Grapple Grapple Advice: single lid or dual lid?

[David Wayne]

A single lid cant do everything a dual can, like pick up two different rocks or large rounds of firewood. But a dual can do everything a single can.
I would go with the dual.

 

[k0ua]

Most of us like a grapple the same width as our FRONT tires, Which is less than bucket size so I would go with the 54". My bucket is 72" my grapple is 52" on my Kubota L5030. The dual lid, like I have, is good for setting tall poles/post and secures off size loads better. Here is a pic of my dual lid grapple setting a tall post. The lids stabilizes the post side motion so just one chain is required.

Interesting application.

 

[bcp]

Dual "lids" for holding? Doesn't look right to me.





Bruce

 

[TomSeller]

A single lid cant do everything a dual can, like pick up two different rocks or large rounds of firewood. But a dual can do everything a single can.
I would go with the dual.

Not if it weighs more. Then it can lift less.

 

[Tomtint]

I have a single lid 72" on my L3700. It works really well for me, less bucket weight means more debris I can pick up and move. It got a good deal of work this past weekend, we cut and cleaned up our commercial property. About 300 tall ornamental grassed and numerous tall foliage shrubs were pruned. In the past we would hand load all the cut off into the dump truck. This year, we just made big piles near the edge of the cut area and I picked them up with the tractor and dropped them into the dump bed... Huge time and labor saver.

 

[txdon]

Anybody? What is the difference in weight from a wider single lid grapple compared to 2 narrower double lids? Brush does not weight much. A 20 ft. two foot diameter tree does. However carrying it with one lid is less stable, especially if it is not straight pine tree, so you would probably have to cut it no matter how many grapple lids you get.

 

[oosik]

First - Welcome to TBN Clay. This topic will provide as many opinions as grains of sand on the beach. Single or double lid - both are good and the differences may be only minor and based upon what a person currently owns and their opinion.

I have the single lid Land Pride SGC1560 grapple. Its a very heavy duty grapple and its very heavy construction - weight 820#. I gather brush, pick up big logs, pick large rocks, back drag to level ground etc. My bucket is 72" wide, the grapple is 60" wide. At 60" the grapple is almost exactly the same width as my front tires - if that means anything.

However, ITS MY SKILLS AT USING THIS GRAPPLE THAT ARE MUCH MORE TELLING THAN SINGLE LID OR DOUBLE LID. I've had this grapple for two years now and am still finding better ways to use it - better operating procedures - better ways to stay within a safety margin while using it.

I looked at others with grapples in my area - what they had - how they were using them - what were their thoughts. I bought this heavy duty grapple because the only concern I heard - several wished that they had bought a heavier unit.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

OR you can get the BEST most VERSATILE combo of all!

Pallet forks with a grapple!

That combo does MANY thinks the others can't, and 99.99% of everything the others can!

How do you do this with a dedicated grapple? That box is LOCKED into place, and a perfect place to work out of to trim tree's, pick fruit, or maybe clean your gutters!

Plus, you have MUCH less iron in the way when cutting firewood,

Moving bales of hay,

Scoop up and move brush,

Move rocks,

AND, a zillion other things! ALL with out having to buy two tools, or change tools all the time!

It just doesn't look as "cool", if that's what is important to you...

SR

 

[cricketman]

Wow, lots of good thoughts here - thanks guys! (and please keep 'em coming!)

One thing that occurs to me is that with a single lid it would be easier (& more desirable) to grip something directly in the center of the tool, whereas with dual lids it might be easier (but LESS desirable) to grip stuff a little off-center in the grapple? Like, grabbing a big tree trunk by the end to drag it - if it is too big to grab horizontally & pick up completely, maybe it would be easier to grab one end & drag it backwards out of the woods? (With my property I can see this happening.) I would think a single lid with log directly in center would handle that better than a dual lid with the log slightly off center?

Also, what about back-raking brush & debris? I find myself wanting to do that with my standard bucket quite a bit, and of course I get more dirt than I want to. I would think back raking would be pretty efficient with a grapple, right? I assume it would be best done with the BOTTOM tines rather than the top? (And would straight/flat bottom tines be better here than curved bottom tines?)

Would the grapple not curl forward enough to allow the top tines to engage with the ground anyway? But if the top tines WERE to come into play, I would assume it would be a little dangerous to the hydraulic cylinders, etc - yes or no? And if the top tines COULD be used to back rake, I would think a single lid (like the single lid Wicked) would be better suited for THAT than a dual lid?

Again, THANKS for all the opinions - and please keep 'em coming!

 

[ovrszd]

Welcome to TBN.

Opinions about Grapples is like Butts. Everyone has one.

As James pointed out, his is best because that's what he has. That's true of 90% of the opinions you'll get. Reading all of the post so far, I've not found one where the poster said their Grapple wasn't good.

I'm a double guy. Mine is homemade on a Lo-Pro Bobcat bucket. All this talk about versatility gets me going. I can everything posted so far. Then I can go pick up a bucket of dirt......