Cheap Ritchie Brother Skid attachments

[KSSS]

Looking at those pics reminded me of something that may help someone looking for a rock grapple or using a root grapple to handle something other than brush. The rock grapple I got from Quick Attach had the back of the bucket covered in steel. Initially I thought maybe I would lose the ability to separate rock from dirt with that back enclosed. After using it the first time it became evident that 1. It still does a great job separating dirt from rock. 2. If your loading trucks, it keeps all that debris from raining down on the machine when you load. So now when I look at similar grapples, having that back enclosed is a really nice feature. I see the guarded version of the Harleman grapples have that, at least in the center. If you are using it only for brush it probably would not matter, but like everything, sometimes you may find yourself using the bucket outside of its initial purpose.

 

[Jimbo]

I use my Harleman primarily for handling brush, and it is nice to rarely have sticks knocking on the windshield

 

[damnescavator]

The main issue with cheap Chinese attachments is the inferior steel they use. They use A36, which is 36,000 lb yield strength steel. Bobcat starts at A50 steel, there is a document somewhere on that, which is 50,000 lbs yield strength steel. Really decent makers will often use up to 100,000 lb steel. It costs more and it lasts way longer. I bought a Loflin (branded as MTL) root grapple with some sort of cheap steel in and it, thing lasted maybe 6 months before it was toast. And Loflin is an American brand made in Denton, NC. I have a recent thread here on this grapple. The chinese stuff is even weaker. Stick with name brands like Bobcat, Land Pride, FFC, Bradco, dozens of good American brands.

 

[Bumpsteer]

Not only the material but where in the heII do you get parts? Who knows where the hydraulic pieces came from and if they are standard.

Ed

 

[rbrown225]

Talked to one of the local auction companies and they get 1-2 con-ex's in with the attachments for every yard sale. Then sell everything including the con-ex. Coming right from the port and manufacturer.

 

[damnescavator]

The auctions are flooded with cheap Chinese crap in those steel shipping cages. First they steal a design from a quality American brand down to a mm, make it out of cheap metal in Shangdong and sell it for peanuts at Ritchie Bros. They put quality manufacturers out of business especially local fab shops.

 

[CM1995]

I think everyone needs to buy one of those cheap attachments and depend on it to make a living. It'll make you appreciate a quality built attachment.

 

[KSSS]

I am not totally convinced that the buyer who needs a well built grapple bucket, buys a knock off attachment instead of a Virnig or Bradco or whatever. I am sure that there are some sales lost to these POS attachments that would have gone to a quality NA OEM, but I don't think they are entirely the same buyer. The guy that works the attachment hard, may first buy the knock off (if he is not very smart) but likely ends up buying the quality attachment after the Knock off fails anyway. The farmer or whomever that doesn't need it everyday or doesn't depend on it working to make money but would just like to have a cheap grapple bucket around, probably was never going to spend 6K on the quality version in the first place.

 

[Welder Dave]

Some are just inticed by the low price and it's new. That's what RB is counting on. I think it cheapens RB's brand but they have done a lot to cheapen their brand. They make billions so they could care less. It's good they were prevented from buying Euro Auctions and it would have been better if they would have been prevented from buying the bulk of their competition. Monopolies aren't good.

 

[Scott stryker]

KSSS you’re absolutely right. I’m that farmer. I needed a grapple 2 years ago for this 5 acre farm. Bought an “economy” KC skeleton grapple from a central NJ equipment dealer for $1700. It’s advertised as American Made but who knows. I could have never paid 6k for an attachment only because I simply dont have the money. I use it once a week. It doesn’t look cheap but doesn’t look like 6 k either. ‍♂️

 

[Bumpsteer]

I bought my grapple "used".
Called the. Bobact dealer, "I have 2 at my Livonia branch, I'll
send you pics tomorrow".
One looked like it was used as a boat anchor, the other was very nice.
I bought the "pretty" one.
Looking it over at delivery.....wtf? This is new.
Yup, but the paint is peeling in a few places, can't sell it as new......
Yea, I stole it.
Lmao...

Ed

 

[Ridinhigh1500]

Hi everyone,

I'm in the market for a power rake, grapple bucket and auger attachment. There is a ritchie brother yard in my city and they sell these knockoff chinese attachments. Based on past auctions, it seems I can get a power rake (harley rake) for about 2-3k, a grapple bucket for about 1.5-2.5k and an auger attachment with bits for about 2.5k.

