Grapple Skidsteer Express won't stand behind their grapple!

[sldva00]

This thread is definitely an eye opener. I believe that if it wasn't started, Timm250 would still be twiddling his thumbs rather angrily. I'm glad that SSE finally did the right thing,:thumbsup: but after reading First one's comments, I believe SSE only does the right thing after they are called out.

SSE sent First one a grapple made from 3/8" after advertising it was 1/2". I'm sure SSE was shipping out grapples knowing that they were 3/8" instead of 1/2". After First one called them, then they were willing to have item returned for a full refund. I wonder how many inferior grapples are out there? Has SSE contacted the owners? Heck, I'd like to know if SSE has contacted the remaining 9 grapple owners with Timm250's problems.

It seems that SSE is sending out inferior grapples hoping nobody calls them out on them. Now if both of these were honest mistakes that occurred, then their Quality Assessment needs an overhaul. They obviously don't pay attention to detail.

Now the forks seem to be of great quality according to Blue River and I'm sure Dustinfox will be able to attest to that. But I would inspect them closely to see if any shortcuts were taken during fabrication.

 

[dustinfox]

Now the forks seem to be of great quality according to Blue River and I'm sure Dustinfox will be able to attest to that. But I would inspect them closely to see if any shortcuts were taken during fabrication.

I will let you know!

 

[JoeBuyer]

Regarding the grapples, I have a number of postings asking Titan/Skidsteer to verify that they use T1 in their grapples as they advertise. There were numerous errors in their website postings as recent as a few months ago and that could be another. Titan monitors TBN but so far has not come out and answered the question.

 

[First one]

Regarding the grapples, I have a number of postings asking Titan/Skidsteer to verify that they use T1 in their grapples as they advertise. There were numerous errors in their website postings as recent as a few months ago and that could be another. Titan monitors TBN but so far has not come out and answered the question.

That was one of the things i asked about when i got mine because it was made out of 3/8" instead of 1/2" .( They said that it was t-1 steel.)???
The guy that welded mine up , said for the price ,he couldn't have made it for that out of T-1 .
It's holding up great, after I had gussets put in each side of the points . They'll have to get feed back from us that have bought them to see how they need to make them better. As long as they make it right and stay on top of it, then they'll have a good product to sell.
I too would like to see SSE reply that they use T-1 steel in there product to insure the trust of there buyers.

 

[IslandTractor]

Why are you guys buying grapples made from 1/2" steel or T1 for that matter? Those might be reasonable materials for a true skidsteer grapple but are WAY overkill for any CUT grapple. Check the weight of a 1/2" steel grapple compared to 3/8". Subtract that difference from your net load. How precisely does that heavy grapple help you get jobs done? Any threads on TBN reporting how big ole CUTs are destroying 3/8" mild steel grapples? I haven't seen one. But I have seen lots of guys pissing away money on oversized overspec'd grapples that will not get work done as efficiently as a light duty 48".

 

[Gary Fowler]

Buyer Beware is my advice with Skid Steer Express. I purchased the 72" extreme duty grapple from Skidsteer Express last November. I didn't get to use it much because of the weather until about a month ago. After using it 4-5hrs a day the grapples started sticking in the up position & I would have to get off the machine & push them forward to get them to close. As I used it more it was obvious that the grapples were opening too far and bending the sheet metal on the top of the grapples.

I have sent them several emails about the problem & haven't gotten much of a response other than do you have access to a welder? I replied that I could get access. Then 3-4 days would go by without any reply. I would email them again & get the same response again. I have also called several times & left my number for Bill to call me but no response. I sent another email asking if they had a solution & if they were going to do anything about the problem & the response was a picture that said if you will weld some triangle pieces here it will fix the problem.

I guess I now know that Bill is not going to do anything about the problem other than expect me to fix it myself. I don't think that I should have to start making parts & welding them on a new piece of equipment. I don't think it is unreasonable to expect Skidsteer Express/Titan to take care of this problem since the 1 year warranty is still in effect.

I see no where in your original post that says that you talked to them for 2 weeks without a reply, only the 3 or 4 days comment. I can under stand your frustration and lack of response but I still assert that if you want to deal with an internet dealer rather than a local equipment dealer because you get a better price then you must assume that you are not going to get the same response time as you did when buying. You were taking a huge chance of even getting any warranty work done from an internet listing without paying a premium for freight. I think you are very lucky to get the final outcome that you did which you may not have gotten at all had there not been other complaints from other buyers.

 

[Timm250]

I see no where in your original post that says that you talked to them for 2 weeks without a reply, only the 3 or 4 days comment. I can under stand your frustration and lack of response but I still assert that if you want to deal with an internet dealer rather than a local equipment dealer because you get a better price then you must assume that you are not going to get the same response time as you did when buying. You were taking a huge chance of even getting any warranty work done from an internet listing without paying a premium for freight. I think you are very lucky to get the final outcome that you did which you may not have gotten at all had there not been other complaints from other buyers.

Right now I don't have any confidence in Bill or Skidsteer Express. I first contacted him about the problem on 4/20 & it continues to drag on without any solution.

Page 1 Post #5 if you read the thread.

Also Grapples are not carried in stock by any dealers in my area. The closest dealer that had anything in stock is over 2 hours away.

 

[JoeBuyer]

I can tolerate poor service with an excellent product. I can tolerate excellent service with a poor product. But I can not tolerate poor service with a poor product. The latter is Titan/SkidsteerExpress/PalletForks.

I know this from personal experience with them. Internet service or local dealer should not matter in this case, since as Timm250 said, grapples are not stocked items usually in many locations.

 

[dustinfox]

Personally, I think he has taken enough of a beating on this. He's working to make it right and it's time to "cut him some slack" and let him earn our confidence. I have a set of forks coming this week and I am looking forward to putting them to work.

 

[nickel plate]

Anyone interested in this outcome should go to the Hydraulics forum and open the thread entitled "Leaking Hydraulic cylinder" dated 5/13/2012. See the OP's post dated 5/15/2012.
It looks like a clear message has been sent from this grapple thread to SSE and they got it.:thumbsup: