EA grapple not an option now what?

[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.

72" Brush Root Rake Clam Grapple Attachment Fits Skid Steer Tractor Quick Attach | eBay

This particular model is built to be heavy duty but at a lighter weight to run on skid steers and farm tractors with less than 50 HP. This grapple opens up 40" wide and has very long tines for digging and ripping roots up out of the soil.

www.ebay.com

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