Comparable prices from name brand are about 12k for the power rake from quick attach, 3.5k for grapple bucket and the auger I want with bits would be abour 4k plus shipping for all these.

What would you guys do in my position? These are mainly for personal use at my property but if opportunity arises, I'd like to use them for work as well. Any one out there can chime in with your personal experience on the chinese made ones?

Well the main problem with cheap brands is parts availability when they brake. Also you absolutely get what you pay for. All the years I have been around equipment the cheapest I would go with is a company called CID based out of NC. People can say whatever they want but that is my advice from turning wrenches for 13 years on equipment. I've worked at a CAT, Bobcat and now Kubota dealer. Cheap attachments always end up costing more in the long run.

 

[Ridinhigh1500]

Some are just inticed by the low price and it's new. That's what RB is counting on. I think it cheapens RB's brand but they have done a lot to cheapen their brand. They make billions so they could care less. It's good they were prevented from buying Euro Auctions and it would have been better if they would have been prevented from buying the bulk of their competition. Monopolies aren't good.

RB is a bunch of con-artist. When I worked at CAT we would unload the trade ins that were junk to RB. People would buy them bring them back to us to fix the one or two things RB said was wrong. We would give them a laundry list of things worn out and they would be like how do you know. We would tell them because we sold it to RB. Then they would always get mad that RB ripped them off.

 

[Welder Dave]

Not all the equipment at RB is worn out junk. They have a sale coming up right away in Nisku/Edmonton with quite a bit of low hour Cat machines. A large contractor is closing up operations and there's equipment from other well known contractors. One machine that really stood out was an 842 hour Komatsu 155X or something like that. A lot of machines under 6000 hours and even more under 10,000 hours. RB really do run the gammot but not usually very many really poor machines. They sell machines for parts though. I wish I would have had the money, I would have bought another grader the same model as mine sold as a parts machine. Jade Equipment bought it for $3200 or there abouts.

 

[eqhq_auction]

RB has a big selection - but you're right, it's buyer beware. Even something that looks great can show up in your yard with dead batteries, leaking filters, etc. The fees on both sides are also pretty steep! eqhq is getting ready to launch a new online auction with no seller fees and a low buyer fee. You can check us out here: https://eqhq.com/
We also have a pretty cool search tool that lets you look at machinery trader, ironplanet, etc. all in one place so you can get a good idea of what's on the market. Feel free to reach out with any questions - happy to help.

 

[Welder Dave]

I think you need to read the forum rules concerning advertising. RB's biggest advantage is their huge customer base and world wide marketing. The marketing costs a lot of money. RB does sell some junk but also a lot of good stuff. How would you make a profit for yourself and get the best price for your consignors with only charging low buyer's fee's? How could you afford to do much advertising to get the best prices?

 

[BC Placer gold]

Not all the equipment at RB is worn out junk. They have a sale coming up right away in Nisku/Edmonton with quite a bit of low hour Cat machines. A large contractor is closing up operations and there's equipment from other well known contractors. One machine that really stood out was an 842 hour Komatsu 155X or something like that. A lot of machines under 6000 hours and even more under 10,000 hours. RB really do run the gammot but not usually very many really poor machines. They sell machines for parts though. I wish I would have had the money, I would have bought another grader the same model as mine sold as a parts machine. Jade Equipment bought it for $3200 or there abouts.

Have been looking through the items for the upcoming sale. Saw that dozer, pretty nice…way out of my league though. There is an 1987 D7h with ripper, I am curious to see what that goes for.

Need a 4” water pump, so following those….quite a few shown.

 

[IceHole]

Some are better than others.

Exame I've seen grapples that used maybe 3/4" (if that) bolts in single shear for the pivot.
Couldn't expect that to last with much use. Proper grapple uses greased pins in double shear at least.

 

[IceHole]

Most of those attachments all sell for close to the same price and they all end up on facebook marketplace and craigslist for 2-3x what they paid that hopefully nobody is actually buying. 'Diesel Creek' on YouTube got a brush mower from Ritchie Brothers and he has a few videos running it and fixing it after it breaks. Definitely getting what you pay for on those things. The grapple is probably the least risky out of all of them as you aren't risking grenading your hydraulics if the attachment fails. Perhaps if you are handy they could be up-suited to last longer?

Mine did the same thing within a couple hours of use.
Granted I did hit a few rocks, but still shouldn't sling a blade through the deck!
I bought a proper stump jumper and blades.