapple is a bit tedious to attach/detach as it really doesn't stand on its own that well. I have mine on a pallet with a wheel chock under the middle of it, which keeps it from falling over. That stand is really nice for securing it.

Also, the black paint makes it very difficult for me to see the proper spot when attaching the grapple. I'm gonna put a piece of masking tape above each of the quick attach slots next time I use mine.

Thanks for the compliment, Nicfin36! I have the same thoughts about all that black paint on the backside. I was planning on masking off and spraying some light colored paint (yellow/orange?) over those quick attach points. It isn't so bad to hook up outside in daylight but inside with dim light it's a different story. although now I can roll this dolly right up to the loader arms.....but I'm still going to paint those areas....for my aging eyes mostly. LOL Thanks for confirming that idea!!

david

 

[bird dogger]

Already have the blue paint on hand or do you just have something against orange? LOL J/K man, nice work!
-WRM

W H A A A A A T !!!???!!! You don't like my blue paint, WRM???? You're spot on......I went to the shelf of used spray paint cans and found this one was the only one that sprayed decently and had enough left to give a couple of coats on top of the primer. But after it was all done it looked nice enough that now I wish there was enough to paint my back hoe dolly the same color (but it might clash with the orange back hoe)!
We shall see........

Thanks for the great laugh!! And the compliment!
david

 

[bird dogger]

you outdid yourself again, that came out great!

Thanks, B737 It's certainly nothing fancy.......form follows function...... and the KISS principle!!

Wow, great job and by the looks of it, the frame's definitely not under designed!

Thanks, Ping! Even though it's light gauge tubing (1x2x .083) it doesn't flex.....yet. I thought I should
plan for the inevitable time that I forget to undo the QA clamps and try to press the dolly through the
concrete floor! The cheap castor wheels should give out first. At least that's the plan. But so far, so good.

Well done, that looks great and so practical.

Thanks, UpNorhtMI. I'm pretty happy with it and it really does what I was hoping it would.....make it real easy to store, retrieve and hook up.

Very nice work on the stand.

Thanks, Gallows! Much appreciated!

Regards all,
david

 

[S-G-R]

Thanks, B737 It's certainly nothing fancy.......form follows function...... and the KISS principle!!



Thanks, Ping! Even though it's light gauge tubing (1x2x .083) it doesn't flex.....yet. I thought I should
plan for the inevitable time that I forget to undo the QA clamps and try to press the dolly through the
concrete floor! The cheap castor wheels should give out first. At least that's the plan. But so far, so good.



Thanks, UpNorhtMI. I'm pretty happy with it and it really does what I was hoping it would.....make it real easy to store, retrieve and hook up.



Thanks, Gallows! Much appreciated!

Regards all,
david

Do you have any pictures of your shop that you could post?

 

[bird dogger]

Do you have any pictures of your shop that you could post?

I don't as of now........but I suppose I could take some. It's not very impressive. I'd have to clean and organize a little bit first. Well, maybe not, as I go by the saying, "A clean, organized shop shows no work".
LOL! I'll try and do that after getting back from a little 4th holiday trip coming up shortly. My shop is proof positive that you don't need anything too fancy to get things done!

 

[bird dogger]

I made a slight modification to the stand today. As is...if tugged up high (while on the dolly) from the front to pull it forward...it was possible to get the grapple to lean forward a little before the cart started to move. If someone wasn't aware of that and really gave it a tug it might've rolled forward and off the cart. Could be bad for one's toes!

I didn't want additional binders or straps to secure it and thought all it needed was to have it tilt backwards on the cart just a tad more. Turned out to be an easy fix by just cutting the top of the rear "rests" to slant backwards. That made a world of difference and eliminated the need for a safety strap.


If one didn't have inside storage or a concrete floor to roll the cart on you could easily substitute four short legs with some foot pads in place of the wheels. My guess is it weighs about 30 lbs and can be picked up and carried with one hand easily. Moving a stationary stand like this outside would be an easy option.

 

[gas man]

I understand the ability to roll it out of the way, but it's not hard to hook up to just set on the ground with the jaws opened up just a little.

 

[Lil Foot]

Haven't made dollies for my stuff yet, but I could picture leaving an implement on the dolly for possibly a year. I would worry about flat-spotting rubber or plastic caster wheels. I suppose I could use steel or cast iron wheels, but they are pretty expensive. Thoughts?

 

[bird dogger]

I understand the ability to roll it out of the way, but it's not hard to hook up to just set on the ground with the jaws opened up just a little.

Agreed! Especially for a quick "ditch and go" for some reason knowing you'll be back shortly to hook up again, whether that same day or very soon after. But it's nice not to have anything sitting directly on the ground for an extended time. After a good hard rain and resting on its tips the grapple would start to sink and could possibly roll over depending on how you left it. With our soil here that wouldn't take much. But here, where we have freezing temps 5+ months out of the year, leaving your implement setting on the ground can have you searching for the prybar to bust it loose when you didn't think it would freeze that hard/fast or you were sure you'd be back shortly and weren't. I leave my snow pusher blade outside in the winter but it's definitely parked on blocks just for that reason. It's just nice to have anything parked outside for an extended time sitting safely so that you know it'll be there and ready to go when needed. Depending on one's location or conditions, those circumstances can vary greatly.

 

[bird dogger]

Haven't made dollies for my stuff yet, but I could picture leaving an implement on the dolly for possibly a year. I would worry about flat-spotting rubber or plastic caster wheels. I suppose I could use steel or cast iron wheels, but they are pretty expensive. Thoughts?

I suppose that could happen, depending on the casters used. We have a surplus store here that has used industrial casters for $3-$5 each that I've been using forever. None are steel, all are hard plastic of some sort. None have suffered from flat spotting, cold creep, etc. The implement weight divided by four certainly lessens the weight on each wheel. Now that I have the B2650, my JD #7 backhoe (virtually same size as BH77) has sat on it's dolly for over 2 years straight and it rolls the same as it always has. The BH77 has been on a dolly since new and no problems yet either while using 2" diameter hard plastic caster wheels. Depending on the wheels you use, I doubt you'd have much of a problem.