Best steel for a grapple.

[EddieWalker]

Texas/OK guys and gals, if you are looking for CID Attachments, there's a guy in Denton, TX that has been great to work with.

Pm me if you want more info.

What does "CID" stand for?

 

[LD1]

Design is more important than material choice IMO.

The push to use AR steel or any higher strength steel isnt to make a stronger grapple. Its to make an equal strengh grapple weight less, but comes at a cost,

Some MFG's gusset the tines, some dont. A 6-8" long tine without gussets will bend regardless of steel used if it snags something that puts a side load on it.

I have a cheap(er) tomahawk single lid 66" grapple I use with my MX. Just plain A36 mild steel. But the tines are gusseted nearly to the tip so no, they dont and wont bend.

But if you are wanting to use it more like a rake, it dont work as well. For me, I just use it for handling brush and firewood and logs. Using one as a root-rake was not a requirement for me. I have the long-bottom style.

This is the one I have and you can see how the tines are gusseted

Tomahawk One-Cylinder Brush Grapple

Tomahawk Attachments is your premier factory-direct source for all sorts of skid steer attachments. Our high-quality, American-made attachments are…

tomahawkattachments.com

 

[Mej13579]

The other question is 3/8 grade 50 vs 1/4 ar400?

 

[LD1]

I wouldnt go 1/4" anything unless it was a sub-compact. Dont care what flavor of steel. Just too light

 

[Torvy]

What does "CID" stand for?

Not sure. Maybe initials of the founders?

Home - CID

CID specializes in manufacturing high quality Skid Steer, Compact track loader, Compact tractor, and Mini-Excavator attachments.

www.cidattachments.com

 

[Torvy]

"Design is more important than material choice IMO."

The problem for most of us is that we are not design engineers.

It is all about trade offs. I could have paid less for a heavier grapple made with A36 or g50, but still had poor design. Cheaper steel keeps costs down, but is no guarantee of better design.

The one I ordered is 1/2" AR400. Root style. It weighs 200lbs less than a similar A36 grapple. Out the door was less than 2800. The steel itself is stronger by far. Any damage I cause would be as bad or worse with milder steel...all else being equal.

 

[Tinhack]

Not sure. Maybe initials of the founders?

Home - CID

CID specializes in manufacturing high quality Skid Steer, Compact track loader, Compact tractor, and Mini-Excavator attachments.

www.cidattachments.com

I don't see any prices or shipping costs. They sure don't want you to shop.

 

[CliffordK]

I picked up some grader blade edges (brand new) at the local government auction.

Unfortunately they have a slight curve to them. They'll be going into some projects... as soon as I figure out what needs some extra tough steel.

 

[Torvy]

I don't see any prices or shipping costs. They sure don't want you to shop.

They sell through dealers. There's a guy in Denton on I35 that sells them...lonestar?

 

[mikester]

I wouldnt go 1/4" anything unless it was a sub-compact. Dont care what flavor of steel. Just too light

GRAPPLE P0RN

Finally posting some pics. Sold the old single lid root grapple and fabbed up this twin lid lightweight one more suited to handling logs, firewood, roots, rocks, brush etc. Specs: * AR400 laser cut profiles * 66.5" width, 31" deep bottom, 40" grapple max opening, can hold 20" log when grapple...

www.orangetractortalks.com

You need a heck of a lot of force to bend 1/4 AR400. If you can bend it using a CUT maybe it isn't AR400.

The Tomohawk link was interesting. Similar design as mine but "thicker" tines and half the weight? Something doesn't add up, maybe they went with 1/8 tubing to hold the 3/8 tines. Maybe they use less gusseting. Probably use flame cut holes for the bolts being used as pins...like on my old grapple I sold that had 1/2" tines welded to 1/4" mild steel tubing. Guess where it was breaking...

 

[ruffdog]

Comparing the different grades:

https://continentalsteel.com/comparing-steel-plate-grades-ebook-download

 

[ruffdog]

Design is more important than material choice IMO.

The push to use AR steel or any higher strength steel isnt to make a stronger grapple. Its to make an equal strengh grapple weight less, but comes at a cost,

Some MFG's gusset the tines, some dont. A 6-8" long tine without gussets will bend regardless of steel used if it snags something that puts a side load on it.

