EA grapple not an option now what?

[oosik]

Well - after a 52 hour drive - you probably want something you can eat while standing.

 

[oosik]

52 hour driving time. WoW!!! Got me to thinking. I quit riding motorcycles last year. 60+ years - I shed a tear.

Anyhow - when we would go on extended trips - my butt would began aching after about 7-8 hours. If we could not stop - had to go on......... Tylenol and wash it down with a shot of JD. Worked every time.

I've never had that "sore butt" problem with the Taco Wagon. Fortunate, because I gave up on alcohol also.

 

[North to Alaska]

Maybe so but my MTL has served me well.
Unlike my Titan forks...

More likely to break your FEL before you ever break your grapple. I’ve got a MTL and it, along with my 4520r Branson, has been put through the works in land clearing.

 

[oosik]

So.....I wonder, what company will be the new - - coup de coeur???

 

[Torvy]

HLA.
Trust me, you’ll love it.

I took a look at those. They are pretty heavy.

 

[Midniteoyl]

I bought a Top Dog Attachments 60" grapple. Shipped out the same day I ordered it. Made in the USA. Got it last week and used it a few days. Seems to work really well with my tractor, and I have no complaints yet.

Granite Grapple - Top Dog

topdogattachments.com

At first I wanted teeth on top and bottom tines, but I think only having them on the top tines is a better way to go, IMHO.

I bought the same grapple (sold through Rural King) a few years back. Love the thing.

 

[oosik]

The MTL grapple - like my Land Pride "Rock & Root" model - is 200 pounds heavier. I'm sure it is a beast for strength also. But a bit over the top for weight - as far as my needs.

My Land Pride SGC1560 is 820 pounds of AR400 steel.

 

[shooterdon]

oosik makes a good point on the MTL grapple being heavy. If you have a green or orange tractor, that can be an issue. My LS has 2200 lbs of lift capacity and I find most "off brand" tractors have better lift ratings.

But the machines with low lift capacity to not need super duty grapples anyway. They run our of lift before they start bending steel.

If you typically move large logs or stones, investing in a higher quality grapple that uses better steel to reduce weight is worth considering.

In my case, the MTL had done it all, but I do not move large boulders. If I had a 20' long oak 20" in dia, I could not lift it very high anyway (2800 lbs). Cut in half, and it is easy peasy.

Important to understand YOUR needs and not the needs of others.

 

[oosik]

shooterdon - weight and capacity limitations - so true. On the internet - I have found and use log weight carts and rock weight charts. Based upon weight - my pine logs are either 10 foot or 5 foot long. Not a difficult calculation at all.

Rocks pose a bit more of a problem. Since I never lift log or rock more than 6" off the ground - I get almost max lift out of my grapple. However - I have a self imposed limit - 2500 pounds.

I have lifted up to 3200 pounds. BUT - pool table level ground - no holes, dips, swales - etc - ground was rock hard - move was only 40 feet. This SINGLE move was not fun and will NOT be soon repeated.

 

[5030]

ATI makes a quality one as well. They also make tooth bars and complete buckets as well as landscape attachments and seeders. I run their heavy duty SSQA as well as their tooth bar.

Nice folks to deal with and not flakey like EA was / is either.

 

[3 Horse Ranch]

I have been thinking of a grapple, but I don't need it to be heavy duty. I am plagued with a whole bunch of tumbleweed. Some of my own and some that blows in from north and south during strong winds. I have been working by hand gathering them off the fences and some out of the fields, but I have probably put in 30 hours so far. Since I know nothing of grapples, I was wondering what the consensus of opinions would be of a 72" Chinesium grapple for this work. I have found one online that will be $2400 to the door. My next option will be Homestead but that would be about $1000 more delivered. I would go with the better one if I was planning on major land clearing, but this will be a twice a year use implement and light duty work.

Pardon Our Interruption...

PS, I have come to really hate the old western Tumblin' Tumbleweeds song. Who in their right minds would try to romanticize those weeds from hell.

 

[newbury]

I have been thinking of a grapple, but I don't need it to be heavy duty. I am plagued with a whole bunch of tumbleweed. Some of my own and some that blows in from north and south during strong winds. I have been working by hand gathering them off the fences and some out of the fields, but I have probably put in 30 hours so far. Since I know nothing of grapples, I was wondering what the consensus of opinions would be of a 72" Chinesium grapple for this work. I have found one online that will be $2400 to the door. My next option will be Homestead but that would be about $1000 more delivered. I would go with the better one if I was planning on major land clearing, but this will be a twice a year use implement and light duty work.

Since your looking at basically twice a year use have you thought of pallet forks augmented with a "thumb"?

 

[3 Horse Ranch]

By the time I bought suitable forks and the thumb, I would be at about the same cost. here is a sample of the Tumbleweeds I need to get rid of. Some of them are four feet in diameter. The pile in the first photo is just 3 or 4 trailer loads. I have a pile set for burning that is now 30' x 10' x 6' compacted as much as I could, and still have about a third more to collect. Burning them will likely take a day or so. I've already burned what I collected late last fall. I've been using a pitchfork to collect them, and they are so spiky and clingy that it's hard to get them off the tines.

 

[Midniteoyl]

So, having missed some things.. What happened to EA to make their grapples no longer an option?

 

[Midniteoyl]

By the time I bought suitable forks and the thumb, I would be at about the same cost. here is a sample of the Tumbleweeds I need to get rid of. Some of them are four feet in diameter. The pile in the first photo is just 3 or 4 trailer loads. I have a pile set for burning that is now 30' x 10' x 6' compacted as much as I could, and still have about a third more to collect. Burning them will likely take a day or so. I've already burned what I collected late last fall. I've been using a pitchfork to collect them, and they are so spiky and clingy that it's hard to get them off the tines.

You need to convert a very large Snow Pusher and just push them into piles

 

[3 Horse Ranch]

So, having missed some things.. What happened to EA to make their grapples no longer an option?

They are out of business. A lot of people got burned with their full payment in advance with a 4 to 6 month delivery. Most got a refund on their purchase from their credit card, many have not. probably 20% saw no refund, principally those who paid by check or debit card and those with 4 to 6 month old orders.

 

[Midniteoyl]

They are out of business. A lot of people got burned with their full payment in advance with a 4 to 6 month delivery. Most got a refund on their purchase from their credit card, many have not. probably 20% saw no refund, principally those who paid by check or debit card and those with 4 to 6 month old orders.

Ouch. Thanks..

 

[1 Old Man]

By the time I bought suitable forks and the thumb, I would be at about the same cost. here is a sample of the Tumbleweeds I need to get rid of. Some of them are four feet in diameter. The pile in the first photo is just 3 or 4 trailer loads. I have a pile set for burning that is now 30' x 10' x 6' compacted as much as I could, and still have about a third more to collect. Burning them will likely take a day or so. I've already burned what I collected late last fall. I've been using a pitchfork to collect them, and they are so spiky and clingy that it's hard to get them off the tines.

Omg. I thought those dang tumbleweeds were only in West Tx. What a pain.
Buy the best grapple/tool you can afford. You'll never regret buying quality.
Is your fence line a property boundary? If not, take the new root grapple and clear that nasty
scrub brush away from the fence.

 

[shooterdon]

Any cheap grapple will handle that stuff. I paid 1/2 of a “quality “ grapple and do firewood processing. Much heavier work than a pike of weeds.

 

[LittleBill21]

Wr Long makes graples , I bought a bolt on one, seems to be decent quality