Enjoying the new grapple

lennyzx11 · Dec 10, 2016

lennyzx11 said:
You may want to look at the green machine add on.
I have the EA wicked compact grapple but am thinking of getting the green machine for my bucket. I have SSQA and swap back and forth a lot. Since the hydraulics are done, it seems like a cheap(relatively) add on to the arsenal.

The Thumb was what I meant. Made by Greene's machine.

Red Horse · Dec 10, 2016

JOHNTHOMAS said:
Thanks for the update and personal experience report. I think I've finally decided to get a bolt on grapple. I'm now researching the availability and prices for one to fit my bucket. I've found about 5 or 6 different possible ones ranging from $600 to $1000. No more than I'll use one I think the add to my bucket one will work for me and looks like it can be bolted on and left on all the time. If I do go back to the full grapple then I believe the root one that EA sells will be the one. Seems most dealers sell the WR LONG bolt on so seeking best price for it. EA sells it along with two of the local dealers I've talked with. They want me to get exact bucket size to get exact price. Will be measuring today and going forth with my pursuit. :cool2:

My thought on this. A clamp on is a compromise. If you are spending 600, obviously favorable economics vs say spending 1000 for a grapple but if you are spending 1000 on a clamp on, for the same money you can have a dedicated grapple-and the right tool for the job. and as easy as changing from my bucket to the grapple (Deere system) its a piece of cake

noose · Dec 10, 2016

JOHNTHOMAS said:
Thanks for the update and personal experience report. I think I've finally decided to get a bolt on grapple. I'm now researching the availability and prices for one to fit my bucket. I've found about 5 or 6 different possible ones ranging from $600 to $1000. No more than I'll use one I think the add to my bucket one will work for me and looks like it can be bolted on and left on all the time. If I do go back to the full grapple then I believe the root one that EA sells will be the one. Seems most dealers sell the WR LONG bolt on so seeking best price for it. EA sells it along with two of the local dealers I've talked with. They want me to get exact bucket size to get exact price. Will be measuring today and going forth with my pursuit. :cool2:

Compromise, compromise.

Best of luck and let us know how it turns out. I got to use my "come down from above" today to move a big *** hunk of concrete. The idiot cement truck driver did a dump then washout on my property when I was away from the site and had workers. I discovered it today and it was sunk in the mud pretty good. I came straight down and punched both the front and back tines about 8-10" into the soil on either side of the blob of concrete and then closed it up. I lifted it right up and carried it away. It left a rather sizeable hole... I know with a bucket add-on, that would have been a bit trickier to get dug under but I'm sure still doable. So it was awesome for that but... Unfortunately all the smaller stuff falls right through the tines so I'll have to put the dang bucket back on to clean up the rest and there's a lot of fist to grapefruit-sized chunks left. Fortunately SSQA and quick release hoses so not a huge deal...

JOHNTHOMAS · Dec 11, 2016

Red Horse said:
My thought on this. A clamp on is a compromise. If you are spending 600, obviously favorable economics vs say spending 1000 for a grapple but if you are spending 1000 on a clamp on, for the same money you can have a dedicated grapple-and the right tool for the job. and as easy as changing from my bucket to the grapple (Deere system) its a piece of cake

Yep, compromise. If one can't compromise in the excavation, tractor and construction equipment field they better not enter. A big SS is usually a compromise to a dozer and or trackkloader or wheeled loader and for landscaping a tractor is a compromise to a SS and on and on. The Thumb this add on is a bit over $400 and these grapples that are the whole enchilada are $1500 Subcompact Compact Tractor Wicked Root Grapple 50" Single lid and $1600. SGC6 Series Claw Grapples | Land Pride
Compromise? Yep, they are a compromise. I could buy a big M Kubota tractor and get one of the $4000 grapples or even a track excavator but no, I'm sticking with the tractor I have and going to add, probably, a grapple that comes closer to a price that matches the amount of use for me which will be little. I'd like to have a Harley Rake but for one time use and pay Tractor PTO Power Box Rake Harley Rake nope, not even I will do that. I have a tiller and boxblade and hopefully a rip and dig coming and I'll compromise on the Harley Rake and use what I have or maybe add a few other under $1000 implements to level my yard or not. It's been unlevel for 12 years so I'm not jumping into doing it.:cool2:
Now, looking back at your post with your numbers vs this post with these actual numbers which one presents a truer picture of the dollar difference with this compromise?

