Grapple for DK-40se/hst; best unit for $

[nickel plate]

That's correct it was for the front mount snowblower I didn't remove it that year try to leave it on was a big mistake got hung up a few, But as you can see in the picture the TC 40 had no trouble handling that grapple. the issue is it doesn't open wide enough and with just two claws in the front a lot of material slips through and you need to continuously make piles were a silage grapple has the entire front points that meet. I will post a picture of the unit I'm looking at to give you an idea of the difference. Either way you need a grapple if you have any kind of land clearing or property maintenance to be done, it's probably on the tractor more than any implement I own there's always fall down in the hedgerow or rock piles that need to be moved I haven't used a hay wagon in years why bother loading on the wagon and then having to dump it by hand just grab it and drive to a hedgerow or burn pile and your done the lazy man's way that's me ;-) take care

I cop this plea about not knowing what that mass of lower front end steel operates-I live in sunny California on the eastern edge of the central valley floor-no snow blowers or cold stuff attachments.

 

[IslandTractor]

I cop this plea about not knowing what that mass of lower front end steel operates-I live in sunny California on the eastern edge of the central valley floor-no snow blowers or cold stuff attachments.

I feel bad for you. That's one more toy we can have that you cannot.

 

[RADIUM]

yes exactly like a clamshell , a few units I've been looking at roughly about 700 pounds. What really gets me I'm trying to sell mine for $2500 and the new ones well over $3000 people just don't understand how expensive these things are or the simple fact they have it you need it theory LOL. This is one unit I'm looking at it opens wider and can be used like a plow to push it all together into piles without coming over the top which is commonly happening with my present unit.

 

[IslandTractor]

yes exactly like a clamshell , a few units I've been looking at roughly about 700 pounds. What really gets me I'm trying to sell mine for $2500 and the new ones well over $3000 people just don't understand how expensive these things are or the simple fact they have it you need it theory LOL. This is one unit I'm looking at it opens wider and can be used like a plow to push it all together into piles without coming over the top which is commonly happening with my present unit.

WR Long and ANBO both sell lighter duty clamshells for (I believe) less than $2500. IMO there is simply no reason to spend even that much on any type of grapple for a CUT. There is also no reason to have a grapple of any style that weighs more than about 450lbs on any size CUT. Both WRLong and Anbo make both heavy duty and lighter duty grapples....the lighter duty are fine for what virtually everyone on TBN does with theirs.

The more expensive grapples are designed for daily commercial work on skid steers where they undoubtedly earn their keep standing up to abusive operators trying to save time. If you don't torque a grapple (expensive or cheap neither will fare well with twisting motions) then no CUT less than 50-60hp has a combination of loader strength and tractor weight to overpower a light duty grapple made of 3/8 mild steel. I can lift my rear wheels off the ground even with a mower on the back with my grapple stuck under a stump with no damage. My tractor weighs about 6000lbs with ballast and has 2700lbs of loader lift. The only things that a big tractor can do to damage a light duty grapple involve twisting it or clamping assymmetrically. For example lifting or clamping from one corner of the grapple or carrying a long log/tree which snags or drags on one side against an immovable object (tree) while you are pushing forward). Otherwise even the lightest duty grapples do just fine with big tractors. There are very few reports of damaged grapples on TBN and to my knowledge nobody with a light duty grapple has decided to trade up.

 

[foggy1111]

Yeah....well NOT my experience with my Gator grapple yesterday. The first day of hard use and I streched the hooks that atach to my loader and broke my loader's mount.

I STRONGLY urge others that have bought the Gator grapple to add gussets to the top of your mounts.....just like Deere has on their buckets.

Grrrr.....I'm going to get my tractor's loader fixed....but now I gotta re-build my grapple.

 

[IslandTractor]

Yeah....well NOT my experience with my Gator grapple yesterday. The first day of hard use and I streched the hooks that atach to my loader and broke my loader's mount.

I STRONGLY urge others that have bought the Gator grapple to add gussets to the top of your mounts.....just like Deere has on their buckets.

Grrrr.....I'm going to get my tractor's loader fixed....but now I gotta re-build my grapple.

Wow... You broke your JD mount, the grapple did not break. That upper hook on the grapple side of the mount does look bent but it seems that is a weakness of the JD mount system rather than the grapple itself. I've not heard of anyone breaking their standard skid steer mount. It is actually a testimony to the strength of these grapples that you busted your mount before the grapple itself had any damage.

