Grapple 48" WildKat grapple on order

turkish · May 31, 2012

So just which grapple did you get? Thanks!
http://www.wildkatattachments.com/grapple.html

bigballer · Jun 1, 2012

turkish said:
So just which grapple did you get? Thanks!
http://www.wildkatattachments.com/grapple.html

I got the 48" econo

dustinfox · Jun 1, 2012

bigballer said:
I got the 48" econo

Do you mind me asking what you paid for that grapple? Looks like it is listed as $900 on their web site.

bigballer · Jun 1, 2012

dustinfox said:
Do you mind me asking what you paid for that grapple? Looks like it is listed as $900 on their web site.

i paid $650. if you add it to your "cart" it shows up as $700. when i called and told them they said "we can sell it to you for that price", then i had them remove the flat face SS connectors for another $50 off. don't ask me how much it cost to ship.

too bad there aren't any shops on the west coast that sell them this cheap, i would have gone that route. ANBO is local (relatively) but even for their light duty i was still looking at almost 2x what i paid for this with shipping. i think they are still over 500lbs.

dustinfox · Jun 2, 2012

bigballer said:
i paid $650. if you add it to your "cart" it shows up as $700. when i called and told them they said "we can sell it to you for that price", then i had them remove the flat face SS connectors for another $50 off. don't ask me how much it cost to ship. too bad there aren't any shops on the west coast that sell them this cheap, i would have gone that route. ANBO is local (relatively) but even for their light duty i was still looking at almost 2x what i paid for this with shipping. i think they are still over 500lbs.

I was just curious to see if the price had gone up. I think I paid $550 for mine last October. I like the square cross supports on yours though, they look sturdier than my round ones.

buck12 · Jun 2, 2012

I paid $500 in January. That included $50 off for the SS connectors and $50 off for the SS mounting plate. I have a pin on bucket so I had to fabricate my own pin on mounting plates. Like others have said I had to call to get the price. Shipping was $126 to a freight terminal in Memphis.

bigballer · Jun 5, 2012

i am still waiting on the shims from wildkat they should be here tomorrow/thursday, my diverter valve arrived yesterday and today i stopped by the local tractor shop to get some port/JIC connections. i'm all set up from the valve, now need to measure for hoses and have them built i have decided to mount the valve on the loader arm rather than down below by my right foot, it seems this is a better place and more protected as it will sit between the loader valve block and the hardlines of the bucket/curl cylinders. i have priced quick connects locally but man at $23 a set seems kinda pricey. i'm going to check around and see if i can find them cheaper. it seems i have a lot of parts hanging around right now and hopefully this weekend it can all come together for some grapple action.

bigballer · Jun 15, 2012

Shims arrived. I tacked them on for a test fit. Mount for valve built. Hoses installed. Switch connected. Time for some testing..

pane056 · Jul 2, 2012

Hello Mr. Bigballer:

Shims for what???? I ordered a 48" model from Wildkat today. I did not know a few bucks could be saved by deleting ther Flat Face Couplers and the SS attachment.

Thanks. nicholas

bigballer · Jul 2, 2012

pane056 said:
Hello Mr. Bigballer:

Shims for what???? I ordered a 48" model from Wildkat today. I did not know a few bucks could be saved by deleting ther Flat Face Couplers and the SS attachment.

Thanks. nicholas

you might be able to change your order if they have not shipped it out yet, that is if you didn't delete the couplers. mine was ordered with the SS plate but when i put it on my SSQA (kubota) the vertical pins did not fit tight againt the bottom (you will see others on TBN with same issue). there was a 3/8 to 1/4" gap so to fill this, the company sent me some shims which were the same thickness as the originals (3/8). i welded them on directly on top of the bottom plate slightly forward and now the pins from the QA are super tight and the slop is gone.

JFS2295 · Jul 2, 2012

Thought I'd throw up a picture of my little Ford 1710 with the 48" grapple and a Long pin-on to QA plate . This is as much as the little 1710's hydraulics can lift.

Most of the old Christmas tree clearing was done with my Allis HD-9B dozer, but there were a few stragglers where using the dozer would have damaged other trees so had to dig them out with the hoe can carry them to the back. This was an overgrown Scotch Pine.

pane056 · Jul 3, 2012

Hello;

Yesterday I ordered this WK 48" grapple from Connie. She said the welders are off all week and it won't be until Monday before they will build it.
Is this Pin and Shim slop issue something I will have to deal with on a JD 300CX Quick Park loader?

