Broke my grapple ( Am I the only one?)

GregbkH · May 14, 2012

Well, user error caused my grapple to break. I was pushing over trees while making a food plot in my woods. I did not see that I had the grapple tilted too far down and the center tooth on the jaw of the grapple contacted the tree before the bottom tines. When I pushed the tree it put too much stress on the jaw and it punctured the top rail of the grapples box tubing like a can opener.

I found out that the grapples box tubing only has an 1/8" wall thickness. The grapples box tubing is 3 1/2" square. I took a piece of 4" square box tubing with 1/4" wall thickness and cut one side off. I plan on cutting off the cylinder bracket and sleeving the original box tubing with my new piece and then welding the original cylinder bracket back on. Any thoughts?

Here is what I was doing.

whitedogone · May 14, 2012

Looks like that will be a good and quick fix. Stuff happens.

GregbkH · May 15, 2012

Hey thanks for the reply!

Groo · May 16, 2012

how did they ever figure that wouldn't break like that?

TRR · May 16, 2012

how did they ever figure that wouldn't break like that?

Probably hoping no one would notice

Dadof3 · May 16, 2012

I have a Wildkat 48 inch economy grapple just like yours. After one week of use it broke exactly like yours. Same place, same fashion. I was working it relatively hard but certainly not abusing it. They definitely have a design flaw with that thin tubing. Not a big deal, I'll just fix it similar to the way you did. I do think other members should know this before buying one.

nickel plate · May 16, 2012

Dadof3 said:
I have a Wildkat 48 inch economy grapple just like yours. After one week of use it broke exactly like yours. Same place, same fashion. I was working it relatively hard but certainly not abusing it. They definitely have a design flaw with that thin tubing. Not a big deal, I'll just fix it similar to the way you did. I do think other members should know this before buying one.

The enticement of a really low priced grapple after just looking at a bunch of dressy pictures seems to overcome most of us during the $buying$ phase. You got what you paid for-under engineered junk with possible additional fix it $shipping charges$ as well as your down time to make it right. No offense Dadof3, it's also happened to me but not with Wildkat.

GregbkH · May 16, 2012

I can't complain. It still is a decent grapple for the price. However, they should have extended the bracket across the top and down the back side of the box tubing like the did the front side.

Side view before break.

dirt ditch · May 17, 2012

Wow, I wouldn't have thought they would skimp with 1/8 inch thick tubing for the top of the frame. Cheap is cheap.

Gary Fowler · May 17, 2012

Looks like your attachment points are also pulling against the thin wall tubing. Looks like PP design to me. Built cheap to sell cheap. For $50 more they could have put 1/4" wall tubing on that main frame or even 3/8 for much better strength. Why have 3/8 or 1/2" tines attached to 1/8 tubing and doesnt look like it has a scab plate to spread the load across a larger area like it should have

Gary Fowler · May 17, 2012

I guess folks are going to have to buy themselve a D-meter (digital thickness meter) to check the wall thickness on stuff like there where they enclose the ends. Tapping with a metal probe will give you a pretty good indication of thickness also. OF course buying via internet is not likely to turn up anything till it is on your tractor and broke.

GregbkH · May 17, 2012

Gary Fowler said:
....and doesnt look like it has a scab plate to spread the load across a larger area like it should have

Not sure what you mean by a scab plate?

JimP · May 17, 2012

I had the same thing happen! The cylinder mounts and top of the box member tore off. I don't know how the crack started but it looks like it propagated by fatigue and followed the weld heat affected zone (where the cylinder mounts were welded to the box member). My box member was just a shade under 1/8 inch thick.
I boxed the whole area(front, back, top) with 3/8 plate. The new plate is welded to the old box member and to the 3/8 tines. I cleaned up the old cylinder mounts, milled 3/8 off the bottom and welded to the new 3/8 top plate. The jaw opens and closes pretty fast so I am going to add a restrictor to slow jaw movement.

foggy1111 · May 17, 2012

I broke my Gator (forerunner) grapple last summer. Mine broke as a result of the company not putting the gussets in place on a JD QD mount set-up. Cost me a couple hundred to repair the loader and grapple.....all the result of a few dollars welding time and maybe a half pound of steel.

You don't find JD skimping on the gussets on the top hooks on any of their buckets.....I don't know why Gator tries to get away with it.....especially when you multiply the forces when using a grapple. Duh!....maybe they should take a clue? :confused2:

Still....I sure like my grapple and I get lots of work done with it. I just don't have much good to say about folks that cut corners this way. I'm all for a good deal and a reasonable price...but not at the expense of a properly built product.

Red Horse · May 17, 2012

whitedogone said:
Looks like that will be a good and quick fix. Stuff happens.

Agree-looks like a good fix-and NickelPlate. I don't think its junk-rather as Wildkat refers to it-a "48" ECONOMY model. There are plenty of Wildkat 48 owners on this site so this is a good lesson for all. I wonder if an inexpensive bit of "prevention" might be to weld a 1/4" 3 x 3 angle to that box beam and then weld gussets from the 3x3 angle up to the verticle pieces that hold the cylinder????

buck12 · May 18, 2012

I have been pleased with my Wildkat grapple but after seeing this I will likely reinforce the middle mounting point. I still think the Econ 48" grapple is a great deal. The upper jaw really is not designed to push solid objects but I have done just that.

Rockgod · May 18, 2012

Gary Fowler said:
Looks like your attachment points are also pulling against the thin wall tubing. Looks like PP design to me. Built cheap to sell cheap. For $50 more they could have put 1/4" wall tubing on that main frame or even 3/8 for much better strength. Why have 3/8 or 1/2" tines attached to 1/8 tubing and doesnt look like it has a scab plate to spread the load across a larger area like it should have

Are those in fact 1/8" tubing/main frame? If they are what hp rating are they good for? 25-30 hp maybe? I'd be afraid to put that on my loader, the 400x would turn that into dust.

Rockgod · May 18, 2012

GregbkH said:
Well, user error caused my grapple to break. I was pushing over trees while making a food plot in my woods. I did not see that I had the grapple tilted too far down and the center tooth on the jaw of the grapple contacted the tree before the bottom tines. When I pushed the tree it put too much stress on the jaw and it punctured the top rail of the grapples box tubing like a can opener.

I found out that the grapples box tubing only has an 1/8" wall thickness. The grapples box tubing is 3 1/2" square. I took a piece of 4" square box tubing with 1/4" wall thickness and cut one side off. I plan on cutting off the cylinder bracket and sleeving the original box tubing with my new piece and then welding the original cylinder bracket back on. Any thoughts?

Just re-read everything. Wow, that doesn't appear to be user error to me. To be frank I looks like a cheaply made grapple. 1/8" thick framing is plain crazy.

What hp tractor are you using with this thing? I do realize it's the economy version but come on. Anyone know what hp they're rated to?

SPYDERLK · May 18, 2012

Rockgod said:
Just re-read everything. Wow, that doesn't appear to be user error to me. To be frank I looks like a cheaply made grapple. 1/8" thick framing is plain crazy.

What hp tractor are you using with this thing? I do realize it's the economy version but come on. Anyone know what hp they're rated to?

This thread might oughta link into this:
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/related-topics/232550-under-engineering.html

crazyal · May 18, 2012

I think people need to understand that these grapples are made for smaller machines that don't have loaders that can lift a ton. Every extra pound added is a one less pound it can left. It does look like a little more engineering could have been done to spread the load across more metal without adding too much more weight