Pray tell, what were you doing when the mount broke?

 

[foggy1111]

Wow... You broke your JD mount, the grapple did not break. That upper hook on the grapple side of the mount does look bent but it seems that is a weakness of the JD mount system rather than the grapple itself. I've not heard of anyone breaking their standard skid steer mount. It is actually a testimony to the strength of these grapples that you busted your mount before the grapple itself had any damage.

Pray tell, what were you doing when the mount broke?

No its not a testament to this grapple. "ANY" DAMAGE"?...the mount on the grapple is trash!! The grapple hooks stretched which is what caused the problem with the stretched pin on the grapple and this resulted in undue pressue to the remaining contact point on my JD casting which broke off. I say it's a faulty connection on the Gator grapple....and had this been gusseted (like the JD buckets are) or made from stonger materials I would not have these problems. Note the stretched pin and elongated hole (gator).

Maybe the skid steer mounts are better....but I dont trust much of what Gator does anymore. Too many disconnects on stuff with them....for me. They do have low prices.....but the stuff has gotta work for more than a day or two....and stand up to the intended use.

I was lifting trees and working it pretty hard while clearing land. I had previously ground out my stumps....but had a few remaining old pine stumps. Trying to pry one of these from the ground is where my problems surfaced. Abuse?.....maybe....but that is the real world.

I've got the replacement part on the way from JD for my loader....and I'm looking for a welding shop to rebuild this grapple - THE RIGHT WAY. :thumbsup:

Still.....I sure got a lot of work done with the grapple....and I'm not sure I want to clear more land without the use of a grapple. Sure saves lots of trips on and off the tractor to hook and pull, etc. NICE!

 

[rd_macgregor]

I managed to slightly twist the grapple on my Gator grapple rake last year doing something very assymetrical. It still works just fine, but irks me like a crooked-hanging picture!
BOB

 

[IslandTractor]

I managed to slightly twist the grapple on my Gator grapple rake last year doing something very assymetrical. It still works just fine, but irks me like a crooked-hanging picture!
BOB

Yep, twisting is what distorts grapples. Just looking at how they are all designed it is clear they are both designed and built to resist straight lift forces extremely well but are much weaker with lateral or twisting forces.

I'm guessing that Foggy1111 had an edge rather than the middle tines of his grapple under a stump when he put lift/curl force on the grapple and it broke the mount. That would have put a twisting force on the grapple that slightly moved the mounting pin and put additional strain on one side of it. I think he is right that the upper JD specific hook on the grapple mount is what gave way first but that was likely aided by the twisting of the grapple. It is abuse if you try to do that but to be fair, when a grapple is dug in under a stump you cannot see where the tines are engaged against a root so even if the grapple is visually midliine with the stump, one side of the grapple may meet significant resistance before the other side which can cause twisting. Some of that is tolerated well by the grapple but in this instance it popped the upper mount off. As the JD mount is pinned at the bottom the grapple doesn't just fall off the mount it transfers all the shock force to the lower pin and destroys the mounting system. With a skidsteer mount the grapple would just fall off cleanly if it fell off at all. In five years of using my skidsteer mount I've knocked the grapple off once (improper mounting on my part) and the grapple just popped off as soon as I put force on it but did no damage to itself or the mount.

I never did like the JD quick attach even though it saves weight as the skid steer style attachment system has much greater contact area and the mounting plate provides more rigidity and cross linking of the two mounting points. Still, as Foggy points out, the JD system works with JD products so perhaps Gator needs to copy whatever JD does with the implement side of the mount.

 

[RADIUM]

not quite sure what you're referring to the size of my tractor? My 2420 has never had a problem lifting anything in the grapple I wouldn't buy less of a unit on my farm ask my brother he destroyed a John Deere frontier in two months not the loader the cheap grapple. My tractor easily lifts 2500 pounds to full height 13 foot in the air which I never do ,so why would I go with a lighter unit? when I just use a little common sense and don't use the tractor like a bulldozer which we have plus an excavator to handle the heavy stuff. As far as quality goes you get what you pay for my present unit will outlast anything it's attached to include in my other tractors which includes an old 95 hp case which lifts 3600 pounds or so to full height.