Thanks, nicholas

pane056 · Jul 3, 2012

Hello;

Ordered the Wildkat 48" grapple yesterday. After taking another look at the 300CX loader I'm wondering if I should have ordered the 60" from PalletForks.com or maybe the 66" from Wildkat.
It seems that the 48" might be a bit small

Any words from the Wise? thanks, nicholas

k0ua · Jul 3, 2012

pane056 said:
Hello;

Yesterday I ordered this WK 48" grapple from Connie. She said the welders are off all week and it won't be until Monday before they will build it.
Is this Pin and Shim slop issue something I will have to deal with on a JD 300CX Quick Park loader?

Thanks, nicholas

If your JD has the traditional JD hook and pin arrangement, I would think you would not have any problems.. the problems are on the SSQA ones, some have had a lot of slop and needed the shims welded in. Pretty easy thing if you have a welder, about a 10 or 15 minute job including setup for a professional. As for the size, I am no expert, and I don't have one, ( I would like to have one!) but from what I have read, the folks that have the 48, and larger tractors seem to think the 48 is big enough. They think the larger ones belong on SkidSteers which have lots more lifting capacity.

James K0UA

bigballer · Jul 3, 2012

pane056 said:
Hello;

Ordered the Wildkat 48" grapple yesterday. After taking another look at the 300CX loader I'm wondering if I should have ordered the 60" from PalletForks.com or maybe the 66" from Wildkat.
It seems that the 48" might be a bit small

Any words from the Wise? thanks, nicholas

it looks like the specs of your 3320 are similar to my 3400 and i believe a 60" would have been wasted on me. weight of grapple was concern for me. obviously brush is not too heavy but when moving logs or stumps around i would rather have lifting capacity over volume capacity and hte heavier/bigger the grapple the less left over for lift.. for me 48" is perfect. one thing i notice on mine is that the jaws only open to 36" where some of the others open further, this would be handy when trying to get maximum grab coverage like on a pile of brush but i have found that i can angle the bottom of the grapple such that the upper arm clears most debris and if really needed i can push and roll ahead to compact the brush a little more before closing that gnarly arm down on it..

dustinfox · Jul 4, 2012

pane056 said:
Hello;

Ordered the Wildkat 48" grapple yesterday. After taking another look at the 300CX loader I'm wondering if I should have ordered the 60" from PalletForks.com or maybe the 66" from Wildkat.
It seems that the 48" might be a bit small

Any words from the Wise? thanks, nicholas

You should consider the lift capacity of your loader also. The 48" grapple from Wildcat weighs over 400 pounds so already I've used up a third of my lift with just the grapple. So far I have not had a single incident where I wished I had a wider grapple but I have had times when I wished I had more lift. I'm pretty much "maxed out" here.

pane056 · Jul 4, 2012

Hello;

Ask the man who ownes one!! NUFF SAID. I will follow those before me and stick with the 48" I have on order.

Thank you very much. nicholas

Red Horse · Jul 4, 2012

Good move. I have a 4720 and the 48" works well from my perspective. I'm with those who say-"add grapple weight and subtract payload". If I were a pro landclearing guy it wouldn't work but then again I wouldn't have a 4720 either!

gumshu · Jul 22, 2012

pane056 said:
Hello;

Ordered the Wildkat 48" grapple yesterday. After taking another look at the 300CX loader I'm wondering if I should have ordered the 60" from PalletForks.com or maybe the 66" from Wildkat.
It seems that the 48" might be a bit small

Any words from the Wise? thanks, nicholas

I was thinking about size too before I ordered mine... weight was something to think about. It was either the 48" WildKat or the 60" North American Implements. I went with the 60" because it weighs only five pounds more than the 48" Wildcat. It was a tough choice.

pane056 · Jul 23, 2012

Hello;

After all of the input provided on this forum I decided to buy the Wild Kat 48".
It's benn at the local truck terminal for over a week waiting to be delivered.
Due to an unexpected hospital stay I called them to put delivery on hold.
It will arrive tomorrow.

thanks, nicholas