Hydraulic sorting grab
The bars let the fines slip out during the movement — you carry the material, not the soil.
Synthetic image.
The sorting grab handles the gripping and moving of materials on
demolition and recycling sites.
It fits on the dipper arm of a tracked
excavator as well as a wheeled one.
Other names for this tool: selective sorting grab, handling
grab, sorting grapple, clamshell bucket.
If you are searching under one of those
names, you are in the right place.
- Family
- Sorting and gripping
- Classes (t)
- 1 to 68 t
- Coupler
- All, by plate
- Power source
- Hydraulic — flow and pressure: we calculate it with you for your machine
- Rotation
- Depending on the model
What it is for
Right: a grapple picks up mixed bulk material, without separating the materials.
What sets them apart:
the squeezing calls for one line, the rotation calls for a second.
Computer-generated images.
It mechanically separates rubble, timber and scrap with a view to their
recovery.
The two jaws apply a continuous compressive force
on the elements gripped, which makes it possible to handle them without letting them
escape.
Depending on the model, a hydraulic motor turns the load through 360°.
That
function is not a convenience:
without it, the operator repositions the machine at
every grip, and the output of a day's sorting suffers directly.
The slotted jaws let the fines through during the movement, which
avoids loading soil with the materials to be sorted.
A holding valve
on the ram freezes the position of the shells if the pressure in the
circuit drops.
Sorting grab or grapple?
A sorting grab grips and separates heterogeneous materials:
it closes two
jaws against one another.
A grapple takes bulk with several claws
that meet at the centre.
On a mixed demolition site — concrete, scrap, timber — it is the grab
that makes it possible to build up separate skips.
On branches or logs, the grapple works faster.
On which machine?
They exist for machines from 1 to 78 t.
For example, on an excavator over 20 t, the weight is generally from 1 010 to 4 220 kg.
It fits all quick couplers, or directly on the pins.
What the tool does
Rotation is available depending on the model.
For example, on an excavator over 20 t: maximum opening from 1 950 to 3 050 mm, width from 920 to 1 650 mm.
What is needed on the hydraulic side
It needs two double-acting hydraulic lines, one for clamping, the other for rotation, with free return to tank.
It generally needs from 10 to 250 l/min, at a pressure from 80 to 350 bar, depending on the size of the machine.
Figures taken from 19 models on the market.
Your study sets the exact value for your machine.
Have your machine checked.
Give us your excavator model and the material to be sorted.
If you know
neither your coupler nor your flow, a photograph of the end of the dipper arm is enough to
start with.
- Your machine Its make and its tonnage.
- The auxiliary circuit Its flow in l/min, its pressure in bar, single- or double-acting.
- The coupler in place Its system and its class.
- The work The use, and the material.
Without these details, the study still begins: we will ask you for them.
Or call 01 84 16 55 49 · our lines are open 7 days a week, from 7h to 22h.
Written study within 3 working days, once the file is complete.
three movements the bucket cannot make.
Synthetic animation.
Not to be confused
curved claws that take volume in bulk.
The grab, for its part, closes two barred jaws and separates.
It is the distinction this sheet makes.
Synthetic image.
What determines the choice
Four parameters, in that order.
The third is the one that rules out the most
machines, and it is almost always discovered last.
-
01 — The tonnage of the carrier
It fixes the permissible size of the tool.
A grab that is too heavy reduces the useful reach and degrades the stability, load chart in hand. -
02 — The grip volume
It is chosen on the dominant material and the rate expected, not on the
size of the machine.
A large volume on a dense material saturates the carrier before it saturates the tool. -
03 — The hydraulic functions available
The squeezing calls for one line.
The rotation calls for a second.
Many machines have only one:
it is that point that decides between a fixed grab and a rotating grab. -
04 — The wear expected
Reinforced scrap wears far faster than rubble.
The choice of blades and counter-blades is made on the real material, and those parts are replaced — provided they are designed to come off.
What is checked before ordering
It is the heart of the study, and it is what distinguishes an order that arrives ready to work from an order that goes back.
-
The dimensions of the interface
The pin centres and pin diameter are read to the millimetre on the receiving dipper
arm.
With a quick coupler, the designation is enough. -
The number of hydraulic lines on the boom
A rotating grab calls for two double-acting circuits.
If there is only one, either you give up the rotation, or you equip the machine. -
The free return to tank
A rotation motor tolerates back pressure badly.
The section of the return is checked, it is not assumed. -
The flow and the pressure really available
Not those on the maker's data sheet for the new machine:
those measured on the machine, as it is today. -
The closed size, for transport
A grab fitted can exceed the road envelope of the whole outfit.
That point is generally discovered on the day of the first move.
No figure is published on this page, and that is
deliberate. The volumes, flows and pressures vary from one maker to
another in proportions that make any average misleading.
The figures
that commit us are those of the model chosen for your machine, checked in
the study and written in the answer addressed to you.
The maintenance intervals and the replacement of wear parts come under the maker's instructions, which go with the equipment.
- Family
- Sorting and gripping
- Trade
- Recycling and waste
- Compatibility
- The seven criteria in detail →