Grapple Best "rock" grapple for CUT?

k0ua · Dec 8, 2013

The number one task for my grapple is picking up and building rock walls. I use the EA 50 inch single lid Lightweight. You might want something a little bigger if you get the DK40.

The DK40 has the strongest loader, the mighty DK401. Picking up 1500 lb rocks are well withing its 2760 lb. spec. either tractor is going to work for you.. I HIGHLY reccomend getting hydrostat. you are going to need the precision that a hydro transmission gives you in positioning rocks.

I can pickup up very small to very large rocks with my grapple. The tiny ones are pinched right between the tips of the upper and lower jaw. Of course you can only pick up one rock at a time like that. To pickup large rocks, you "dump" with the FEL control, and open the jaws and come straight down on a large rock from the top. Clamp and pick straight up. This maximizes your lift ability as the rock is not "out there" from the Loader pins, but directly under them. Dont pick of the rock very high when moving, just enough to clear the ground easily. This maximizes your stability by keeping your CG low. Only pickup the rock when you are right by the wall and inch up and lift as needed, creep forward, and set the rock. There you go, free advice,, and worth every penny you paid for it.:laughing: Good luck on the "hunt"

James K0UA

Poopdeck Pappy · Dec 8, 2013

I'd love to have a rock wall, but I'm glad I don't have the rocks on my property to build it with.

sdef · Dec 8, 2013

Poopdeck Pappy said:
I'd love to have a rock wall, but I'm glad I don't have the rocks on my property to build it with.

I have enough rocks to make my new place into a fortress. My fiance' wants "me" to gather up all of the rocks and make "her" place so she can walk anywhere she wants to at any time she wants to do so. I am telling her I will do that on "her" half of the property. My half is staying natural except where I have to clear for the driveway. She keeps getting her half and my half mixed up. Or it is really, "What's mine is mine and what's yours is negotiable", as I bring it up to her...

But I am safe as she refuses to learn how to drive the tractor. She will sit on it and even start it, but there is NO WAY the tractor is moving with her in the seat... It is FAR larger and noisier than her Toyota Camry. So she will be the ground person handling the chains, Brush Grubber BG-11, reciprocating saw for the tree roots, etc. She'll learn quickly this is not DIY as on TV and that a lot of the work that goes into a DIY episode is not shown on TV in the mini condensed show.

And she dearly wants a rock wall in the front of the property. She has NO CLUE to what this will entail as she watches DIY folks and the "crew" do it all in a weekend... Yeah, right.

sdef · Dec 8, 2013

HillCountry said:
Based on your recommendation I added Wildkat to my list of grapples to check out. I saw a few other posts that they might be slightly under-engineered in the top brace, but maybe they have addressed that issue.

Yeah, I read a few posts that indicated similar and were probably the same posts if on TBN. I did a lot of research before selecting mine. It is 48" and weighs 550 pounds. All of the metal is 3/8" to 5/8" and I have not seen anything I would consider substandard. I consider this model to be medium duty. WildKat also has a 72" light duty model that weighs the same as my 48" and that one may have been the unit others were referring to. I find it hard to believe the one I have would be in a lightweight category. And they even put on the more expensive Italian flat face couplings and Parker hoses. I have used mine a lot with no indication of any negative issues. But I can't say I have had the grapple bucket at the max loader capacity.

Speaking of loaders since you have not purchased a tractor yet, The LS and Kioti KL401 loaders have the best load capacity of anything I have found. Next best was Yanmar and Mahindra. Shop carefully as all of the others I found had significantly less FEL capacity. Even the NH Boomer series, which are built by LS, have less FEL capacity as NH apparently only purchased the tractor and supplied their own loader for it.

Also, I have read quite a few posts indicating "slop" in the fit of various FEL attachments and the QA assembly and have no slop in any of my attachments. I did notice slop in a new Yanmar's standard bucket I was testing, though.

Willie B · Dec 8, 2013

My Case 580K with extend-a-hoe & thumb sounds better and better. My walls contain nearly 3000 Cubic yards of boulders. I've done very little on the ground hand labor. You'll find it very frustrating whether it's you on the ground or your wife. Unless she loves the work, not much will get accomplished before you have to go to the hospital, or morgue. Machines big or small crush human flesh with ease. Try to find a way to build walls with no hands in close proximity to ground engaging implements.

sdef · Dec 8, 2013

Willie B said:
My Case 580K with extend-a-hoe & thumb sounds better and better. My walls contain nearly 3000 Cubic yards of boulders. I've done very little on the ground hand labor. You'll find it very frustrating whether it's you on the ground or your wife. Unless she loves the work, not much will get accomplished before you have to go to the hospital, or morgue. Machines big or small crush human flesh with ease. Try to find a way to build walls with no hands in close proximity to ground engaging implements.

Yes, I have thought about that and will have to figure out a way to do so without getting hurt. I really have no long-term need for a hoe and the rock wall building will not be for a couple more years. I have a lot of attachments for the FEL and may have to invest in a stump grapple like what Pappy has, just to use for the rock wall building, as it will allow me to be precise.

3000 cubic yards? Man, you are WAY out of my league.

arrow · Dec 8, 2013

Willie B said:
There's no such thing as too big a tractor. If someone says otherwise they are wrong. .

I don't agree. And if they say so, people aren't "wrong" depending on their situation. I drove both skidders and compact tractors through woods. If you didn't make logging roads, the skidders were abysmal maneuvering through thick woods and they were articulated. A large full size tractor through thick woods is not something I'd want to keep doing if I were not interested in cutting in roads. You can definitely get too large a tractor for certain things.

