Grapple Heavy Grapple on Kubota L47?

[Torvy]

I am looking at buying a double claw grapple for my L47. I have my eye on two grapples weighing in the neighborhood of 1,000 lbs. The L47's lift at pins to full height is 2,800 lbs. Does anyone have experience with a heavy grapple on an L47 or similar spec tractor they can share? Just don't want to regret the grapple weight later, although I don't expect to lift more than 1,000 lbs with it. The L47's backhoe will serve as my ballast. I do want the construction features of a heavier grapple. Thanks

The L4701 does not have a 2800lb lift at full height. It is only 2154 according to Kubota.

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[dusty3030]

L47 TLB, not the L4701 tractor.

L47

 

[Torvy]

Mea culpa

 

[bdhsfz6]

I am looking at buying a double claw grapple for my L47. I have my eye on two grapples weighing in the neighborhood of 1,000 lbs. The L47's lift at pins to full height is 2,800 lbs. Does anyone have experience with a heavy grapple on an L47 or similar spec tractor they can share? Just don't want to regret the grapple weight later, although I don't expect to lift more than 1,000 lbs with it. The L47's backhoe will serve as my ballast. I do want the construction features of a heavier grapple. Thanks

Using the lift capacity at the pins can be deceiving. It will be far less in the jaws of a grapple 3 or 4 feet further forward.

 

[EverythingAttachments]

Using the lift capacity at the pins can be deceiving. It will be far less in the jaws of a grapple 3 or 4 feet further forward

That's why it's good to keep the load close to the pins!
Travis

 

[Doug Vee]

I have a EA Wicked 60 that I use with my L48. I can't tell you what maximum lift capacities are, but while cutting up a 30" Douglas Fir tree, I can tell you the combination easily picked and moved a 6' x 30" diameter log to my deck area. I estimated it was probably a little under 1000 pounds.

After having the grapple for over a year, I have never felt that it was not up to the task that I was asking of it. I am not interested in finding the absolute limit for any of my equipment. Nor am I trying to make money with my equipment. Seeing as most of my gear is old (like me), I usually baby it.

I am happy to let Ted to the Ted Testing.

Doug

 

[Leozepolusa]

Thanks everyone for the input.

I've concluded I should be fine with the 1000 lb grapple I was considering. There are always compromises. This skeletal rock/brush grapple is construction grade, has dual clamps and replaceable tine teeth. Its configuration will also clamp down onto relatively small diameter items. I will never lift real heavy up high, and I estimate the L47's lift capacity out in front of the pins and down low for transport to be about 3,000 lbs while Kubota's specs say it is 2,700 lbs in front of the pins at 5 ft high. So I will give up roughly 30% of my lift capacity to the grapple (10% more than a light weight grapple), but I should retain 2,000 lbs of useable capacity. Very rare is the case where I would need that much capacity. I live in central Texas where my property is mostly oaks and cedar less than 12" caliper, but the risk of hitting shallow boulders and rock escarpments is very high. While I am generally cautious, I want the confidence a heavy duty grapple will offer. This is similar to the reason I chose the L47 rather than a farm grade tractor.

 

[Notforhire]

How wide a unit are you considering? If I needed to buy a replacement for my 66 inch grapple, I would drop down to a 60 inch. I don't think the extra 6 inches makes much difference to a 12 foot log as it doesn't need any end support anyway. The weight would be slightly less and so would the cost. 800 pounds is reaching the practical limit (grapple weight) on my L47.

Most of the grapples I've seen are made for SkidSteer or Track loaders. Their loads are carried much closer to the front tires and their lift capacity is crazy high. My friend has a grapple with a deep flat bottom. I can carry almost as much with my root rake style grapple as I can using his 72 inch. The combined weight is the limiting factor and where it's carried relative to the pins.
I originally purchased my TLB as a TL. Like you I wanted a front end loader that was much stronger than a Ag tractor in a small package.
I also use my 3PH a lot.
I have gotten flack for referring to the L47 as a do all Swiss army knife.
While I don't recommend using the saw blade on the jack knife to saw down trees, it works well within its intended use.
Same with the L47. It is a great little machine but It's not a Deere 310.

 

[nyone]

That's why it's good to keep the load close to the pins!
Travis


View attachment 823346

Yes typicaly the curl is stronger than the lift capacity but that's how you would have to lift that load to get it over the pins like that. Also if that short bottom grapple weights 800lbs+ like the OP is looking at I would be very suprised.

I like my long bottom grapple for its brush holding capacity and larger log holding capacity. It does put more weight further away from the pins though.

 

[mikester]

Do yourself a favour and focus on light weight using high strength materials. Buying something with thick tines made of mild steel is a waste.

I'd rather have 1/4" tines of AR400 than 1/2" thick mild steel.