Grapple Grapple on New Holland TC45

[tpaulson]

Per MarkV's request, here are some pictures of the grapple forks mounted on my TC45.

The retrofit grapple was ordered from Attachments International
http://www.attachmentsintl.com/skidsteer/skidsteer.htm

My NH dealer ordered and mounted the grapple. I think the total cost of the grapple was about $1300 (this includes grapple, shipping, hoses, mounting fabrication, and labor). Because of the shape of the NH bucket the mounting brackets that came with had to be cut off and new ones made. Compact tractor buckets tend to be more 'stubby' than skidsteer buckets, so the grapple had to be mounted farther back and up higher on the bucket so that the points would close near the bucket's cutting edge. Overall it worked out pretty well.

 

[MarkV]

Tpaulson,

Thanks for the information and photos. That sure looks like a great set up and I thought the cost wasn't bad. With your tree farm, I would bet it sees a lot of use.

Markv

 

[kcbarnes]

I have been looking at a kasco brand grapple for my TC40D and wondering if the loader cap. would let me do enough,are you happy with the size logs you can lift?

 

[tpaulson]

I am happy with the logs the tractor can lift, for its size it does very well. It is a small tractor when compared to other large farm tractors and you can't expect it to do large tractor work. The log in the picture from the previous post is the largest I have tried. It was a 11' long x 27" diameter white oak - green. The tractor would lift it about 5' off of the ground before the hydraulic relief values opened up. I estimate the log weighed about 1900 lbs by using the Log Volume Calc and Lumber Weight Calc at:
http://forestry.about.com/library/weekly/aa021801.htm

I would not want to try to lift anything larger though. I don't think the front tires would hold much more, they looked like the beads could break if any sharp turns were made. I was glad I only had to move it about 30' straight ahead to load it on the trailer. The grapple weights about 250 lbs., so that does decrease the lifting capacity slightly. I also have fluid and wheel weights on the rear tires.

Before I bought the tractor I questioned the lifting capacity, so my dealer found 2225 lbs of briefcase weights and put them in the bucket of a TC40 with 16la loader. It would lift the bucket about 5' off the ground. That TC40 didn't have any rear weights so he had to attach a 3pt mower to keep the back wheels on the ground.