Grapple Stump Grapple or Grapple Bucket or 4-in-1 ???

   / Stump Grapple or Grapple Bucket or 4-in-1 ??? #1  

timebak

Bronze Member
Joined
Feb 4, 2011
Messages
63
Location
Our farm near Muscle Shoals, Alabama...FINALLY!!!
Tractor
RK37SC & John Deere 2030
I've got an LS R4020 w/FEL (47hp & about 6000 lbs w/loaded tires) and need a FEL attachment that I can do a fair amount of digging and grubbing with, plus picking up brush and the occasional log or rock, and I've got a pile of old cross ties to place in my wet-weather creek-bed for erosion control in one area.

I also will be building a bunch of trails in the 43 acres of woods around our home (wife's honey-do project) and re-opening some old logging roads (already have a good, heavy 3pt mounted grader blade for road work that I can put on for extra rear ballast, if needed).

I know a guy that has offered me a heck of a deal on a Bradco 60" 4-in-1 bucket (with teeth on the cutting edge of the bucket and serrations in the gripping or clamshell area of the bucket. He also has offered me a good deal on a very heavy duty stump grapple bucket with teeth and also serrations on the bucket edge. And another guy has a good deal on a Bobcat flat bottom grapple bucket for about the same price.

The Bradco 4-in-1 weighs 360 lbs. The stump grapple is built like a tank and weighs 700 lbs. I don't know what the Bobcat grapple bucket weighs, but I'd guess around 500 lbs.

I'd like your opinion and/or guidance about which of these attachments would probably serve me best. And I wonder if the 700 lb stump grapple would be too heavy to do much with on my tractor or if it will handle it OK.
 
   / Stump Grapple or Grapple Bucket or 4-in-1 ??? #2  
If you can get it at a good price grab that 4 in 1. In my opinion they are brilliant anyway, but I imagine, for trail building, the dozer function of the 4 in 1 will be especially useful.
 
   / Stump Grapple or Grapple Bucket or 4-in-1 ??? #3  
I do lots of what you describe, making new trails, clearing areas, widening roads, digging and uprooting small trees and undergrowth, and then carrying all this debris making piles--lots of them! Have a heavy M 6800 Kubota 70 horse. I have never used a 4 in 1 bucket, but for digging and clearing, I think it would be very poor. Moving debris would be ok. Uprooting trees and clearing land requires the focused pressure of a small width grapple with digging tines. I can push down a 6" tree and pluck the root ball out with my grapple, then pick it up and carry it away. No way could I do that with a wide bladed bucket, even with teeth. Your tractor simply doesn't have the weight or power to use a bucket like it is a dozer, hence the extraction of the root ball has to be more surgical, using a narrow width tines to dig. THis grapple also excells at picking up large rocks, brush, chain saw debris, rail road ties, etc. My favorite implement. Lots of info here on grapple use, made by Markham Welding in N. C. (not sure if they have changed ownership) recently. Mine is a custom heavy duty 1/2 steel version, 48" wide, and cost a little over a grand. Works absolutely great!
 

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   / Stump Grapple or Grapple Bucket or 4-in-1 ??? #4  
By the way, I use mine mostly with a box blade on the rear. As I am clearing and creating holes, I use the box to pull an push dirt into the hole and level things up. It also helps to clean up the mess of small limbs than the grapple may miss. You could use your rear blade the same way. I would like to have a blade as I think it would give me more control of pitch and give me a more finished grade. But for now my box blade is adequate. I maintain miles of trails and dirt roads with this grapple/box blade combination (also create new food plots with it) I have a toothed bucket and it is worthless for work like this. I never use it. My grapple stays on my tractor.
 
