Weslor Brush Claw

[Bob_Young]

Anyone have any experience with this? Looks like just the thing to get limbs and branches out of the way after felling a tree. Don't have a price yet, but it looks simpler and lighter than the Horst Welding Utility Grapple I'm considering for an LA682 loader.

www.weslor.com

 

[Bob_Young]

Update on the above. Turns out these are made only about 10 miles from where I live by a guy I met this spring, Scott Lord. He demo'd one for me this morning on a L2500 Kubota with an LA452 (?) loader with 60" utility bucket. Even got to use it for a few minutes myself. Very nice and practical little unit. If I understood correctly, the demo unit was the prototype first made in 1999 and has seen alot of use (and, according to Scott, abuse). He's made a number of these, some with two cylinders for use on quick-detach buckets.

It worked fine and looks like a good match for any Kubota utility bucket. He makes them up custom using measurements from the customer's bucket because Kubota bucket dimensions vary from year to year. He has also started making them for NH buckets.

The 'claw' portion is easily detachable from the bucket and looks to weigh a little less than 100lbs. The cylinder and claw attach fittings stay attached to the bucket.

Haven't seen any numbers on the price yet, but expect them to be competitive. He provides the claw with cylinder, valve, and valve-to-cylinder hoses/fittings. Valve to tractor hoses have to be provided by customer as I recall.

Scott seemed to be able to pick up almost anything he wanted with the claw and control it easily. He demo'd the unit on a pile of broken up skids. It wasn't quite so easy for me, but then I haven't used a front end loader for quite awhile and needed to acquire the feel. I also thought the unit would benefit from having a toothbar on the bottom of the bucket as it would allow you to get under the object being picked.

Expect to be learning more on this shortly. Will update this thread as that happens.

 

[MarkV]

Bob, please do give us an update when you get the price for the grapple. I like the fact that it is lighter than some of the others I have looked at. With a smaller tractor the weight of some of the grapples I’ve looked at would decreased the lift capacity of the loader too much for my taste.

MarkV

 

[jmc]

Bob,

Looking forward to your report. Just a couple of comments:

If you picked up something bigger on one end, like most logs, would the jaw flex enough to grip the small end as well without permanently bending?

With what appears to be 12 holes to drill in my bucket, I'd buy a brand new drill bit rather than use the one that's been rattling around in my tool box for the last 10 years.

John

 

[Bob_Young]

Good question, John. I've emailed Weslor to ask. I believe the tubular member that's a few inches from the claw hinge point is supposed to act as a torque tube and prevent permanent deformation; but we'll see what Weslor says.

Can see that situation happening quite easily. Reach in to pick a pile of brush and get a good sized hunk of firewood along with it but way off to one side. Would hope they've addressed that. Will let you know what the answer is.
Bob

 

[KiotiJohn]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( The 'claw' portion is easily detachable from the bucket and looks to weigh a little less than 100lbs. The cylinder and claw attach fittings stay attached to the bucket.
)</font>
Bob, I'm assuming you mean just the claw part weighs under 100 pounds, plus the mounting gear? The site states the the whole thing weighs under 200 pounds, and even that's not bad compared to a lot I've seen.
I just imagine he'll be making them for all the brands if he gets enough interest.
Thanks for the post. John

 

[rockyridgefarm]

Yup! I like it! It looks like an efficient use of steel which is now a precious metal!!! Hope the price comes out OK, then if it'll come in green...

 

[Bob_Young]

Update on the Brush Claw: Spoke with Scott at Weslor today regarding the flex question. He indicated that the torque tube that's a few inches down from the hinges is meant to allow the claw to flex with uneven loads without permanently deforming the structure. With normal care in usage, claw deformation shouldn't be an issue. However, careless or abusive operation, like trying to close the claw completely with a 15" or 18" hunk of wood at one extreme end of the bucket and little or nothing at the other end would probably result in deformation. This would put the full force of the hydraulics at odds with the structure.

As to cost, I've been quoted $1350 installed by Empire Tractor, Waterloo. It's going on a new L4300/LA682 combo that I'm buying from them. This will be their first Claw and Scott's probably going to assist with the install.

Scott indicated he prefers to sell these things through dealers to make sure they get installed correctly. However he did mention selling at least one outright and the buyer installed it successfully on his own. Outright uninstalled cost of the model I'm buying (60" with single hydraulic cylinder for 66" Kubota utility bucket) was quoted at $950.

Models for quick detach buckets require two cylinders, so the cost will be higher. The Kubota round-back construction buckets require special handling on installation because of the double back structure.

The hinge pins for the Claw are easily removeable and held in place with "hair pins". The claw portion itself, in the size I'm buying, is a little under 100 lbs. The cylinder and hinge fittings stay on the bucket. On the model in question (same as model demo'd), cylinder and fittings together probably weigh less than 60 lbs. ...but that's only my eyeball guesstimate.

I think Scott would welcome any inquiries. There's an 800 number and an email address under the contact choice on the website's pulldown menu.