Grapple Grapple Rake Thoughts

[firec]

I'm finally ready to order a grapple rake and am trying to dicide on which one. I have an L-3830 with a LA723 Bucket which is 72" wide and weighs 330 pounds. My questions are is it worth going to a heavy duty rake like Markhams or go with their light duty one. I'm looking to use this for clearing brush and since I burn a lot of wood, moving logs and hopefully being able to hold them while I chunk them up and then use it to scoop up the chunks and load them in a trailer. My other question is is it better to go with a smaller size say a 66" instead of a 72". I've been reading all the threads and found them very helpful but wanted a few more opinions.

Thanks

 

[mark2610d]

I have a 724 loader on my 3240 and it has the 66" heavy duty round back bucket. I have a "thumb grapple" by "greens machine"mounted on it. I can pick up huge brush piles and yet still scrape up all the scrapings to where you just need a small amount of hand raking. I never dreamed my bucket would allow me to pick up suck huge chunks of brush. I do think the 66" bucket has some advantages over the 72. Also, with the heavy duty round back bucket it need no reinforcing on the top edge of the bucket to mount the grapple attachment.

I can load a single axle dump truck full of brush/wood/ rocks and leaves in less than 10 minutes

Here is a thread with more information.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/145389-kubota-bx25-grapple.html

 

[HCJtractor]

I have a 48" heavy duty (1/2" steel rather than 5/8") from Markham. I also had extra tines or spacers welded in making the spacing between tines 4.5" rather than 9". I use it on a M6800 Kubota, mainly clearing brush and trees and carrying off the debris. Also picks up fallen trees and large rocks. Love it!!! It is by far the best implement I have ever used and is bulletproof. Unless you see it in action, you couldn't believe how well it works. In my opinion, anything larger than a 48" would be a mistake. Mine has no disadvantages over a wider one but many advantages. You could not pick up anything with a wider one that I could not pick up. When grabbing a pile of debris, a few more inches width doesn't matter. But most important the narrower one allows more focused pressure when digging up roots or stumps, rather than dispersing the force over a larger area that reduces force. Think about it. When digging out a stump or root ball, you need to attack it in a specific place to generated enough pressure to dislodge it. I often will use the corner or only one tine of the grapple to really get under the root. Having a wide grapple 6 feet wide hurts when the stump is only 12". You will need all the pressure possible with your tractor because the FEL is not as strong as say a skid steer or BH. Once you pop the stump out, and need to grab a mouthful of limbs, th 48" will hold more than you can see around. A bigger one is also heavier, which uses up valuable lift capacity, and costs more. Your tractor is smaller than mine. Get a 48" Markham. You could probably even get their light duty version, as only difference is the thickness of the steel, 1/2 vs. 5/8. I do like the added spacers, as this adds a little strength and also keeps rocks falling out. There are many posts regarding these issues, and I am glad I read them and followed their advice. I could not be happier with mine, and believe me, I use it hard and often. It stays on my tractor and my bucket collects dust.

 

[HCJtractor]

One more thought, I am describing clearing brush and picking up logs. Works great. For cleaning up the small cut offs and chunks, a grapple is not the tool of choice, a bucket would be. Grapples work better on limbs, tree trunks, large single rocks, root balls, etc. A bucket of course would be better for scooping up stuff like pieces of wood, small cuttings, bark, saw dust.

 

[firec]

I think the light duty will be fine with a few modifications. I've using my bucket to scoop up the firewood but it brings to much dirt and rocks along. One of the other threads discussed closing the back side to prevent sticks from puncturing the radiator I wonder if they have a steel mesh that would do that?

Thanks for the responses.

 

[HCJtractor]

I have had no problem at all with sticks coming through the back of the grapple and I have waded into some pretty nasty piles and thick woods. I don't see that being a problem. The grapple is pretty far out front of the radiator. Where I have had an issue is more with sticks coming up into the radiator area from below, actually between the grapple and front of the tractor. Sometimes when I am driving over thick brush, I will break off small trees leaving a waist high punji stick that will jab into the grill. Recently I damaged my headlight doing this and damaged the front grill, but luckily it missed the radiator. But a screen on the grapple would not help at all because this always seems to come from below, well behind the back of the grapple. Stuff in the grapple doesn't seem to be a problem, so I don't think any modification is necessary. More likely damage would be ripping an hydraulic line, so keep them in a sleeve and protected. A skid plate or protective screen under and in front of the radiator would be nice, but not on the grapple. I agree that the light duty (with extra spacers) is probably all you need because your loader probably has less lift than mine. Mine is about 2500 lb. and my tractor weighs 7 or 8,000 lbs. The extra 1/2 steel only would help in really aggressive action (say trying to uproot a big tree or stump, and hitting it hard)) but for picking up limbs, logs, debris, etc, or uprooting small stuff (3 or 4") the light duty would work fine. They look exactly the same except for the thicker steel.

 

[firec]

I agree that a skid plate would be nice, I've also had sticks come up and do a little damage and even got hung on a stump once. I spoke to Markam and they have a medium grade grapple that I am going to order - can't wait for it to come in.

 

[HCJ]

It will quickly become your favorite tool!! Congrats. How do you plan to run the hydraulics? What size did you decide on? Do you have skid streer quick connect on your FEL?

 

[davygp38]

The lite duty grapple from markam is much stronger than I thought it would be. I just got the 60 inch grapple bucket. As far as the 48 inch being better, than the bigger grapple, I would say it depends on what you are doing. I am digging stumps out with a hoe, and putting them in a dump truck. The 60 inch is more stable. I also am stacking up logs for firewood, and moving cut firewood around. The 48 inch is lighter, but not by much. The 60 inch is 410lbs. I use it on a L4400.

 

[firec]

I ordered the 60" Markam medium duty - same as the light duty but 1/2" stock adds about 50 pounds to the weight. When it comes in, will be adding a third remote off the rear. I will be doing about the same tasks as davygp38 and can't wait to get it. Davy any problems connecting with the Kubota quick connects? I have a L3830.