:confused3:

Xfaxman · Dec 11, 2016

noose said:
----------------------
I got to use my "come down from above" today to move a big *** hunk of concrete. The idiot cement truck driver did a dump then washout on my property when I was away from the site and had workers. I discovered it today and it was sunk in the mud pretty good. I came straight down and punched both the front and back tines about 8-10" into the soil on either side of the blob of concrete and then closed it up. I lifted it right up and carried it away. It left a rather sizeable hole...-----------------------------------

Reminds me of this "come down from above" method that I used on an old concreted broken post: http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...n-picture-thread-post3379704.html#post3379704

noose · Dec 11, 2016

Xfaxman said:
Reminds me of this "come down from above" method that I used on an old concreted broken post: http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...n-picture-thread-post3379704.html#post3379704
*snip*

That's precisely what I did except my machine isn't quite that, uh, robust.

noose · Dec 21, 2016

I wanted to add to this thread now that I've had some time with my grapple (about 3 hours of clearing construction debris). If you are going to purchase a grapple, they are not all the same! Figure out what you are going to do with it first, because jaw design is going to effect how you use it. I purchased my grapple based more one weight rather than shape or design as I didn't want to eat up my lift capacity with a heavy grapple. My grapple is shaped like two short crescent moons that come together. This shape allows it to open WIDE and grab a very large object but the bottom jaw is only lightly curved and when the bucket is in the upmost position, is still curved down enough that nothing will rest on the bottom shelf without it falling out unless the grapple is closed. Given mine is small at only 60" and my tractor is a bit small (L4701), this may not have been the best choice of design as I'm not going to be picking up cars and car-sized boulders. It is very, very handy from "over the top" as shown in the above post, but I had a huge pile of 3/4 sheet and smaller chip plywood that was water rotted and needed to be cleaned up. Since the lower lip doesn't extend out for a nice deep shelf, or curl high enough to get under, I couldn't get enough of the bottom "lip" under the plywood far enough to get enough grip to pick up the piles. As a result, it wasn't very effective and took me a lot longer to clear the pile. I also tore up the ground pretty bad in attempting to get purchase on the pile as I pushed it forward in each attempt. 3 guys with hands probably could have done it just as fast if not faster... But what's the fun in that? Eventually I got most of it but made a lot of trips with only 1 or two chunks of board. Like I said, 3 guys... Here's what my grapple looks like in its uppermost curl - notice there's no way to stack anything on it as there's no bottom "shelf". I would also add that since uppermost curl is already so far "down", if I curl the bucket all the way under and open the jaws, I can literally scrape the ground like fingernails on a chalkboard without the lower jaw even touching the ground. I'm not sure how I'll use this feature just yet but I suspect I will if I need to break up the ground in front of me. I guess I could use it like a giant rake, but I think that's a bit overkill for the leaf piles. Note that my opening is something like 60":

I did manage to pick up a some concrete chunks, old steel pipe with concrete at the base and piles of old barbed wire and dump them over the top side of the dumpster, however, and that was quite effective so the ability to open wide and clamp down from directly above like a giant claw is effective. Brush piles are also cake with this type of design as stuff falls right out when you open the jaws. If I could go back and do this again, I'd probably try something more like this shape but note it's only a 38 degree opening and for "big stuff" might be an issue:

Bottom line - figure out what you are most likely to do. A large shelf-like bottom jaw may affect the overall opening width quite a bit and may limit your ability to "dig in" from above but if you are going after largish, flattish objects that are hard to get a hold of, you'll need that large bottom "shelf" to get under what you are picking up and give you some leverage to pick it up. Also you may want to open the jaw, stack a bunch of stuff by hand, then climb on the tractor and carry it away. You won't be doing that with my kind of grapple.

Happy grappling.

desh · Dec 21, 2016

Noose,
The small bottom shelf was one of the reasons I chose the Land Pride SGC1072. That, plus it only weighs about 400 pounds. I can see where having the bottom shelf a bit longer would help with getting under things, but as you said, you lose jaw opening width. Everything's a compromise.