WildKat 48" Econo Grapple

[kennyd]

I'm one step closer to getting my new grapple up and going. At first I wasn't sure where I was going to mount the diverter since there wasn't a lot of room. After getting a few ideas from what others had done I decided to use a piece of angle that I had in the shop and mount it to the outside of the loader's upright. I ordered the diverter kit last week and got it on Saturday.

After prepping the angle, drilling and tapping the loader's upright, drilling the holes to attach the valve I tried a test fit. Seems to fit good and should be out of the way.

The fittings should be here this week, hoses will have to be made, wired and a little orange paint.

Looks good Houser :thumbsup:

I was going to suggest mounting it to the sheet metal shroud the surrounds the joystick valve but I'm a little late to the party.

 

[Red Horse]

Just saw your thread. I think I was the first to mention the WildKat 48" grapple on this forum. Have had it several years now and other than some rust, it's doing great. The price has gone up considerably from what I paid then, but it's still the best value out there. I think you'll be happy with your purchase.

MoPioneer- that you were and one who influenced me to buy mine. As I have said in this thread-great value-attached are some pix of the damage I inflicted through what was a plain dumb *** move on my part. couple of pieces of 1/4" plate, good as new!

 

[houser52]

View attachment 443710View attachment 443711View attachment 443712View attachment 443713View attachment 443714
MoPioneer- that you were and one who influenced me to buy mine. As I have said in this thread-great value-attached are some pix of the damage I inflicted through what was a plain dumb *** move on my part. couple of pieces of 1/4" plate, good as new!

I think mine is made different. The bottom of cylinder hinge support is welded all the way to the rear of the
square tubing it sits on.

 

[aeblank]

Looks good Houser :thumbsup:

X2.

You can wire it up, while you're waiting for fittings/hoses.

 

[houser52]

X2.

You can wire it up, while you're waiting for fittings/hoses.

Yep, I hope to start on the wiring this evening if I get off work early enough. Do you recommend a good place to pick up power? Where did you tie in?

 

[aeblank]

Do you recommend a good place to pick up power? Where did you tie in?

When I did my LEDs, I ran an aux fuse panel directly from the battery. So I used that, naturally.
An add-a-circuit would be fine. Some tractors have aux. circuits already. Everyone has their own wiring ideas.
So, to make a short story long, nope, no specific recommendations.

 

[houser52]

When I did my LEDs, I ran an aux fuse panel directly from the battery. So I used that, naturally.
An add-a-circuit would be fine. Some tractors have aux. circuits already. Everyone has their own wiring ideas.
So, to make a short story long, nope, no specific recommendations.

Thanks.

The kit from Kenny is already fused so I figured going straight to the battery would be the easiest and quickest. I'll have to look.

 

[houser52]

Another grapple update- Got the diverter wiring done and painted the mounting bracket. The diverter seems to be working as it should as the solenoids click when I push the button.

The fittings came and I did a mock up of how I think the fittings will work on the diverter after it's is mounted on the tractor. There's going to be some fittings left over that I can return for a refund because I ordered extra as to have everything I might need once I unhook the loader's hoses and measure for the new ones.

I've already called a few different places that can make up my hoses. My plan was to just pull my tractor to one of them today and have them make the hoses one at a time as I installed them. That way the length would be right and if I had any problems I'd be at their place to fix it.

Well, my plan just went to crap. Today is one of the prettiest days we've had all year. Seems like it has either been 95 degrees or raining every weekend since March but the on the weekend I wanted to get my new grapple into operation my wife volunteered to babysit the grand kids.

Oh well, just a minor setback. They'll be other days.