I have a cheap(er) tomahawk single lid 66" grapple I use with my MX. Just plain A36 mild steel. But the tines are gusseted nearly to the tip so no, they dont and wont bend.

But if you are wanting to use it more like a rake, it dont work as well. For me, I just use it for handling brush and firewood and logs. Using one as a root-rake was not a requirement for me. I have the long-bottom style.

This is the one I have and you can see how the tines are gusseted

Tomahawk One-Cylinder Brush Grapple

Tomahawk Attachments is your premier factory-direct source for all sorts of skid steer attachments. Our high-quality, American-made attachments are…

tomahawkattachments.com

I agree....design is a major issue. One thing for sure, the AR400 sticker does nothing for strength.

 

[Torvy]

I agree....design is a major issue. One thing for sure, the AR400 sticker does nothing for strength.

All else being equal, AR400 is much stronger than A36.

 

[Jstpssng]

All that I know is with my El cheapo MTL grapple I worry more about wrecking my loader than hurting the grapple. Sure, it weighs 400 lbs but still does what I need it to do.

 

[Torvy]

Just got this today...

 

[newbury]

My grapple is made from AR400 steel. It's pretty strong, but the tips of it bent fairly quickly. At first, I stressed over them bending, and bent them back, but they just bent again, and I haven't really noticed it for a long time now.

My issue right now is that my cylinders seem to last about two years before they start to leak. I've had them rebuilt twice now, and I go years just letting them leak while using it, but now I want to replace them with something a lot better. I just haven't put any time into figuring out what to buy.

My grapple is made from AR400 steel and initially, I stressed over the tips bending, but eventually, I stopped worrying about it. My main issue now is the cylinders, which start leaking after about two years. I've had them rebuilt twice and often use them while leaking, but now I want to replace them with something better. I just haven't taken the time to research what to buy.

That could be a problem. I just had a second cylinder on my 1995 M4700 rebuilt. That's 2 in probably about 1500 hrs total by the tractors clock.

 

[1 Old Man]

Just got this today...

View attachment 873858

Nice.

 

[timbatrader]

Crane hooks are made of malleable steel not hight tensile steel for a reason it is much safer for the hook to slowly bend and give a little warning than to have a stronger but brittle hook that snaps forks made of mild steel but gusseted will bend a good operator will feel this and respond and if it bends make yourself a very long high tensile bar with hooks on the end to bend it back into shape

 

[Advil]

You are going to pay good money for a grapple one way or another whatever the material is. I assume if the OP was looking at Wicked 55s then he has a 25-40 horse CUT. It's worth sorting out the options between all the companies that use the AR/hardox because it makes a massive difference when it weighs around 300lbs or less and can take whatever your loader can dish out without bending. You retain a whole lot of lifting capacity also. I wouldn't want a 500-600lb grapple on our CK Kioti (unless the ONLY use was having a super wide grapple to grab massive piles of light brush) It would work but it would just be annoyingly heavy for most jobs and picking up big logs or rocks would be out of the question.

I would absolutely find a similar brand that uses hardox or similar and weighs about 250lb to 350lb absolute max.

Looks like homestead has really stepped up their game. Good weight for the 55 60 and 66. AR 450 teeth. Not much to not like.

 

[JeepHead]

You are going to pay good money for a grapple one way or another whatever the material is. I assume if the OP was looking at Wicked 55s then he has a 25-40 horse CUT. It's worth sorting out the options between all the companies that use the AR/hardox because it makes a massive difference when it weighs around 300lbs or less and can take whatever your loader can dish out without bending. You retain a whole lot of lifting capacity also. I wouldn't want a 500-600lb grapple on our CK Kioti (unless the ONLY use was having a super wide grapple to grab massive piles of light brush) It would work but it would just be annoyingly heavy for most jobs and picking up big logs or rocks would be out of the question.

I would absolutely find a similar brand that uses hardox or similar and weighs about 250lb to 350lb absolute max.

Looks like homestead has really stepped up their game. Good weight for the 55 60 and 66. AR 450 teeth. Not much to not like.

Just received my 55" Homestead Pinnacle series grapple last week. It's very well made.