Grapple Grapple install

[tbutman]

thanks, im familiar with ebay and "the thumb" and have both a paypal account and billmelater. I'm not sure if that is the best option here. The stuff is pretty cheesy. But will keep that option open. Would love just the parts to weld myself if anyone here has a cnc or waterjet and take CC's. The only thing I have against the idea of buying a wildcat grapple and bucket that would fit my application (firewood) is that I'm confused about which skidsteer quick tach plate would work with my koyker 160 and just adding a grapple to the bucket I already own seems like a much easier task. I don't think the "thumb" offers a big enough arc to get around the trees I often have to carry seeing as the sides of my bucket are a straight diagonal piece of steel from top corner to botton corner and the log will have to ride ontop of these.

 

[buck12]

thanks, im familiar with ebay and "the thumb" and have both a paypal account and billmelater. I'm not sure if that is the best option here. The stuff is pretty cheesy. But will keep that option open. Would love just the parts to weld myself if anyone here has a cnc or waterjet and take CC's. The only thing I have against the idea of buying a wildcat grapple and bucket that would fit my application (firewood) is that I'm confused about which skidsteer quick tach plate would work with my koyker 160 and just adding a grapple to the bucket I already own seems like a much easier task. I don't think the "thumb" offers a big enough arc to get around the trees I often have to carry seeing as the sides of my bucket are a straight diagonal piece of steel from top corner to botton corner and the log will have to ride ontop of these.

I bought a Wildkat grapple less the quick attach bracket since I have a pin on bucket. Wildkat took $50 off. I then had brackets cut and welded.

 

[IslandTractor]

thanks, im familiar with ebay and "the thumb" and have both a paypal account and billmelater. I'm not sure if that is the best option here. The stuff is pretty cheesy. But will keep that option open. Would love just the parts to weld myself if anyone here has a cnc or waterjet and take CC's. The only thing I have against the idea of buying a wildcat grapple and bucket that would fit my application (firewood) is that I'm confused about which skidsteer quick tach plate would work with my koyker 160 and just adding a grapple to the bucket I already own seems like a much easier task. I don't think the "thumb" offers a big enough arc to get around the trees I often have to carry seeing as the sides of my bucket are a straight diagonal piece of steel from top corner to botton corner and the log will have to ride ontop of these.

1) I don't think the Thumb is cheesy. I haven't seen any TBN reports about it for a while (grapples are much more popular these days) but a few years ago people were quite happy with the Thumb and other similar products.
2) The upper jaw of a grapple doesn't do a lot of work unless it is a full clamshell grapple. The weight of the load is on the bottom of the grapple or bucket so the top grapple is really just holding things in place so they don't bounce out. No sense in over engineering it.
3) If you have fabrication skills, why not modify your bucket by cutting down the sides, reinforcing them and fabricating a plate to cover the area for when you want to carry dirt. That would give you essentially one of these no/low sided grapple buckets like a skidsteer uses.
4) As you have fabrication skills, just consider buying a Wildkat grapple and then work backwards to build the appropriate adapter to your loader.

 

[tbutman]

That's a good option. I bought a grapple kit off ebay this morning. Comes with all the cnc cut parts I will need. I just have to weld it up myself and paint it and provide a cylinder (ordered it) and plumb it.