Grapple style preference

[beenthere]

A grapple doesn't have to be mega strong to just pick up simple brush piles. Look for one that the lid has some gussets to improve side loading. You want it to open wide and have lots of gullet space to hold branches without having to crush them. You basically just need a well designed HAND to grab brush and it shouldn't be too heavy.

Very well said ruffdog
And The Thumb does precisely that! Easily detaches from the forks and stands upright when full open. So pallets stacked with firewood moved easily with The Thumb attached. Less than 100 lbs.
Also easy to mount/attach to a bucket.

 

[tmc_31]

I just purchased a new grapple. After much inner debate, I went with style 1 except that the bottom is a skeleton style rock bucket with 3" spacing between the tines. The grapple is a 66" with two lids that weighs right at 1000lb. Another thing I was looking for in a grapple was where the tine tips were flat to the ground rather than angled up as most seem to be.

The guy I bought it from is a skid steer attachment dealer who got it to use on his sub compact tractor. When he tried to raise the grapple with a small load in it, it raised the rear tires of the tractor off the ground. I will be using it on my L190 Skid steer and my TN70D tractor so I should still have around 1800lb of lift capacity left.

I still have and will keep my pallet forks with the "Thumb" on it. It is a great demo tool.

All the best,
Tim

 

[old and tired]

Pretty sure that we'll all agree that ANY style grapple is better than no grapple!!!

 

[buckeyefarmer]

I had same debate for 2 yrs, finally went with EA root rake. Shouldn’t have waited.

 

[tmc_31]

I finally got to try my new grapple yesterday evening. The grapple has been sitting in the yard for 2 weeks but my skid has been on another job and not available. Got the skid back home yesterday.

This thing (the grapple) is awesome! I only picked up three scoops out of the trash pile before it got to dark to continue but it will pick up a big load of trash! And I can get it to the dump trailer mostly intact. Also the dirt in the trash pile falls right out so I don't have to pay to dump dirt at the land fill. Can't wait for the sun to come up this morning so I can play some more.

Tim

 

[Francis_Mulligan]

I'm looking to purchase a grapple. We have a lot of rocks and I'd like to be able to use it to get under the rocks, dislodge them, and carry them away. I'd also like to extract brush by the root ball. I wouldn't be opposed as to going over the area first with a root rake to loosen things up as to avoid extra stress on my loader.
Any recommendations as to which grapple to get? Also, the width of my loader bucket is 72 inches. Any recommendations on the width of the grapple?

Thanks

 

[Smokeydog]

I'm looking to purchase a grapple. We have a lot of rocks and I'd like to be able to use it to get under the rocks, dislodge them, and carry them away. I'd also like to extract brush by the root ball. I wouldn't be opposed as to going over the area first with a root rake to loosen things up as to avoid extra stress on my loader.
Any recommendations as to which grapple to get? Also, the width of my loader bucket is 72 inches. Any recommendations on the width of the grapple?

Thanks

For digging the narrower the better. Hard to beat the Danuser Intimdator for big rocks and tree pulling. Also handy for stacking those rocks.

54” dual lid wicked for everything else on our B26.

Rootball intact for transplanting is a specialty bucket or backhoe.

 

[bcs001]

There are some really good videos online showing the work each type is best suited for. My choice became very clear after watching them do what they do best. Recently placed an order for the EA Wicked 55" and now will have to wait the 4-5 months they told me the backlog is right now.

Bruce.

 

[jjp8182]

Depending on the soil a narrow and toothed bucket may be required for effective digging.

Agree on the utility of the Danuser Intimidator if the loader lift capacity supports using it as it weighs ~700lbs by itself. Though it can put some pretty significant side loads on a tractor's loader arms if/when it grabs onto something that's not centered.

 

[TX0303]

I like this type. Looks like it would be good for digging out small trees and rocks. I think you could grapple anything type 1 could. Negative is the smallest size weighs 500#.

 

[oosik]

TX030 - I DO like the style you have pictured there. My Land Pride rock/root grapple weighs 820#. So ......... 500# wouldn't be that bad for me. Even with my HD grapple I still can pick 3000# - and move very carefully. I have log and rock weight charts - yes, you CAN find these animals on the internet - and will usually be at 2500# or less.

I NEVER lift a heavy load more the 6" off the ground. Knuckle dragging ..........

 

[GeeVee]

I've got a 4' root rake grapple like type 1. the bottom of the tines are flat, the top surface of the tines are curved, single, two tine grapple on top (2'spacing.) My ASV RC 30 is 4' wide. I have used it 15 years, and paid 505 shipped from Millionzi, who now is out of business i guess.

It is not much fun as a true rootrake when you only engage one side or the other of a big root, puts a lot of side torque into machine. Sure, once you got the stump out, you can rake up the roots and "clear" the ground, but you've made a hole in the ground you're going to have to fill anyway....

The true root rake made to clear ground like style two, isn't going to be great as a landclearing tool of you don't have HP and torque, and machine weight.

By comparison, I can take down the 4-6 tree in clayey sand soils easier with less mess and with the standard bucket. I lean on the tree in a couple of directions to find the side roots near the surface and loosen them, and if I have to, use the bucket side edge to rip them up, then keep pushing and lifting at 1'-2' from the ground and up.

I have grappled piles of debris bigger than a Volkswagon Beetle, kind of like rolling a carpet up, move big rocks, concrete slab demo, used it to lift and play out 1000# bags of pebbles and rocks/sand. Another useful bit was setting 20' pilings into holes. Open jaws, walk up to piling on the ground, chain around the piling in a loop (2 places), then wind around rake and grapple, then try and close grapple. This tightens the chain and I can pick up and stand up the piling and take it to the hole and slide it right in. I had a high level of confidence and safety, but you'd have to have been there to see it. Easy rigging.

I like style one for rooting because i can get the teeth under it, and use the breakout force of curling the bucket to rip them up, rather than the machine trying to drive through the root and all the dirt too.

 

[workinonit]

None of the above for me. I never liked a grapple until I got my bucket grapple.

 

[tradosaurus]

I thought about getting the #1 but felt that with two cylinders and two lids there was twice as much chance to break or bend something on the grapple.

 

[Smokeydog]

What ever grapple(s) you choose do yourself a favor and improve your front guard first.