KentT
Elite Member
- Joined
- Mar 31, 2005
- Messages
- 2,928
- Location
- Sevierville, TN
- Tractor
- 1993 Power Trac 1430 w/Kubota diesel engine
Don't want to steal Ted's or Travis's thunder, but did want to point out just how responsive they are, contrary to some of the opinions above.
I talked to Travis in late August about ordering a new grapple, but having them weld on the proprietary Power Trac quick attach plate rather than the standard skidsteer type. They were willing to do so, at a fee, and so I picked up a blank QA plate and sent it to them right after Labor Day.
Here's three pics of my "custom" 50" Compact Grapple being built, provided by Travis. It is now awaiting the hydraulic cylinder and hoses. I think it will likely ship this coming week.
As he and I were sharing pics in the Power Trac forum below, some owners of the smaller T-8 class Power Tracs voiced concerns that the 50" Compact Grapple was still a bit heavy for the T-8 class machines that have only 800 lb of lift on their loaders. The factory offers only the option of a 45" grapple bucket or a lightweight 29" grapple for those machines. (They offer a larger 54" grapple bucket, but still a narrow (29") but slightly heavier duty utility grapple for my larger 30hp class machines.)
I suggested to Travis that there might be a market for a narrower and lighter grapple (based on their 50" Compact Grapple design) with the mini-skidsteer QA plate like used by the Toro Dingo. It could then be adapted to the Power Trac QA plate, to address these size/weight concerns. He shared early pics of just such a product just yesterday... at about 33" wide with a 30" lid and 30" opening.
The first three pics below show my custom 50" being built, while the last two are of their new mini-skidsteer design.
Looks like they're pretty danged responsive to me...
I talked to Travis in late August about ordering a new grapple, but having them weld on the proprietary Power Trac quick attach plate rather than the standard skidsteer type. They were willing to do so, at a fee, and so I picked up a blank QA plate and sent it to them right after Labor Day.
Here's three pics of my "custom" 50" Compact Grapple being built, provided by Travis. It is now awaiting the hydraulic cylinder and hoses. I think it will likely ship this coming week.
As he and I were sharing pics in the Power Trac forum below, some owners of the smaller T-8 class Power Tracs voiced concerns that the 50" Compact Grapple was still a bit heavy for the T-8 class machines that have only 800 lb of lift on their loaders. The factory offers only the option of a 45" grapple bucket or a lightweight 29" grapple for those machines. (They offer a larger 54" grapple bucket, but still a narrow (29") but slightly heavier duty utility grapple for my larger 30hp class machines.)
I suggested to Travis that there might be a market for a narrower and lighter grapple (based on their 50" Compact Grapple design) with the mini-skidsteer QA plate like used by the Toro Dingo. It could then be adapted to the Power Trac QA plate, to address these size/weight concerns. He shared early pics of just such a product just yesterday... at about 33" wide with a 30" lid and 30" opening.
The first three pics below show my custom 50" being built, while the last two are of their new mini-skidsteer design.
Looks like they're pretty danged responsive to me...
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