WICKED Utility Grapple!!!

   / WICKED Utility Grapple!!!
  • Thread Starter
#81  
What is the HP limit and weight on the new 55" single lid?

75HP Utility Tractor. Why do we put limits on attachments? Because there are many Teds in the world, and Teds are ROUGH.
I put a short clip on our Facebook Page of Ted bouncing his L6060 like a basketball while tugging on overgrown Tarzan vines. That's a prime example!

I know they'll work on larger, so the recommendation can vary based on the user and the application.
Travis
 
   / WICKED Utility Grapple!!!
  • Thread Starter
#82  
Is that a good match for a L3700, and what does it cost ?

The best match for an L3700 would be our Single Lid or Dual Lid Wicked Grapple for Compact Tractors. I like 60", but width is really up to you because they're all plenty light(but incredibly strong).
Your loader's lift capacity will be preserved so you can have all kinds of Grapplin' Fun!!

We have a huge Compact Wicked Grapple TBN thread with hours of good reading.
 
   / WICKED Utility Grapple!!! #83  
75HP Utility Tractor. Why do we put limits on attachments? Because there are many Teds in the world, and Teds are ROUGH.
I put a short clip on our Facebook Page of Ted bouncing his L6060 like a basketball while tugging on overgrown Tarzan vines. That's a prime example!

I know they'll work on larger, and the recommendation can vary based on the user and the application.
Travis

Can you put together a simple chart showing the differences in materials used for similar sized grapples. I think that would be of help to many. I personally cannot figure out where your breakpoint is for CUT vs utility. Rating grapples by horsepower is misleading. Tractor mass (weight) and loader strength (breakout) are far more relevant to grapple sizing than tractor horsepower. Many modern CUTs are intentionally built lightweight so they can be used as finish mowers and have relatively undersized loaders (perhaps because of lightweight axles). Kubota in particular builds tractors that have high hp to weight ratios and these should probably not be compared to heavier tractors purely on the basis of horsepower at least for grapple sizing. You list your midrange grapples as suitable for CUTs up to 55hp but my 40hp Kioti CUT is almost exactly the same weight and loader strength as the 65hp Kioti. Why would the midrange grapple not be sized according to something more relevant than horsepower??? Seems like your most recent (55" single 75hp limit) is really only needed for utility tractors as the similar midrange model below it would certainly stand up to any CUT sized tractor even if Ted was the operator. I will remind you that my tractor has a 48" Millonzi grapple made of 3/8" mild steel with a very unsophisticated design compared to the recent EA offerings. It has stood up to over 8 years of pretty intense grapple work. An identical grapple has been mounted to a TBN member's M59 for about the same time and that grapple is also still doing fine. These Millonzi's are comparable to your light duty 50" single lid for compacts up to 35. Surely the larger midrange EA grapple will stand up to ANY compact tractor on the market (and please don't make up BS marketing terms like "MegaCompact"). Unless EA has empirical evidence that a 65hp tractor of the same weight and loader strength as a sub 55hp compact can somehow magically put more stress on a grapple, then don't try to upsell unnecessary steel to CUT owners. Their net lift capacity and wallet weight will drop substantially without improving their grapple experience. It is almost silly to see your catalog proclaiming the virtues of lighter grapples when the 55 weighs almost 300lbs more than the 54 midrange. You say that Ted's L6060 (presumably a "Megacompact" in your terminology) would need the new 55" grapple but if you look at the specs for the L6060 compared to my Kioti DK40se, the Kioti has a higher rated loader, higher hydraulic output and essentially the same weight. Extra horsepower is irrelevant in grapple selection. Why would Ted need the 600+lb grapple when my puny 300lb grapple has survived eight years of abuse on a nearly identical sized tractor?

As often discussed, the problem with buying grapples is that virtually nobody (other than Xfaxman) does it more than once. That puts the buyer at a serious disadvantage as they are buying a piece of equipment they have never operated before and are therefore lacking personal experience to help them decide on size and type etc. Given the all American tendency to oversize everything from hamburgers to tractors, most folks with the cash will buy bigger even if they don't really need it or if smaller would be more efficient. I think you do your CUT owner potential customers a disservice by implying that the midrange 54" grapple line is not appropriate for something like Ted's L6060. If his L has the same weight, lift and size as a 40hp CUT, then it should have the same grapple. HP is for running things off the PTO and is quite simply irrelevant for grapple selection.

Sell the 55 for heavy utility tractors. It's a beautiful grapple but oversized for CUTS. The 54 is more than adequate strength for ANY CUT on the market today.