Willie B · Dec 10, 2013

Please, just my attempt at humor. If we were all alike, thinking the same thoughts there could never be humor. In my opinion, since I can't afford several more machines, I can't afford the most efficient machine for each task. I have bought a machine as versatile as I can find. It isn't true that I get by with one machine. In fact I'm a bit of a glutton for machines. By a wide margin the most useful machine I know of is the commercial sized tractor loader backhoe. By comparison to others, it was cheap. Yet time and again the other machines including a CUT sit in the shed neglected while I play with the backhoe. The difference between a 5' CUT and a 7' wide TBL able to set itself over to one side, balance itself on steep sidehills, make roads for itself, and pull itself out of the worst predicaments, usually favors the backhoe. Where I live, all forests have at some time been logged. You are never more than 200 feet from an old logging road. If that road is in poor condition, I can fix it. I don't ask you to agree, For me, having used machines my whole life (57 years) the most versatile machine on the market is the tractor loader backhoe. Mine fits where I need it, and my trees are thriving.

arrow · Dec 10, 2013

Willie B said:
Please, just my attempt at humor. If we were all alike, thinking the same thoughts there could never be humor. In my opinion, since I can't afford several more machines, I can't afford the most efficient machine for each task. I have bought a machine as versatile as I can find. It isn't true that I get by with one machine. In fact I'm a bit of a glutton for machines. By a wide margin the most useful machine I know of is the commercial sized tractor loader backhoe. By comparison to others, it was cheap. Yet time and again the other machines including a CUT sit in the shed neglected while I play with the backhoe. The difference between a 5' CUT and a 7' wide TBL able to set itself over to one side, balance itself on steep sidehills, make roads for itself, and pull itself out of the worst predicaments, usually favors the backhoe. Where I live, all forests have at some time been logged. You are never more than 200 feet from an old logging road. If that road is in poor condition, I can fix it. I don't ask you to agree, For me, having used machines my whole life (57 years) the most versatile machine on the market is the tractor loader backhoe. Mine fits where I need it, and my trees are thriving.

This internet stuff is tough. There is no way to discern tongue and cheek through intonation. The words come in cold, hard and "true". As we do not know each other on this forum, it is difficult to know who is meaning what. I just didn't want a guy thinking of buying a tractor for his own woods thinking he'll need the largest behemoth he can get his hands on and offered an opposing view point. Versatility is a discussion in itself and yet again, has mostly to do with how one operates machinery on their property. I often thought about what would be the most versatile machine as to how I use a machine and I can't come up with anything made. A backhoe is just not stable enough through thick , ground obstructed woods. Having a "digger" aspect would be handy. I actually thought about a mini excavator but they are not really made for pulling and they'd be slow. I once used a D6 to log with for a couple of weeks and even they could become dicey in snow. Really don't know what my most versatile machine would be. Small tele-handler perhaps? Whatever it would be, it would need to be slung low for stability with good ground clearance. The Europeans are good at designing small , stable, strong stuff. Those little skidders they make are cute. Haven't seen one that can dig however.

Xfaxman · Dec 11, 2013

Willie B said:
Please, just my attempt at humor. If we were all alike, thinking the same thoughts there could never be humor. In my opinion, since I can't afford several more machines, I can't afford the most efficient machine for each task. I have bought a machine as versatile as I can find. It isn't true that I get by with one machine. In fact I'm a bit of a glutton for machines. By a wide margin the most useful machine I know of is the commercial sized tractor loader backhoe. By comparison to others, it was cheap. Yet time and again the other machines including a CUT sit in the shed neglected while I play with the backhoe. The difference between a 5' CUT and a 7' wide TBL able to set itself over to one side, balance itself on steep sidehills, make roads for itself, and pull itself out of the worst predicaments, usually favors the backhoe. Where I live, all forests have at some time been logged. You are never more than 200 feet from an old logging road. If that road is in poor condition, I can fix it. I don't ask you to agree, For me, having used machines my whole life (57 years) the most versatile machine on the market is the tractor loader backhoe. Mine fits where I need it, and my trees are thriving.

arrow said:
This internet stuff is tough. There is no way to discern tongue and cheek through intonation. The words come in cold, hard and "true". As we do not know each other on this forum, it is difficult to know who is meaning what. I just didn't want a guy thinking of buying a tractor for his own woods thinking he'll need the largest behemoth he can get his hands on and offered an opposing view point. Versatility is a discussion in itself and yet again, has mostly to do with how one operates machinery on their property. I often thought about what would be the most versatile machine as to how I use a machine and I can't come up with anything made. A backhoe is just not stable enough through thick , ground obstructed woods. Having a "digger" aspect would be handy. I actually thought about a mini excavator but they are not really made for pulling and they'd be slow. I once used a D6 to log with for a couple of weeks and even they could become dicey in snow. Really don't know what my most versatile machine would be. Small tele-handler perhaps? Whatever it would be, it would need to be slung low for stability with good ground clearance. The Europeans are good at designing small , stable, strong stuff. Those little skidders they make are cute. Haven't seen one that can dig however.

Since the most versatile machine was brought up, I will show mine for those that haven't seen it.

It is 6' wide, 6.5' high and 13' long. Tire size is 14x17.5. Top speed is 15.5 mph and it will lift over 5,000 pounds.

Standard skid steer QA. 7' brush hog.