Grapple width

[Rockbadchild]

a decent welder could build a great grapple for under $2k I suspect.

No ... unless your are the Decent welder and don't count or charge for your hours.

 

[nyone]

My EA grapple is thicker steel; reinforced at all stress points, better design, larger cylinders- with better mounting style; protected springed hoses....all around a much better design than the cheap one....a decent welder could build a great grapple for under $2k I suspect.

Yet its lighter? Have the link to the EA one?

 

[LoneStarLandMan]

https://www.(Temporarily blocked du...rching=Y&sort=5&search=grapple&show=90&page=1

It is not lighter; it is stronger and considerably more capable;
Saving a few pounds on equipment that will not perform as you need is wasteful and will be disappointing, as it will not be able to do what you bought it to do.
Do you use deWalt quality or Harbor Freight; do you trust Duramax or a kia.....you have to choose. Different quality & $$ levels have short and long term benefits.

 

[MechanicalGuy]

There is a huge advantage to going wide. I use my 72" wide to grab brush and it wouldn't be the same if it were only 60 or 66" wide.

 

[MechanicalGuy]

The width is needed for maximum grapple brush width effectiveness.

Brush is so light that if it weren't awkward I'd prefer a 96 or 104" wide grapple.

That same grapple in that picture has picked up a 40' telephone pole with ease and also a 20' x 20" diameter solid oak log that was heavy enough to tip over the tractor if I wasn't very careful.

That's a land pride grapple. Made of ar400 and I have bent several tines, even the 1/2" end tine. Not sure how I did that. It is about 400-450lbs.

 

[nyone]

View attachment 764058

The width is needed for maximum grapple brush width effectiveness.

Brush is so light that if it weren't awkward I'd prefer a 96 or 104" wide grapple.

That same grapple in that picture has picked up a 40' telephone pole with ease and also a 20' x 20" diameter solid oak log that was heavy enough to tip over the tractor if I wasn't very careful.

That's a land pride grapple. Made of ar400 and I have bent several tines, even the 1/2" end tine. Not sure how I did that. It is about 400-450lbs.

That lid looks very weak at the pivot and I wouldnt be doing what your doing in the pic.

 

[JWR]

That lid looks very weak at the pivot and I wouldnt be doing what your doing in the pic.

Agree. I suppose the main thing to preface any such discussion is that each of us has different circumstances and different tools will fit. As I said in an earlier post, if your chore is raking a rock base road get a landscaping rake rather than using the grapple. And for grapples used as grapples they need not be very wide (to pick up tree parts, logs, debris, limbs, trash, brush, etc.) and in fact are more maneuverable and handier when a little more narrow.

That Landpride grapple in the MechanicalGuy photo sure does not look like something I would want to use for phone poles or 20' x 20" diameter solid oak logs. To be honest it looks to be very light duty compared to most grapples on the market. The Landpride data sheets do not want to load tonight for some reason but this looks like a SGC1600 model (except for the lid being narrower than the underside on the 1600.) Anyway intended for brush apparently.

By the way, a red oak 20" in diameter weighs 137lbs per foot of length. That's 2740 lbs for the 20ft log. An LA1065 loader (usually on an MX5200) is spec'd to lift 1691 lbs at 20" from the pin or 2275 lbs at the pins. Breakout is 3102 lbs at 20" out. The tractor is said to weigh 3700lbs. Now lets subtract the 400 to 450 lbs of the grapple from the 1691 to 2275lbs ... do the math. Being down south I hope it was not Live Oak as they are much heavier per cubic foot.

 

[MechanicalGuy]

That lid looks very weak at the pivot and I wouldnt be doing what your doing in the pic.

It's not particularly strong for sure, although it is made of ar400. I use the float detent so that it's only the weight of the loader bearing down on the lid. It is a very effective means of scraping up brush and gathering in a handful. I've been doing this for 3+ years with great success.

 

[MechanicalGuy]

Agree. I suppose the main thing to preface any such discussion is that each of us has different circumstances and different tools will fit. As I said in an earlier post, if your chore is raking a rock base road get a landscaping rake rather than using the grapple. And for grapples used as grapples they need not be very wide (to pick up tree parts, logs, debris, limbs, trash, brush, etc.) and in fact are more maneuverable and handier when a little more narrow.

That Landpride grapple in the MechanicalGuy photo sure does not look like something I would want to use for phone poles or 20' x 20" diameter solid oak logs. To be honest it looks to be very light duty compared to most grapples on the market. The Landpride data sheets do not want to load tonight for some reason but this looks like a SGC1600 model (except for the lid being narrower than the underside on the 1600.) Anyway intended for brush apparently.

By the way, a red oak 20" in diameter weighs 137lbs per foot of length. That's 2740 lbs for the 20ft log. An LA1065 loader (usually on an MX5200) is spec'd to lift 1691 lbs at 20" from the pin or 2275 lbs at the pins. Breakout is 3102 lbs at 20" out. The tractor is said to weigh 3700lbs. Now lets subtract the 400 to 450 lbs of the grapple from the 1691 to 2275lbs ... do the math. Being down south I hope it was not Live Oak as they are much heavier per cubic foot.

Do the math on weighted wheels, water in wheels, implement on the back, loader on the front, and magically the 3700lbs you think you understand, turns into 7300lbs.

It's okay, a lot of internet experts do that with tractor weights. They forget about loaders and such.

I didn't say I was lifting the log overhead and loading into a second story loft. I was barely lifting the log to tote it out of the pasture, without flipping my tractor forward. Maybe I should break out some pictures and tape measures so as to satisfy your curiosity.

Since you were so wrong on the tractor weight, let me offer some consolation on the log weight; maybe it was closer to 15' than it was 20'? It's long gone now. I'd have to hunt up pictures to find a more accurate accounting now.

The telephone pole is still around though. It handles like a toothpick by comparison.