A grapple for fabrication challenged folks like me

[VT_Kioti]

Owning a little over 10 acres of land some of which had gone back to brush, we have been recovering some a little at a time. I have had my eye on a grapple since reading about the grapples installed by PineRidge, KennyD, Kubotabilly and others. Spurred on by their projects, I decided to go for it. I do a little welding but by no means could be called a fabricator as the other are. So I chose to use readily available parts to build up the system. In that way I would only have to fabricate the bar on top of the bucket as the factory bucket is not strong enough to support the grapple.

I started with the needed hydraulics. I noticed one of the members mentioned WR Long having something close for the hydraulic control so I called them to check. Nelson, it turns out is a very nice guy and willing to help. I wanted a different handle than the one that normally comes in his kit. No problem. He sent the electric/hydraulic handle instead of the selector handle for a small additional fee.

Since WR Long only sells through dealers, I asked my Kioti dealer, Moore’s Corner Inc. in Granville, NY if they would become a WR Long dealer for me. And sure enough they did. This is another example of a really great dealer who stands with his customer and it gives us here in the Northeast access to a great line of products. This picture is the contents of the box shipped by Nelson. I have painted the mounting bracket and valve to match the tractor.

 

[VT_Kioti]

The selector valve installed. This installation follows Kubotabilly’s setup in that it is mounted on the loader arm. I am planning to take some time later in the year to see if it can be mounted under the tractor and protected.
Oh This is going on a Kioti CK30 HST

 

[VT_Kioti]

The front Quick Disconnects are mounted to a piece of angle iron and drilled to accept the QD’s. It is bolted to the cross piece by removing the access door on the bottom and inserting the bolts from the bottom since there was no room to reach up into the small space of the cross piece with a lock washer and nut.

 

[VT_Kioti]

This is the electric/hydraulic handle that I wanted. I think of the two types available, this would be most comfortable to operate. It is wired by bringing both hot wires together so either way you push the button you activate the grapple lines. It is a momentary type so the grapple works only when the switch is held down. This gives me the same function that PineRidge’s grapple has, but in my case I did not have the control knob that could be spilt and a button inserted in. The electric/hydraulic handle gives this function to me.

 

[VT_Kioti]

A special thanks to PineRidge here. Mike, I took the power off the back of the fuse block and into a relay as you said. And following an earlier post and drawing of yours, it wired up perfectly and fired up first time out of the gate.

This picture is of the mounted relay.

Al

Stay tuned for the grapple segment.

 

[kennyd]

Looks Great so far! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[BigDogues]

Looks great! What a nice looking kit they supplied you with. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif I've been thinking about one for my CK25. Needless to say I'll be watching this thread very closely! /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[RedRocker]

Keep up the good work, this is my next project too.

 

[VT_Kioti]

The WR Long kit is very complete with all hoses and mountings included. Insatation did not take very long. The part that took the longest was the wiring and then only because I wanted to got the relay route. I also used a 2 pin trailer connector so it could be uncoupled with the hoses when taking the loader off as I do when mowing.
I am very happy with this kit. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[VT_Kioti]

After I find a place under the tractor of on the loader mount arms I will need to make a belly pan like the one you made. There is a lot of exposed hydraulics down there to get beat up with out your knowing it.
So.... my next project is one of yours /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

Al