Grapple --- 1 Lid or 2

[Hilbilly]

I'm going to build a grapple somewhere between 60" and 66" wide and have a question for you grapple owners.

1) For those of you with a single lid, have you ever wanted 2 instead of the one and if so why?
2) For those with 2 lids, have you ever wished you had a single and if so why?

My intended use is for picking up brush piles and maybe the occasional log or two.

John

 

[Msamt]

I've got a single, use it much like you state (except I have been known to dig a rock or two out) and have not needed two. Yet.

 

[Hilbilly]

Wow, that's a huge rock to dig out with a grapple and the grapple looks undamaged. Either a well built grapple or excellent operator skills. Maybe both.

 

[Jim Timber]

Very nice rock indeed.

I'm in the design stage on my 72" grapple and went with two lids because of the variable grip aspect. Since the cylinders are on the same circuit, their clamping force is distributed between both cylinders and total force applied is the same. So if you have an odd load, or didn't quite get a straight bite, you will have better clamping on each end vs if you only had one lid where it might get sprung from an odd shape load or it might leave part of it unsecured.

 

[Hilbilly]

Hi Jim, that's a good point about the twisting force if something odd shaped is clamped in the grapple. I've kind of been leaning in that direction but thought if there weren't any real issues with a single lid I would save the cost of the extra cylinder.

I picked up the steel today and I'm about to head out to the shop to mock up an outline of the grapple tine and lid profile to try and figure out what length I want the tines and what opening I want when the grapple is totally open. Then I check out cylinder mounting locations in order to determine what length cylinder and what stroke I will need. Then I start cutting materials.

Never done anything like this before and I'm looking forward to it. Hope I don't miss something obvious.

 

[oosik]

I have a single lid grapple. Land Pride SGC1560. I've picked up & moved 14 rocks that size. Made a protective barrier along a portion of my driveway - preventing accidental driving on or over my sewer drain field - that just happens to be right along side the driveway. I use the grapple to unearth, pick & move large rocks - pick and move massive chunks of pine trees - and back grade small areas that I've disked. I have printed out charts that tell me the weights of various size large rocks and chunks of pine trees. Keeps me from damaging anything from attempting things too big.

I've never found the need for a split lid grapple. The root wad from a Ponderosa pine thats 38" - 42" on the butt cut is way too massive for me to even consider lifting. All my mature P. pines run 32" - 42" at a point 14" up from the ground.

 

[HCJtractor]

I have used my grapple extensively. Mainly for clearing debris, cleaning up chain sawed trees, digging up trees and moving them, clearing areas of brush and trees up to 6" diameter, etc. I have a strong opinion a narrow one will do all of that great. And one thumb works just fine. It will hold anything I grab easily. Mine is 48" and heavy duty steel, 1/2 " thick. A wider one will also do most everything but dig. If you just need to scoop up debris, a 60" or greater works fine. But if you need to dig up trees, or uproot them, which I do a lot, a narrow one is far superior. My analogy is that if you manually dig up a shrub, you use a pointed shovel, not a wide snow shovel. Same principal. And for grabbing debris, the width doesn't really matter. Limbs and such tend to interlock with each other so it's not necessary to support the whole pile. It still gets picked up.

So if I do any uprooting at all, I would make it 48" wide with heavier steel, one thumb and cylinder. Advantages are that it saves weight over a wider one allowing for more lift capacity and breakout force, more simple, cheaper, and it will out dig a wider one hands down. And to me, it still works just as good as a wider one to scoop up debris. The thumb really doesn't do that much. It just clamps down on limbs as you transport them. For big rocks the thumb does even less. the weight of the rock keeps it in the grapple. A single thumb is plenty to hold it in place. I see no advantage of two thumbs unless you have a grapple 6 feet wide or bigger. But then, you lose the digging ability.

 

[HCJtractor]

Here is mine. On a 70 horse kubota. Believe me, it get a lot of use !

 

[HCJtractor]

One more comment. Protect your grill and radiator. See my home made grill guard? Whatever design you choose, when moving limbs, one will find its way into your tractor front end. I found out the hard way, twice!

And I think spend more time designing the teeth and cutting angle and less on the hydraulic thumb. It just isn't that important. Any thumb or two will clamp what you pick up. 95% of the work is in the digging, scooping, scraping with the teeth. The final clamping is just an afterthought, and is not critical at all

 

[Hilbilly]

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

HCJtractor;
Your grapple obviously gets a LOT of use and seems to be holding up just fine. One more question if you don't mind. What is the length of your tines, from the end to the front face of the frame?