I drove down to pick up the used Land Pride FDR3690 mower that I had been working a deal on and stopped by Connor Tractor to look over the grapples. Liked what I saw and loaded up the 62" HD version for $1895.00 out the door. After getting it home I went over it even more thoroughly. Here are my observations.
- The cylinders have English (rake) and Korean (grapple) wording on them. Take from that what you will.
- Heavy wall cross tubing.
- All pivot points have grease fittings. The zerk fitting on the bottom eye of the cylinder faces down possibly exposing it to damage. If this becomes a problem I will plug the hole, drill, tap, and reinstall the zerk in a rear facing position. This would protect it and also make it easier to grease.
- There is an opening that can allow limbs and such to come though the main body and possibly damage the hoses or break a cylinder fitting. I pointed this out to the owner and he stated that he had already put in a request with Carolina to plate over these openings on the next production run. It’s a simple enough process for me to make a couple of weld-on or bolt-on plates to better protect the hoses. A few dollars and a little bit of time investment. No big deal.
- Curious to see if the upper can close even further than in the attached picture. The very tip of the outer teeth on both sides make light contact when fully closed. I need to see if the cylinders are at max extension or if a bit of light grinding for tooth clearance will allow the clam shell upper to close even further.
Unless I find something drastic during use I’m very happy with what I received for the price.