   / Stump Grapple or Grapple Bucket or 4-in-1 ??? #5  
I do lots of what you describe, making new trails, clearing areas, widening roads, digging and uprooting small trees and undergrowth, and then carrying all this debris making piles--lots of them! Have a heavy M 6800 Kubota 70 horse. I have never used a 4 in 1 bucket, but for digging and clearing, I think it would be very poor. Moving debris would be ok. Uprooting trees and clearing land requires the focused pressure of a small width grapple with digging tines. I can push down a 6" tree and pluck the root ball out with my grapple, then pick it up and carry it away. No way could I do that with a wide bladed bucket, even with teeth. Your tractor simply doesn't have the weight or power to use a bucket like it is a dozer, hence the extraction of the root ball has to be more surgical, using a narrow width tines to dig. THis grapple also excells at picking up large rocks, brush, chain saw debris, rail road ties, etc. My favorite implement. Lots of info here on grapple use, made by Markham Welding in N. C. (not sure if they have changed ownership) recently. Mine is a custom heavy duty 1/2 steel version, 48" wide, and cost a little over a grand. Works absolutely great!

To HJCTractor

What is the model number of the unit you have I like the looks of it and could you snap some closer pics of it and post so I can see what the tines look like and the hydralics for the clamp? If I dont buy one I will build one
 
   / Stump Grapple or Grapple Bucket or 4-in-1 ??? #6  
Mine was made by Markham Welding and was a custom, but just like their light duty grapple but using heavier 1/2" steel and extra spacers in between the main tines. They would make it any way you wanted it. Does anyone know if Markham is still in business? I know Gatorattachments.com has very similar products. Their website shows what they make. If you do a search here on Markham, you will see lots of info. I can take some more pix this weekend if you wish. For the cost, it was a great bargain. Also look as "Island Tractor" posts. He gave me great advice.
 
   / Stump Grapple or Grapple Bucket or 4-in-1 ??? #7  
...Does anyone know if Markham is still in business? I know Gatorattachments.com has very similar products...
Markham is gone, Gator "took over"... wasn't pretty. You can look for Old Threads about it...
 
   / Stump Grapple or Grapple Bucket or 4-in-1 ??? #8  
Mine was made by Markham Welding and was a custom, but just like their light duty grapple but using heavier 1/2" steel and extra spacers in between the main tines. They would make it any way you wanted it. Does anyone know if Markham is still in business? I know Gatorattachments.com has very similar products. Their website shows what they make. If you do a search here on Markham, you will see lots of info. I can take some more pix this weekend if you wish. For the cost, it was a great bargain. Also look as "Island Tractor" posts. He gave me great advice.


Mine is very similar except it is the extreme duty and a little narrower. It digs a little to well, I have to watch very carefully when picking up brush because it will dig down and take a foot of soil with the load with almost no resistance felt at the controls. I haven't actually intended to dig with it but in my experience, it would do a great job.

Unfortunately Markham was sold a couple of years ago to Gator and they had a major blow out here on this forum. It was painful to watch. I bought from Markham and really liked the lady on the phone and I think Gator is selling the exact same products but they did themselves no favor with the back and forth here.
 
   / Stump Grapple or Grapple Bucket or 4-in-1 ??? #9  
I do lots of what you describe, making new trails, clearing areas, widening roads, digging and uprooting small trees and undergrowth, and then carrying all this debris making piles--lots of them! Have a heavy M 6800 Kubota 70 horse. I have never used a 4 in 1 bucket, but for digging and clearing, I think it would be very poor. Moving debris would be ok. Uprooting trees and clearing land requires the focused pressure of a small width grapple with digging tines. I can push down a 6" tree and pluck the root ball out with my grapple, then pick it up and carry it away. No way could I do that with a wide bladed bucket, even with teeth. Your tractor simply doesn't have the weight or power to use a bucket like it is a dozer, hence the extraction of the root ball has to be more surgical, using a narrow width tines to dig. THis grapple also excells at picking up large rocks, brush, chain saw debris, rail road ties, etc. My favorite implement. Lots of info here on grapple use, made by Markham Welding in N. C. (not sure if they have changed ownership) recently. Mine is a custom heavy duty 1/2 steel version, 48" wide, and cost a little over a grand. Works absolutely great!

I bow to your greater experience at trail building but I'd still say get the 4in1 as well. Its not very often you'll read words like..."I know a guy that has offered me a heck of a deal on a Bradco 60" 4-in-1 bucket "
 
 
 
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