The WICKED Root & Debris GRAPPLE!!!!!!!

[curly]

I see many on this thread that talk about using their wider mouthed grapple for brush and their 30 inch one for trees. That's exactly what several of us are saying. And to those who think us lesser experienced fellas just don't know how to do it with a 30 inch grapple. Would you be willing to use a 25 inch opening, or a 20 maybe. Maybe even a 15 inch opening. Wherever you stop, and say that's just to small for me, well that's probably where I'm at right now. And I'm sure some of it could be technique because I've been used to another type of grapple. But bragging rights or no, give me 15 to 20 more inches of opening and I'll be happy as a lark.

 

[Xfaxman]

I see many on this thread that talk about using their wider mouthed grapple for brush and their 30 inch one for trees. That's exactly what several of us are saying. And to those who think us lesser experienced fellas just don't know how to do it with a 30 inch grapple. Would you be willing to use a 25 inch opening, or a 20 maybe. Maybe even a 15 inch opening. Wherever you stop, and say that's just to small for me, well that's probably where I'm at right now. And I'm sure some of it could be technique because I've been used to another type of grapple. But bragging rights or no, give me 15 to 20 more inches of opening and I'll be happy as a lark.

I bought the small grapple for picking up sheared cedar trees. It has no bracing between the three tines, so it will penetrate the tree no matter what angle the trunk is at.

Then we moved 3 years ago and now I need to pick up brush, so I got the big grapple with a 51" opening.

For a small tractor, 30" would be the minimum, but 40" or more would the best. :thumbsup:

 

[EverythingAttachments]

I noticed that a 50" Grapple was hooked to the little Bobcat earlier, so i went out to see what i could pick up. With no counterweight and lots of shiny attachments lying around, the choices were limited.
I did grab a few pallets though.
Travis

 

[IslandTractor]

Island did you see the video of Ted abusing the Everything Attachments 50 inch single lid grapple? At one point he hangs the front end of this tractor off of the top lid, and says "tractors are not meant to hang from trees". Of course it is a fairly small tractor, a CT-122 I think, which is a CK-20 class tractor. But still, it did not seem to hurt the grapple. I don't know it I would want to hang my DK35se off of the lid though!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOjAeZZELfg

I wouldn't worry about hanging the tractor from the grapple. That would be a straight up and down force which the grapple should tolerate easily. It is the off center, twisting and shock forces that damage grapples. I don't doubt the strength of the EA50 for anything that a CK20 or similar tractor could dish out. That is the tractor I have in my avatar and I was able to lift both rear wheels off the ground with my light duty grapple when stump digging with no problem at all. My earlier point about big logs/tree trunks is more an issue of twisting forces and the leverage that a long tree trunk can exert.

 

[IslandTractor]

I noticed that a 50" Grapple was hooked to the little Bobcat earlier, so i went out to see what i could pick up. With no counterweight and lots of shiny attachments lying around, the choices were limited.
I did grab a few pallets though.
Travis

View attachment 408047

Good demonstration of the point we have been making. You got six stacked pallets into the grapple and lifted them. What does one pallet weigh??? Maybe 50lbs or so???? Six times 50 is 300lbs. The loader on any tractor bigger than a SCUT will lift 700lbs at least so you are effectively leaving "money on the table" with regard to the weight of the load lifted in the grapple. You guys tested the EA50 with the CT122 and I know that tractor can lift upwards of 1000lbs. If the opening on the grapple were 42' instead of 30", you could have loaded and lifted maybe another three or four pallets.

With brush the issue is entirely what volume, not weight, you can cram into the grapple maw. We all learn to roll up and crush brush to minimize bulk but there is zero question that you can carry a lot more brush if the opening is bigger.

 

[EverythingAttachments]

In the video, Ted moves brush and debris similar to what's in those photos. Roger(94Bullitt) has pics that are very similar as well.

I still believe that the 50" grapple is the sweet spot for a small 35hp and below compact tractors. The target tractor that it is intended for IS one similar in size to the CT122 in the video and even for smaller tractors like the BX or Mahindra Maxx, but the high strength steel allows it to be used on larger, heavier compact tractors.

We are going to offer the 54, 60, 66 and 72" models with a single lid and ~40" opening soon to diversify the lineup.

 

[EverythingAttachments]

By the way, the 54" dual lid Wicked Grapple is only 349 pounds and the 60" is 382. The single lid design should shave a little weight off of that.
Travis

 

[curly]

They are all incredibly light....that is unreal. 274 lbs for mine....love that part

 

[EverythingAttachments]

This just in.....

Introductory prices for the new single lid Wicked Grapples are:

54".....$1,690.00
60".....$1,719.00
66".....$1,774.00
72".....$1,831.00

The lid will be 36" wide and the opening is 39.5"

Lead time is approx. 7-10 business days.

Ted is going to send some computer generated pics over and i'll share them when they arrive.
Travis

 

[MinnesotaEric]

I noticed that a 50" Grapple was hooked to the little Bobcat earlier, so i went out to see what i could pick up. With no counterweight and lots of shiny attachments lying around, the choices were limited.
I did grab a few pallets though.
Travis

View attachment 408047

With brush, unless you have it by the center trunk, it is liable to fall out. Case in point: in the photo I supplied, I grabbed a pile of brush, and due to its twigginess, 2/3rds of it was hanging by weak branches that dragged, then broke, or got run over by my front wheels and then broke (because I'm not using a telehandler, which is a completely different kind of machine that can extend the grapple far out from the front wheels for a better grip) so that by the time I got to my dump trailer I was carrying a lot less than what I had initially grabbed.

A scaled up version with longer everything (not just larger uppers) and a wider opening that can still pinch would be more efficient for handling brush.