How Does a Steel Grabber Work?

A steel grabber is a machine designed for gripping steel materials and is typically derived from a hydraulic excavator. Its front arm, often called the grabber arm, is usually longer. At its end is the grapple, also known as an orange-peel grapple, petal grapple or lotus grapple. Its main job is grabbing and loading materials such as scrap metal, industrial waste, crushed stone, construction debris and municipal solid waste.

How the orange-peel grapple works

The orange-peel grapple is an effective tool for handling large, irregular materials such as scrap steel, pig iron, ore and waste.

Together with fixed hinges, hydraulic cylinders and hydraulic hoses, the grapple forms a complete hydraulic control circuit, and the operator opens and closes it with a control handle. It can move mining ore, stone, timber, scrap metal and large heavy objects, extending what a standard single-purpose bucket can do.

Converting an excavator

A low-cost conversion gives an excavator heavy-handling capability and expands its range of work. When the grapple is used together with a bucket, the two can be controlled independently, giving the operator more flexibility. During digging, the grapple can be folded away so that it does not interfere, and its gripping function is used only when needed.

Configurations

• Four-tine and five-tine versions.
• Rotating and non-rotating versions; mounting can be fixed or swivel.
• Non-rotating grapples use the excavator's bucket cylinder lines, so no additional valve block or piping is needed.
• Rotating grapples require a separate valve block and piping for control.

Fully opened, a five-tine (or four-tine) grapple reaches a maximum diameter of 2 meters. Operation is simple, efficient, safe and reliable under real working conditions.