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

mtr1950 · Jun 2, 2011

Island tractor, when ever you feel like a rant please rant away. My dealer had a 40, 45 , and 50 sitting side buy side on his lot, we went to each one while he told about the bore size difference and how it hardly changed much between them, and that the 40 was the best bang for a lot less money. I still bought the 45. You are probably right about the American thinking bigger must be better, but I did not buy the 50, of the 3 the 45 just felt better. No regret, I get this big smile everytime I fire it up. I will make contact with Markham, I checked out Everything Attachments and WRLong tonight and liked what I saw, I will look for Dehner on ebay. Thanks again, you are always a good read.

chamjoe · Jun 2, 2011

IslandTractor said:
Sorry for the rant. To answer your question, the Gator website has been down for "maintenance". Lord knows what that means. It is a small business so I'd suggest trying to call. Otherwise, WRLong sells very nice grapples of both types and you can order them through your dealer. Everything Attachments is another place to try. Good company too but their grapple is a bit pricy for what it is. Dehner welding is now building a grapple similar to Gator/Markham too. They sell via eBay.

I took delivery of three gator attachment pieces last week. I paid on a Friday, they shipped Monday, and the freight company called me Tuesday. They had my items in stock so I didn't have to wait for it to be built but I did spec a custom hose and Pioneer QD's

IslandTractor · Jun 2, 2011

chamjoe said:
I took delivery of three gator attachment pieces last week. I paid on a Friday, they shipped Monday, and the freight company called me Tuesday. They had my items in stock so I didn't have to wait for it to be built but I did spec a custom hose and Pioneer QD's

Glad to hear they are operational without their website. I often wonder with small businesses whether they have gone under when websites are "down for maintenance" for more than a few hours.

IslandTractor · Jun 2, 2011

One other general point I'd like to make regarding grapples and grapple manufacturers: They ALWAYS are overly conservative in suggesting heavier duty grapples than are needed with CUTs. I think they come by this honestly though they are also perfectly willing to take more of your money and protect themselves. I say they come by the exaggerated recommendations honestly because their horsepower to grapple size/duty advice seems perfectly reasonable if you are talking about skidsteers in commercial duty. They don't have nearly as much experience with CUTs and most of the manufacturers really are not CUT focused. I'm sure they sell at least ten times as many grapples for skidsteers as they sell for CUTs and they've been selling the skidsteer market for decades but only in the past five years or so during the CUT boom. The important point is that at a given horsepower a skidsteer has a much stronger loader than any CUT and on top of that are typically used far more aggressively by careless employees rather than by reasonable owner operators working on their own property. Skidsteers can dish out way more abuse to a grapple than a CUT. As a general guide, I think they are off by about ten horsepower (so a grapple OK up to 35hp SS is fine for at least a 45hp CUT etc). We have quite a few TBN members with light duty Millonzi's or Markham/Gator 48 inch grapples that weigh only 300-350lbs and are constructed with 3/8 inch mild steel. No one has destroyed one of these grapples to my knowledge. Everyone (Anbo etc included) manages to bend a tip or tine occasionally and we are talking grapples not Corvettes so scratches and dings don't count. At least one member has the same very light weight (280lb) grapple I have on his Kubota M59 and it does just fine. Lift and push straight, don't allow assymmetric loads and you'll be fine. I really cannot see why anyone would burden either their pocketbook or lift capacity by hanging a "heavy duty" grapple on a CUT.

mtr1950 · Jun 2, 2011

Island tractor, great points, I'm pretty much won for the lighter weight, I believe it will be able to move anything I might need to, this is for home/mini farm use, so I continue looking I know I will find something that fits.
chamjoe, good to hear Markham is still a going concern.

CurlyDave · Jun 3, 2011

I really cannot see why anyone would burden either their pocketbook or lift capacity by hanging a "heavy duty" grapple on a CUT.

Well, I did it because I originally bought a rock bucket. It turns out that if I take the side plates off it becomes a heavy duty grapple also. This is a lot less expensive than 2 separate implements. OTOH I have enough lift to not need a lighter grapple.

