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"I'm a Mechanical Designer, true to heart. I'm always dreaming up stuff. Unfortunately I don't have the time or the means to make them all come true. Lucky for me there's a Princess Auto (unlucky for me is there's a Princess Auto), because I can go in there and my mind just goes rampant! I'm all over the store - I got this in my hand and now I rush over to the other side and pick up something else that may work better (or not), depending if I can get the rest of the stuff I need."
This skid-steer attachment Dean designed offers a multitude of configurations for a variety of lifting, moving and digging applications. The grabbers can be positioned to pick up from the front, from above or from the sides. The concept also allows the Versa-Grabber to be used as a trench digging piece of equipment.
Pretty clever design there, Dean! Thanks for sharing your project with us!
Q: What is it?
A: It's a gripper device with numerous set-up possibilities. Add different type of gripper arms, and the applications increase.
Q: What is it used for?
A: It was designed for placing landscaping rocks, and digging prep areas for placing them. It can also dig holes and trenches; tear out trees, roots, posts, etc. for demolition or construction.
Q: What is the main power source for your project? (e.g. electric motor, gas engine etc.)
A: The skid steer loader's auxiliary hydraulic system drives the hydraulic cylinders.
Q: How do you control your project? (e.g. hydraulic control valve(s), electric switches etc.)
A: Other means of control is the use of interchangeable pinned joints which allow for various set-up configurations from bottom gripper to horizontal/vertical end gripper; to a trencher/gripper. With 2 more additional grippers (not made yet) it can become a four jaw gripper as well. The boom angle and location can also be changed with pinned connection to change boom angle from 0 degrees out straight to -22.5 degrees down, to swinging pointing downwards at all times depending on the desired needs. There are two hydraulic manifolds (custom built) with 2 male and 2 female flat face quick-disconnects on each. These allows reversal of hydraulic cylinder operation without wrenches. If required, each cylinder can be positioned and then isolated using ball valves to lock it in place. Because of the versatility of set-up longer than normal hydraulic hoses were installed; any hose slack is then coiled around the hose reel and reconnected to manifolds for neat and tidy look.
Q: What components are used to perform the work for your project? (e.g. hydraulic cylinder(s), hydraulic motor(s), sprockets, pulleys etc.)
A:
Two 2.5 in. bore x 10 in. stroke cylinders Cylinder cross tubes and pins Hitch pin Pressure washer hose reel (a special purchase item) Square tubing Numerous hydraulic fittings for manifolds Swivel fitting for cylinder hose connections 3/8 in. and 1/4 in. custom hydraulic hoses Several flat face hydraulic quick couplers 1/4 in. ball valves 3/4 in. turnbuckle/rigging screws Primer/paint
Q: What design/build challenges were overcome?
A: The main design challenge was finally coming to the conclusion that I needed custom hydraulic cylinders to make the gripper fully versatile. It could have been done somewhat with off-the-shelf hydraulic cylinders, but making the choice to modify the cylinders was the solution to months of design turmoil. Extra skill was needed to cut existing end of stock cylinder and weld new cross tubes to them (oops, there goes the warranty). For this project, the hydraulic manifolds were a problem too. I toiled about how I was going to make them. I live outside the city of Calgary so after several trips in to get hydraulic fittings (and still not having what I needed), I just bought everything I possibly could need for several options, and eventually returned about $300 worth of un-needed stuff. I had to use a number of fittings stacked together in order to replace a fitting (which the store was out of stock on). In my case, it limited the possible locations where one cylinder was designed to go because the stacked fittings now interfered with the structure.
Q: If you had to build it again, what would you do differently?
A: Because this was the prototype, its one purpose was to realize the flaws in the design. Since it was designed to be interchangeable, the off-the-shelf cylinder strokes in some positions could cause rod bending. To prevent this, I had to add an external rotation limiter of one of the gripper jaws, and in another position the cylinder would go over centre - thus cause it to sometime lock up instead of extending (that was fixed with a removable block). I am currently using this gripper and just the other day, the main boom ripped off the mounting plate which connects to the skid steer. That mounting plate was someone else's design that I mounted my gripper/grabber to (no fault of theirs). I modified the plate to withstand the new forces I'm now placing on it. Now works great. I had designed a mounting plate just for this grabber, but adapting it to an existing mount was a cheaper option, and reduced the storage space for all the attachments I own.
Q: Which Princess Auto location do you visit most?
A: Calgary, AB (North location)