Oh yea, one more thing, if you want to make improvements on the 54, make the jaw open a few inches wider. My puny Millonzi somehow opens past 40" (?42) so I know you guys can do it without needing to add 300lbs of excess steel.
 
   / WICKED Utility Grapple!!!
  • Thread Starter
#84  
Can you put together a simple chart showing the differences in materials used for similar sized grapples. I think that would be of help to many. I personally cannot figure out where your breakpoint is for CUT vs utility. Rating grapples by horsepower is misleading. Tractor mass (weight) and loader strength (breakout) are far more relevant to grapple sizing than tractor horsepower. Many modern CUTs are intentionally built lightweight so they can be used as finish mowers and have relatively undersized loaders (perhaps because of lightweight axles). Kubota in particular builds tractors that have high hp to weight ratios and these should probably not be compared to heavier tractors purely on the basis of horsepower at least for grapple sizing. You list your midrange grapples as suitable for CUTs up to 55hp but my 40hp Kioti CUT is almost exactly the same weight and loader strength as the 65hp Kioti. Why would the midrange grapple not be sized according to something more relevant than horsepower??? Seems like your most recent (55" single 75hp limit) is really only needed for utility tractors as the similar midrange model below it would certainly stand up to any CUT sized tractor even if Ted was the operator. I will remind you that my tractor has a 48" Millonzi grapple made of 3/8" mild steel with a very unsophisticated design compared to the recent EA offerings. It has stood up to over 8 years of pretty intense grapple work. An identical grapple has been mounted to a TBN member's M59 for about the same time and that grapple is also still doing fine. These Millonzi's are comparable to your light duty 50" single lid for compacts up to 35. Surely the larger midrange EA grapple will stand up to ANY compact tractor on the market (and please don't make up BS marketing terms like "MegaCompact"). Unless EA has empirical evidence that a 65hp tractor of the same weight and loader strength as a sub 55hp compact can somehow magically put more stress on a grapple, then don't try to upsell unnecessary steel to CUT owners. Their net lift capacity and wallet weight will drop substantially without improving their grapple experience. It is almost silly to see your catalog proclaiming the virtues of lighter grapples when the 55 weighs almost 300lbs more than the 54 midrange. You say that Ted's L6060 (presumably a "Megacompact" in your terminology) would need the new 55" grapple but if you look at the specs for the L6060 compared to my Kioti DK40se, the Kioti has a higher rated loader, higher hydraulic output and essentially the same weight. Extra horsepower is irrelevant in grapple selection. Why would Ted need the 600+lb grapple when my puny 300lb grapple has survived eight years of abuse on a nearly identical sized tractor?

As often discussed, the problem with buying grapples is that virtually nobody (other than Xfaxman) does it more than once. That puts the buyer at a serious disadvantage as they are buying a piece of equipment they have never operated before and are therefore lacking personal experience to help them decide on size and type etc. Given the all American tendency to oversize everything from hamburgers to tractors, most folks with the cash will buy bigger even if they don't really need it or if smaller would be more efficient. I think you do your CUT owner potential customers a disservice by implying that the midrange 54" grapple line is not appropriate for something like Ted's L6060. If his L has the same weight, lift and size as a 40hp CUT, then it should have the same grapple. HP is for running things off the PTO and is quite simply irrelevant for grapple selection.

Sell the 55 for heavy utility tractors. It's a beautiful grapple but oversized for CUTS. The 54 is more than adequate strength for ANY CUT on the market today.

Oh yea, one more thing, if you want to make improvements on the 54, make the jaw open a few inches wider. My puny Millonzi somehow opens past 40" (?42) so I know you guys can do it without needing to add 300lbs of excess steel.

Wow, that's deep. I know you mean well but you give me a headache sometimes! :laughing:

Keep in mind that someone here at EverythingAttachments talks to every single customer that orders a Wicked Grapple......even if they order it on our website, I call them personally to make sure they've chosen the proper one for their tractor and their needs.

I do not know of a totally cut and dry method of marketing them on our website that is better that what we are doing now. It seems to be working.
I'll keep thinking about it.
Travis
 
   / WICKED Utility Grapple!!! #85  
HP is a pretty meaningless number. A 60 hp tractor that weighs 4,500 pounds and a 60 hp tractor that has been ballasted to 11,000 pounds are in a whole different class.
 
   / WICKED Utility Grapple!!!
  • Thread Starter
#86  
HP is a pretty meaningless number. A 60 hp tractor that weighs 4,500 pounds and a 60 hp tractor that has been ballasted to 11,000 pounds are in a whole different class.