In general I agree, but if someone has 1500-2000 lbs of lift over and above the weight of a heavy duty grapple it is not really a negative.

IslandTractor · Jun 3, 2011

CurlyDave said:
In general I agree, but if someone has 1500-2000 lbs of lift over and above the weight of a heavy duty grapple it is not really a negative.

Fair enough, if the loader lifts >2500 lbs you will still have a decent payload capacity even with a 600-700 lb HD grapple. However, what have you gained by spending the extra bucks? In your case there is a clear rationale but most people who buy the HD grapples are not buying the combo device you describe. Most are simply opting for those feel good letters "HD". The paradox is that they'd actually be able to lift more ultimately with the light duty version. I am as guilty as anyone of loving to step up to the "HD" version of tools etc when given a chance but a grapple is one area where that habit causes both waste of money and a paradoxical loss of capacity.

mtr1950 · Jun 5, 2011

Islandtractor, had a great day today using Kioti, what a machine. I found the updated web page for Gator, Gator Attachments, it is up and running, I plan on calling them to talk business, like what I saw on web page, thanks again for the help.

Coyote machine · Jun 6, 2011

So I'm back on the thread I started, which was/is about a grapple for my DK-40SE/HST, and the best bang for the buck.

I had the second set of rear remotes installed and the lever to control the open/close function is now where my original single detent lever was prior to the second remote coming aboard my
40.

I'm happy to report that I have awesome lift capacity for whatever I grab; and today was the first day of use and I burned about 1/3 of a tank in use throughout the day. Basically nonstop use, moving huge trees, long log lengths, carrying six sections of stockade fence to my burn pile in ONE bite! :thumbsup: and moving, digging out, and lifting rocks of all sizes, from HUGE to relatively small.

All expert opinions aside, the space between the grapple 'tines' on the lower section were and are very adept at picking up things like rocks, by using the clamp down of the top jaw to grab almost any sized object by wedging it between the lower and upper jaws. The closed loop of the upper jaw makes for very good strength and clamping force on whatever the object may be. Brush is also NO problem whatsoever to scoop up, and then, to bring the upper jaw's full clamping force to bear upon the pile, which further scoops the brush into the confines of the space between upper and lower jaws.

I give this unit a full fledged rating of 10!

And before I get slammed for no pics, I will get some posted when I can find time to do so.

It is unquestionably one of the best, most productive tools I have EVER owned, and trust me, I do not give frivolous reviews of any tool I've owned/used, and I use all of them to their absolute maximum capacity and then some.

I wholehearted disagree with the rants, arguments and endless opining of the benefits of heavy duty vs. light/medium duty, and vice-versa.

This particular log grapple is clearly designed to be and IS heavy duty in construction and function. I defy ANYONE to break a tine off this unit without first breaking their loader, regardless of how much horsepower one may put behind the grapple. Lateral force, asymmetrical force, anything short of thermo nuclear is not going to bend or break anything on it.
AND, it does NOT compromise lift capacity at all. I lifted and moved rock the size of which I'm sure my excavator will be asking me tomorrow how I lifted/moved them without his gigantic 703 with bucket hyd thumb.

If it could be broken I'd be the one to do it. I traded in my DK-35 with 350 hours in less than a year because the loader was too weak to do what I need it to do. The KL-401 loader is just strong enough to take on this grapple, and the potential trouble one could easily get into with it.
The grapple's weight is nominal for what it is: 359+lbs.

FWIW, I appreciate all those who contributed to this thread and made suggestions, etc.

Less appreciated is when a thread gets hijacked for the purpose of someone else serving their own needs for whatever reason.
I'm referring to mtr 1950. If you're not aware of what I'm referring to then I suggest you may want to become aware of what thread hijacking is about for future reference here and elsewhere.
For instance, if you want to turn a thread that is of interest to you into a private discussion between you and another poster then do so by starting your OWN new thread OR send them a PM and see if they want to discuss whatever with you off the forum board. Otherwise you're hijacking someone else's thread, and that is rude.

Thanks.