2015 - Volume #BFS, Issue #15, Page #116
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Old Cultivator Shanks Used To Build Grapple Fork
A North Dakota farmer came up with his own inexpensive, heavy-duty grapple fork that mounts on the bucket of his New Holland skid loader.
  Harlen Grovom, who farms near Park River, used part of the frame and some shanks from an old IH Vibra Shank field cultivator to build the grapple fork. He bolted it to the 6-ft. wide bucket on his New Holland 225 skid loader.
  “I saved a lot of money and it’s a great grapple. Cultivator shanks are always built strong so they’ll stand up to a lot of tough use,” says Grovom.
  The grapple fork has seven 2-ft. long curved shanks spaced about 6 in. apart. Each shank measures 1 in. thick by 2 in. wide. He cut off part of the cultivator frame and bolted it onto the back of the bucket. A pair of hydraulic cylinders are used to raise and lower the entire unit. The frame swivels up and down on 1-in. thick bolts that go through a pair of steel bars welded to the frame.
  “I use it to handle everything from rocks to 2-ft. long blocks of wood that I use in my wood stove. I’m amazed at how well it works,” says Grovom. “Last fall I picked up 10 loads of rocks with it and never had to get off the skid loader at all. The shanks open up about 7 ft. high and are spring-loaded, so I can pick up really big loads.”
  Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Harlen Grovom, 12643 Hwy. 17, Park River, N. Dak. 58270 (ph 701 331-0169).



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2015 - Volume #BFS, Issue #15