CanoeTpr:
<font color="blue"> I know nothing about this so I apologize if this is a silly question. </font>
There are no silly questions here, but I sure have seen a lot of silly answers. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
I was in your exact same boat (well, canoe in this case), and was thoroughly confused about QA brands, interchangeability, etc.
First, I'm a little surprised that Kubota doesn't offer its own brand of QA for the
L3400, but it won't be the first or last time I'll be surprised. (For instance, WHO KNEW that Nick and Jessica wouldn't work things out?)
Secondly, I agree with Daryl/5030. who replied as I was writing this, that your dealer should have been able to take care of you much better than he did. At the end of the first inning: TBN:1 Dealer:0.
QA's are pretty much universal now, especially those properly referred to as "Bobcat-style quick-attach". In the beginning, along with a vast void of darkness, there were a few proprietary (non-universal) quick-attach systems out there, but everyone is now pretty much on board with the style popularized by Bobcat. This is good, because there are a lot of very cool "Bobcat" brand attachments out there, and probably hundreds or thousands of non-Bobcat ones.
There were some reported problems with earlier (2-3 years ago?) Kubota brand QA's that had the attachment end up being a little too high relative to the QA adapter itself (which is "permanently" attached to the loader arms, and fits into QA-compatible weldments on the attachment being used). I have a new, improved Kubota brand QA adapter, and it seems fine. One large mfr. of QA adapters is ATI (Attachment Technologies Inc). I became convinced that the Kubota brand might be just a little "better", and went with it. Others' opinions and mileage may vary. If Kubota really doesn't offer a QA for the 3400, maybe ATI does?
Other points:
QA adapters do weigh a bit, maybe 100 lbs +, and do take away some lifting power, by virtue of both their own weight, and the fact that they move the load maybe 6 inches farther away from the loader arms.
One can always modify a non-QA attachment to fit onto a QA adapter. Pretty simple cutting/welding job.
The spring-loaded, tapered locking pins (on the Kubota QA at least) do a fairly crappy job, especially after they wear a little, of securing the bottom of the attachments to the adapter. After having my grapple pop off for the umpteenth time, finally breaking a hydraulic fitting in the process, I bolted it to the QA adapter with 3/4" grade 8 bolts.
This caused me to wonder: Hmm, is this still a QA system at all? Should I call it a KQA (Kinda Quick-Attach) system? This lead me to seriously consider eliminating my QA altogether, but THIS IS JUST ME. My grapple has been off 3 times in 20 months, and I need all the lifting power I can possibly get lifting the heaviest logs possible. Not a "slam" on QA AT ALL. QA is great, and mine is still on there. Just toying with the idea of putting pin-on mounts onto my existing ATI HD QA bucket and Bradco grapple, and swapping them the old-fashioned way, that's all.
John