John Deere Grapples pack power and reliability for Job Site clean-up
Continuing to expand its offering of job site cleanup solutions, John Deere is introducing the new GS66B, GS72B, GS78B, GS84B scrap grapple buckets and GR72B and GR84B rock grapple buckets into its ever-expanding line of Worksite Pro™ attachments.
The scrap grapple buckets are ideal for scrap handling, recycling centre use, disaster clean-up and job site clean-up applications where grappling power is needed to handle material. The rock grapple buckets are perfect for land clearing, job site clean-up and brush removal applications. Additionally, the new rock grapples allow for grading the site after debris removal.
“During critical times, like disaster clean-up, operators need powerful and reliable attachments that won’t let them down,” said Jessica Hill, program manager, global attachments, John Deere Construction & Forestry. “We are delivering industry-leading reliability with these new buckets, and feel confident that customers will find that they can move the most difficult, irregularly shaped materials with ease and speed.”
Each unit includes two independent-action grapples that allow different-sized objects to be picked up in each grapple. A 620-mm (24.4-inch) wide grapple arm and grapple stance width of 1,540 mm (60.6 inches) on the GS66 and GS72/GR72 and 1660 mm (65.3 inches) on the GS78 and GS84/GR84 units allow for easier grappling of wide, difficult material. For scrap applications where containing the material is necessary, bolt-on side plates are available. The scrap grapple models also feature convenient predrilled cutting edges for optional bolt-on, replaceable edges.
For increased reliability and performance, greaseable and hardened 31.8-mm (1.25-inch) pins, along with increased cylinder specifications, result in improved durability. Ninety-degree hydraulic quick couplers offer improved hose routing over previous series. Cylinder guards come standard on each scrap and rock grapple, and have been simplified to a low-profile, effective solution for hydraulic cylinder hose connections.
Cylinder size, including the bore and rod, has been increased to a 63.5-mm (2.5-inch) bore and a 36-mm (1.4-inch) rod, providing high grapple clamping forces for even the most difficult material. Grapple arms have integrated mechanical stop to reduce load on cylinders when grapple arms are open. Increased side cutter, side sheet and backsheet plate thickness combined with a larger torque tube result in heavy-duty bucket construction for the most demanding applications.
Additionally, the new rock grapple buckets have 76-mm (3-inch) tine spacing and are fully supported on each side for high bending resistance. The tine spacing allows smaller particles to sift through the tines when used in the forward direction. Each rock grapple uses a weld-in serrated cutting edge for penetrating difficult ground conditions.
These attachments are compatible with select John Deere G-Series skid steers and compact track loaders, L-Series compact wheel loaders and many competitive models. They are backed by John Deere parts, service and warranty coverage.
