now i went & did it..

[candyman]

i sent a email with pix this a. m. we`ll see what they say.

thanks guys.

c/m

 

[Herkypilot]

That was a Wildcat grapple. Candyman posted in Dec: "wildkat about the 48' econo grapple for my kubota mx5100 4 wd. hydro."

I was looking at getting one of these for my MX5100 also as Wildcat is about 40 min drive from me. I'll stand by to see how this plays out.

Good luck to you Candyman, I hope they make good on this and beef up their grapples. Unfortunately, Wildcat has produced hundreds if not thousands of grapples which are stacked up on their lot and if most have this type of setup, that's a lot of modifications to make. I agree with previous poster that hydraulic cylinder shouldn't overpower the strength of the steel. It would render these grapples useless in short order.

Grapples are stacked up on the right and behind.

 

[GregbkH]

I have the WildKat 48" grapple with the single jaw. I also tweaked the cylinder support post on my grapple. It caused the grapple to not close as far as it used to by a half an inch.

I don't believe that the cylinder over powered the grapple support. I did it myself by holding some pretty heavy 4+ foot logs for bucking. All that leverage and a bit of bouncing forced the support back, not the cylinder.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I still say that something else should give before the cylinder attachment support buckles. They need to design a retro-fit to beef those up prior to selling and provide the beef up to any customer asking for it free preferable but at no more than cost of shipping.

 

[First one]

Also, in the post where he got it ,wasn't he saying something about it being bent when it arrived .(Was it the same size?) Then, it was tweaked before he started using it and only got worst. If he(Candyman) took the pic's of it when he got it , I would think that they would do something for him or they might just say you should have let them know the first day he got it . Anyway ,they should make it right I could see that on most of the grapples I've seen you could always beef up something about it or add more tines to make the openings closer. I'm having mine beefed up today by having more gussets welded on the top tines and a few more braces for support, before I bend mine more then just the tip of the tine.

 

[candyman]

no answer to my email, so i called & talked to connie tuesday told her what happened that i had sent email with pix said she would look for it took my phone # .

we`ll see if i get a call back & what they will do. !!

c/m

 

[wdchyd]

A rosebud and a big hammer. Why is it made like that? There should be a gusset sloping down from just low enough to clear the cylinder to the front of the bracket to support the cylinder post. Poor engineering?

Unless I'm missing something, the steel here should not have been cut out.

If there is a way to tie that jaw down you might be able to heat it with a torch and use the cylinder to pull it forward. You wouldn't have to worry about the post bending out of alignment that way. You'll for sure have to brace the post after you get it back straight because it will never be as strong as it was.

Best of luck to ya...

x 2......looks like heat, slice, tweek, reinforce and reweld is the ticket...

 

[nickel plate]

Quite a few TBNers just in the past year have purchased various designs of WildKat grapples most of which have posted that the price was one of the contributing factors leading to their decision to buy.
This incident of the load bar twisting out of shape falls into three possible categories of failure: operator abuse, under engineered product design or a combination of both.
To all that have a Wildkat grapple I suggest that you follow this thread and contribute your personal findings.

 

[candyman]

hey all,

got a email from wildkat today it read.........

the owner told me to tell you if you pay freight to get it back to so we will repair or send you a new grapple. but we have to get the broken one back to do a warranty claim.

what do all think, sound fair or not. ???

c/m

 

[First one]

hey all,

got a email from wildkat today it read.........

the owner told me to tell you if you pay freight to get it back to so we will repair or send you a new grapple. but we have to get the broken one back to do a warranty claim.

what do all think, sound fair or not. ???

c/m

I'd say get it back there and tell them you want another new grapple , not that one repaired , you could pay someone to weld it up for the amount it would cost to ship it back , if your far away. I'd ask to have those points that got tweaked reinforced or made out of 1/2" or 5/8" to make sure it won't happen again. Ask how much they would charge to have it welded up the way you want it . At least they got back to you and seem to want to make it right with you .:thumbsup: