Grapple LandPride SGC05 grapple problem

[millsan1]

First, I love my grapple. It is really a useful implement.

I have used it for picking up leaves, making brush piles, grabbing rocks, etc.

That being said, mine failed yesterday, in an impressive fashion.

The welds on the upper brackets, where the rams attach, broke.

I looked at the welds, and the brackets are only welded on one side. That is really odd, and a poor choice by LP, IMHO. The brackets are a single piece of 1/4" steel, acting as a standoff from the cross member. These brackets take all the stress. Seems silly to not spend the extra buck or two to weld both sides of the 1/4" piece.

I have to bring it to my dealer to have them "start the process" with LP.

I am hopeful this will be easy and not a painful drawn out thing.

I could repair the weld, but this is a brand new piece of equipment (45 days old or so) and the damage is from poor design, so I don't feel like I should do the repair.

The point of this post is to let people know about this flaw. I suggest, if you buy an SGC05, that you weld, or have someone weld, the unwelded side of the bracket before using the tool.

Left Bracket

Left Bracket front

Right Bracket

Right Bracket

 

[shogan]

Bummer!

 

[bcp]

It looks like you aren't the first to have the problem.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...g/329650-land-pride-grapple-owners-check.html

It seems to me that a wide grapple lid with a cylinder on each side would have lots of twisting force on the brackets with an uneven load being clamped.

Bruce