I agree. See my last reply. There's no easy way to have a concrete recommendation. There are more people out there that understand horsepower than people that understand ballasted weight.
Heck, more than half of the people that I talk to don't even know how wide their tractor is. Do you think they know how much it weighs?
Travis
 
   / WICKED Utility Grapple!!! #88  
Can you put together a simple chart showing the differences in materials used for similar sized grapples. I think that would be of help to many.<snip>
I agree, it's difficult to compare, we are usually ordering sight unseen.

It is almost silly to see your catalog proclaiming the virtues of lighter grapples when the 55 weighs almost 300lbs more than the 54 midrange.
And costs $500 more.

<snip>
As often discussed, the problem with buying grapples is that virtually nobody (other than Xfaxman) does it more than once. That puts the buyer at a serious disadvantage as they are buying a piece of equipment they have never operated before and are therefore lacking personal experience to help them decide on size and type etc. Given the all American tendency to oversize everything from hamburgers to tractors, most folks with the cash will buy bigger even if they don't really need it or if smaller would be more efficient. I think you do your CUT owner potential customers a disservice by implying that the midrange 54" grapple line is not appropriate for something like Ted's L6060. If his L has the same weight, lift and size as a 40hp CUT, then it should have the same grapple. HP is for running things off the PTO and is quite simply irrelevant for grapple selection. <snip>
Well written.
<snip>
Heck, more than half of the people that I talk to don't even know how wide their tractor is. Do you think they know how much it weighs?
Travis
I think a lot of us on TBN do, especially if we trailer it.

I too am confused as to where the extra 300 lbs shows up on the
Wicked Single Lid Root Grapple for Large Compact and Utility Tractors 55"
versus the
ETA-SLRG-54 54" Single Lid Wicked Root Grapple
. I see a wider lid and a larger opening but the weight almost doubles.

And going by the ad copy:
Several hundred pounds of unnecessary dead weight on the front of your tractor can make it feel sluggish and less agile,
so installing a HEAVY GRAPPLE just DOESN'T MAKE SENSE!!
it seems to steer me towards the ETA-SLRG-54 for my 47HP M4700 which weighs about 4,000 lbs WITHOUT loader and is presently 77.5" wide.
 
   / WICKED Utility Grapple!!! #89  
And going by the ad copy: it seems to steer me towards the ETA-SLRG-54 for my 47HP M4700 which weighs about 4,000 lbs WITHOUT loader and is presently 77.5" wide.
That is exactly what I would get and IMO is the exact grapple that virtually anyone with a 35-65 HP size CUT would be happy with.

Tractor width is really not very important as the grapple behaves like the bow of a ship and pushes brush away from the wheels. You only drive as far into brush as it takes to fill the grapple so it's not necessary to create a full width path.

There are many advantages to a narrow grapple and only a few for a wide grapple unless you are primarily engaged in construction.
 
   / WICKED Utility Grapple!!!
  • Thread Starter
#90  
Can you put together a simple chart showing the differences in materials used for similar sized grapples. I think that would be of help to many.
I agree, it's difficult to compare, we are usually ordering sight unseen.
Yes, I am working on a chart.

It is almost silly to see your catalog proclaiming the virtues of lighter grapples when the 55 weighs almost 300lbs more than the 54 midrange.
Why would it be silly? Don't you proclaim the virtues of lighter grapples?

The 54" is IDEAL for compact tractors from around 35HP up to 55HP. It weighs 349 pounds. 37" opening. We have one that's even lighter for less than 35HP.

The 55" is IDEAL for HEAVIER utility tractors up to 75HP that have more pushing ability, twisting power, ramming power, down pressure, lift capacity etc.. It weighs 627 pounds. 42.5" opening. Ideal. We offer this one in a narrow 55". Why? Because IslandTractor and others boast about a narrow grapple ALL THE TIME and I pretty much agree with him. I hear people all the time bragging about their heavy duty grapple that is 850 pounds. NOT IDEAL!!



I commented that more than half the people I talk to do not know how wide their tractor is.
I think a lot of us on TBN do, especially if we trailer it.
It's true, trust me. Many people have no clue.
BUT, that is why we are here. To educate and guide customers in the right direction.
Just because people on TBN know the weight and width of their tractors doesn't mean that a high percentage of our callers do.


And going by the ad copy: it seems to steer me towards the ETA-SLRG-54 for my 47HP M4700 which weighs about 4,000 lbs WITHOUT loader and is presently 77.5" wide.

That would most likely be my pick, unless certain circumstances told me otherwise.

The M series is technically a utility tractor. The L5240 is technically a compact tractor. They're fairly similar. That is why there's not a simple, cut and dry method of grapple recommendation.
Many times, we need to talk through things to make a solid, educated recommendation.

Travis
 
 

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