Grapple GC manufacturing or "the thumb" add on grapple

[wftree]

I am thinking of adding a grapple or 2 to my bucket. I have narrowed it down to either the thumb or GC manufacturing.

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff30/gcmfg/grapple2.jpg

or

bucket Thumb grapple for Skid steer loader tractor

what are your thoughts,

I do not have a quick tach loader and do not want to spend the money to switch it over.

I have Kubota 4310 with a 66" bucket. The bucket has already been reinforced so adding a grapple should be easy.

 

[nybirdman]

I added a greens-machine thumb to a 66" bucket on a L4240,works well
I already had the hydraulics done.I welded an angle and bolted the base on.
I made sure the grapple reached the cutting edge of the bucket.The only problem that I have had is loseing pins from the front of cylinder,replace with a bolt.I am clearing 5 acres of brush with mine.

 

[GATC35]

go to this thread

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/141712-another-grapple-project.html

and you can see "Hill Farmer" project and also see my pictures and comments.

Hope this helps. If you have questions let me know.

 

[IslandTractor]

The only problem that I have had is loseing pins from the front of cylinder,replace with a bolt.

Or, use E clips which are much less likely to be pulled out.

 

[Hill Farmer]

I looked at both, and went with GC for the price difference. The main difference I could see was the mounting base. GC uses a piece of angle for the base and the thumb uses a heavy flat steel base. I added the channel to reinforce the top of the bucket, so the GC's angle base worked out well for me. I think if I was going to bolt it on, or weld it to a flat surface, I might prefer the base on the thumb. It did seem like the angle base let you play with the open/closed positions a little more than a flat one would have.

I did have to grind a notch in the top cylinder mount bracket to keep the base of the cylinder from hitting in when closed. No big deal, and plenty of strength left in the bracket. The folks at GC are very helpful when you give them a call, and I was told if you have a problem with a part that they will send you out a new part. Seems like it was a 10 year warranty on the grapple and 3 on the cylinder. I did manage to wad mine up like a pretzel after a few hours use. Keep in mind it is on a larger cab tractor and I was pushing up some big stuff. I somehow managed to get some sideways pressure on it I suppose and the grapple arms bent all to heck. With the long nose on the Belarus, you can't really see what is going on with it. I pushed up a big pile, rolled my bucket back, and saw the damage. I just am not sure what happened. It seems like it would be really strong with up and down pressure, as it was designed for, but it won't handle side pressure. I don't think any of them would though, and I believe if the grapple arms had not bent I may have damaged something harder to fix. I took it off and after some time in the press it is functional again, but not nearly as pretty as it was. I have not contacted them to see if they would warranty that or not. I'm still trying to make up my mind if it was operator error or a problem with the grapple. I wish I knew exactly how it happened.

Neither brand is gonna be as good as a dedicated root grapple, but they are also less than a quarter of the price. I spent more on hydro, and channel iron than I did on the grapple, so consider what it will cost you to get it working. I ran 3/8 line, but 1/4 would have worked fine I believe. Only other issue I can think of is GC told me it would all be pinned and it had bolts mounting the grapple arms to the brackets. I emailed them about it and they said they would get me some in the mail. I have not seen them yet, but it has not been that long so they may be on the way.

 

[Hill Farmer]

Oh, and to avoid loosing pins I replaced the clips with cotter pins. The pins are grooved for clips, and have a hole you can put a pin through.

 

[Hill Farmer]

Man I just keep thinking of stuff to add. Mine functions fine, but none of them are gonna be all that and a box of rocks. I had a lot of trouble getting a big wad of stuff far enough up in the bucket to grab it with the grapple. It did great on bigger stuff, but not so great on a wad of smaller stuff. Not knocking GC, it would be the same with all of them. Then again, it may have been due to a loose nut behind the steering wheel or a bad rear end in the tractor seat. I would like to try it with a smaller tractor that I could actually see what I was doing with. Did I mention visibility sucks on a Belarus 825? Yeah, I think I covered that. Anyway, I guess I'm saying just don't expect too much, I'm a little disappointed with mine. I think I may try bolting on some 2 foot or so "forks" to my bucket and see if that helps. I have some grader blades setting around not doing anything.

 

[6sunset6]

I have the Thumb. Pretty happy with it. I bought it for a different bucket than I have now and I added a tooth bar to the new bucket after I moved the thumb over. I have been thinking about adding an extention to the thumb so it graps a little further out. It is a little short but I did it to myself.

 

[Hill Farmer]

I've got to give a big thumbs up for the customer service at GC Manufacturing. I contacted them about bending up my grapple, told them it was most likely my fault, and was just wondering if they had seen the problem before or knew how to avoid it. Today a big white truck dropped off a box on my doorstep and a heavy duty version was inside. This thing is not gonna bend, or if it does there will be some other stuff bent as well. I just thought that was going above and beyond and wanted to get the word out. They stand behind there products. I will follow up later with some pics when I get a chance to go to the farm.

The original grapple was plenty strong I believe. Not knocking the way it was built. Keep in mind I have this on a big old heavy Belarus 825 cab tractor and was pushing some big stuff. I got some side pressure on the thing somehow, and that is just not where the strength is. The new one has an extra cross tube and gusseting, and I believe it is even built out of heavier stuff. Thanks GC Manufacturing.

 

[TexSparx]

Glad to hear your good luck with them. I was thinking about just ordering some bind-on forks/brush combo from them a while back. Talked to them on the phone and got the impression they were a good company. They have quite a few listings on ebay, and are not too far from me in OK.

Think I will buy something from them in the future. Thanks for the heads up.