Controlled Study - Root grapple vs. Light Duty Grapple Rake

   / Controlled Study - Root grapple vs. Light Duty Grapple Rake #1  

Mr. 5000

Member
Joined
Feb 6, 2010
Messages
31
Recently I purchased a MX5100 4wd Kubota. For the past seven years I have been running a tree service and using a skid steer to do most of my heavy lifting. A skid steer is unmatched for its lifting capacity and ability to get in to tight spaces, but it murders yards. I have 20 acres and needed a machine to serve me at home and work. When I purchased the tractor I already owned a 900 pound bullet proof root grapple. After setting the tractor up to run the grapple and working it for a week, I was severely disappointed. To even use the loader I had to fill the tires with fluid and put on a blade with a 500 pound log tied to it. Even with all of this extra weight the tractor was scary unstable with a load. I feared I had made a horrible mistake going with a tractor instead of a skid steer. Rather than give up I put the root grapple up for sale and started researching solutions. I found many people seemed happy with the Markham light duty, so I bought one.

I worked the tractor all day long yesterday and its like I have a different machine. It handles the light duty with ease and the tractor handles like a dream with a load. Despite my best effort I could not bend or break the grapple. I was able to move even more brush and do it with more stability. I think my setup is now better than a skid steer for several reasons.

1. The tractor will go places the skid steer can not. Yesterday I motored through a running creek and across several deep ditches. The skid loader simply does not have the ground clearance to do these things.
2. The tractor is easy on yards. I worked in semi wet yard and never exposed dirt. The same yard would have looked like a mud wallow with a skid.
3. The tractor has a 3 point and a pto. I can run a landscape rake and finish up a job without ever leaving my seat. Tractor implements are 1/5 the cost of high flow skid steer tools and they don稚 require using one tool at a time. I am also excited about the possibility of a pto chipper.
4. The tractor is cheaper. New MX5100 24,000. New 60 horse skid 34,000.
5. Its sexier, ever heard the song she thinks my skid loader is sexy? Me neither.
 
   / Controlled Study - Root grapple vs. Light Duty Grapple Rake #2  
I think my setup is now better than a skid steer for several reasons.

I agree with your reasons. You'll find the best attachment for your work and probably a lot more.
 
   / Controlled Study - Root grapple vs. Light Duty Grapple Rake #3  
Recently I purchased a MX5100 4wd Kubota. [...] I found many people seemed happy with the Markham light duty [root grapple], so I bought one.

Apologies for resurrecting an old, dormant thread, but the topic is spot on for my interest...

Mr. 5000, if you're still around, I'd appreciate it if you could let me know if you had to modify your hydraulic system to accommodate the Markham root grapple you mentioned. I have the same tractor you do, fitted with a Kubota LA844 FEL, and I've recently begun thinking about acquiring a root grapple to use around my 50 acre forested tract in south Mississippi.

I have a standard (factory or dealer installed) FEL joystick/actuator that controls boom and bucket. The bucket is a quick-attach model. Is the Markham root grapple compatible with the QA system on the LA844 loader?

I'm inexperienced in matters hydraulic, but my intuition tells me I need two more ports to feed the grapple cylinder(s), since I presume the bucket curl circuit needs to remain dedicated to curling the grapple. Is this correct?

If Mr. 5000 isn't here anymore -- his last post was in March 2010 -- I'd appreciate input from anyone else.

Thanks,
Jay
 
   / Controlled Study - Root grapple vs. Light Duty Grapple Rake #4  
Apologies for resurrecting an old, dormant thread, but the topic is spot on for my interest...

Mr. 5000, if you're still around, I'd appreciate it if you could let me know if you had to modify your hydraulic system to accommodate the Markham root grapple you mentioned. I have the same tractor you do, fitted with a Kubota LA844 FEL, and I've recently begun thinking about acquiring a root grapple to use around my 50 acre forested tract in south Mississippi.

I have a standard (factory or dealer installed) FEL joystick/actuator that controls boom and bucket. The bucket is a quick-attach model. Is the Markham root grapple compatible with the QA system on the LA844 loader?

I'm inexperienced in matters hydraulic, but my intuition tells me I need two more ports to feed the grapple cylinder(s), since I presume the bucket curl circuit needs to remain dedicated to curling the grapple. Is this correct?

If Mr. 5000 isn't here anymore -- his last post was in March 2010 -- I'd appreciate input from anyone else.

Thanks,
Jay

Jay, You will indeed need another circuit to control a grapple. There are many ways to do it, so I will suggest you search for these terms in the Hydraulics forum:

diverter
3rd function
grapple
wr long


After reading up on it, come back (or start a new thread there) to help with specific questions. I will tell you that the WR Long 3rd function kit is about $600 or so, and would work perfectly for you.
 
   / Controlled Study - Root grapple vs. Light Duty Grapple Rake #5  
Thanks for replying, Kenny. Researching it some more after my post led me to discover the 3rd function auxiliary hydraulic angle; specifically, this link from Everything Attachments.

I appreciate your pointer to the WR Long kit.

Jay
 
   / Controlled Study - Root grapple vs. Light Duty Grapple Rake #6  
Thanks for replying, Kenny. Researching it some more after my post led me to discover the 3rd function auxiliary hydraulic angle; specifically, this link from Everything Attachments.

I appreciate your pointer to the WR Long kit.

Jay
]

FYI, that is the same as the WR Long setup;)
 
 
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