I'm not a math wiz, and did some searching but came up empty. I wondering how much crushing force a grapple on a cat 322l can create. Ive been asked to weld up a couple of cracks to get through a couple of jobs on a grapple and curiosity has the best of me. I have access to a mig welder and 35 gauge er70s-6 wire which i beleive is 70000 psi tensil strength. Will that be a weak link? How much pressure do these things actually exert...
Here's my thoughts on how to figure it out: How much hydraulic pressure is is reaching the hydraulic cylinder? What is the diameter of the cylinder? Force = Hyd pressure * Area of cylinder (3.14*diameter) So take that force and divide it by the area in the grapple. I am totally guessing here. I could be off by a factor of 2. BUt I thought I'd add my thoughts anyway to bump the conversation. 322L* ID 8CL(OSJ) 8CL(JPN) Years made 93-96 Flywheel hsp 153 Operating Weight 23,950 kgs (52,800) Track gauge 2.59m (8'6") Hieght 3.12m (10'3") Length 9.95m (32'8") Width 3.39m (11'1") Max reach 10.47m (34'4") Lift capacity 10,400kgs (22,500)
I think that alot of the crushing pressure would depend on the location of where the piston attaches in relation to the pivot point as well. I'm assuming that you'd take the length from pivot point to tip, and figure the ratio of where the piston attaches. then do some math. I guess as long as you know what the piston can output, then you can figure what the grapple can too, given the dimensions.