KL130 and Wildkat 48" Grapple

[Sabooo]

Wallace Tractor and equipment hooked me up with a new SSQA setup and a 48" Grapple. Here's a shot while it was still shiny.

I spent about 10 hours with it yesterday working at a tree cleanup site. I used it for everything from cleaning up tree-tops, carrying logs to the pile, and raking up sticks and debris. I am a fan.

It's already been said, but make sure you find something good and heavy to hang on the back of the machine. I used my 5' rotatry cutter, and it wasn't quite enough.

I'll have a video of it put together one of these days.

 

[Highbeam]

You weren't kidding, that is the old style loader. I am very jealous of your grapple. I have spent what seems like hundreds of hours wasting time hand loading debris into the bucket using it like a wheelbarrel.

 

[dfkrug]

It's already been said, but make sure you find something good and heavy to hang on the back of the machine. I used my 5' rotatry cutter, and it wasn't quite enough.

Wow, that looks HUGE. What do you suppose it weighs? I am sure it's
more than my 4-in-1 bucket!

BTW, even with 1300#+ of backhoe on my CK30, I can lift the rear end
if I get my loader under something I can not lift. Be careful.

 

[Sabooo]

It does look a bit large on the front. I'm thinking it's somewhere in the 500 lb range, but not positive.

With the rotary mower, under the heaviest of liftable loads, I wasn't picking up the tail while lifting, but it definitely felt "light"

I have a bunch of tasks around the place planned for the grapple. I realized that 95% of the time I was doing exactly the same thing - picking stuff up or rolling it into the bucket to transport it. Only rarely was I scooping and dumping granular materials. Let the games begin!

Thanks for the replies!

 

[Coyote machine]

Nice unit!:thumbsup: One caution not to put things in the grapple that might offset the tractors balance from side to side, or you may rack your loader arms, especially with heavy loads. Better another trip than a flip!
I try to NEVER get off my tractor, with the exception of bathroom breaks, or a dinnertime meal. I often miss lunch unless I have it on board, and try to maneuver whatever I can from the seat with the grapple. I really need about 4 tractors, one for grapple, 1 4 bucket, 1 4 forks, etc.:laughing:
BUT, I could MAYbe sell the wife on being able to use three of the four for backhoe, box blade and winch. Can't think of anything to put on the back of the fourth, yet.

Duh, forgot about the brush mower, then I saw my signature, and 'remembered'

 

[Sabooo]

I racked my loader about a week after I got the tractor - It's about 2 inches out. I've learned to live with it over the years. Of course, If i could off balance it in the other direction just so.... Maybe not.

I've seriously considering a 2nd machine for pulling the trailer around the place - load with one, hop onto the other and drag it away. Of course, then I'd need a third machine to unload it at the other end. Hm... whatever you have, I think it's contageous.

I'm uploading a 20 minute of video of yesterday's adventures now. While it's uploading, I'm off to bed, so look for a link in the morning.

Cheers,
Rich

 

[Sabooo]

As promised - Kioti CK30 with Wildkat 48" Grapple - YouTube

 

[bubba43]

Cool vid. Have my grapple coming this week. Lots of work to do installing the valve, quik attach, and converting the bucket.

 

[miramadar]

WOW!!! Great video! You have confirmed my suspicion that I NEED THIS!

How would you say the grapple does when you're digging down into the dirt to get rocks or roots? At the end of your video it shows you doing some of that. But what's your personal opinion?

Thanks again for posting this. You did a great job indeed. :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

 

[Sabooo]

Thanks for the kind words! Because this is my neighbors field and not mine, I didn't want to make a big mess. I was only trying to get the loose debris up. I suspect the grapple would have gone in quite a bit deeper if I pushed it.

They did start adding the reinforcing plates between the teeth, which seem to make the grapple want to dig in even more. They get wider as they go back, so if you're in all the way to the bar, it takes quite a bit to push it, and it digs up a fair amount of earth. As I get more comfortable with it, I'll have a better answer. For now, I'm certain you could do a good job of cleaning the first 3 or so inches of topsoil without much hassle. Tractor weight will make a difference trying to get beyond that, for sure.

My wife thinks I'm daft for taking an hour and a half worth of video and then spending a few hours going through it to make the final version. But I figured that since there was nothing like it out there, someone would appreciate it.

You wont regret buying one. I came up with 5 or 6 new projects around the place that I wouldn't ever have bothered with before this tool. Now, I'm looking forward to em.