Grapple Markham grapple prices....

[bbowman]

"You will almost never open or close the grapple while moving or while fiddling with grapple up/down curl/dump so there is only a minor penalty to needing to move your hand off the FEL joystick in order to open/close the rear remote controls."

You're exactly right, Island. Although I'm just beginning to learn how to use my grapple, this is the way it is configured as well.

 

[HCJ]

Last decision to make: after Kubota loader, Tach-All QA, custom 48" Markham grapple, and now which bucket??? Unfortunately, I can't actually examine any of my options since my dealer has none. Now that I've decided to "bite the bullet" and order the grapple now(which is the implement I'm most excited to try thanks to IslandFords hard sell!!) I have added Markham's bucket to the list to compare to ATI and WR Longs. I'm leaning towards Markham's, as it is way cheaper and buying a grapple, bucket, and tooth bar from Markham gives me a better price and one shipping cost. The ATI is $1240 (495lbs.), Long's is about $1000 and Melissa at Markhams gives me two choices: a 3/16" steel, 462lbs. for $488 or a heavier duty 1/4 steel, 555lbs. for $623. I was very surprised at the difference between Markham's and the others to the point of wondering that such a significant price difference may indicate lesser quality. But the heavier weight and Markham's reputation of quality leads me to feel the 1/4" steel Markham is a no brainer, unless I am overlooking something. Some posts say there is a difference between a Skid steer bucket and a utility tractor bucket in shape or style but I think my 2500lb. lift capacity would be adequate for this heavy bucket, especially since my buddies are likely to abuse it pretending to be a dozer. I don't know the wall thickness of either the ATI or Long but judging by weight, I guess they are about the same. I know I am probably overanalyzing, but to me, half the fun is figuring out what toys to buy! And hey, the money I can save with Markham's bucket could almost buy a electric over hydraulic valve! By the way, all are 72" skid steer type QA. So unless my gurus IslandFord, wedge 40, and others convince me otherwise, I will order the Markham bucket along with the grapple and tooth bar. I'm excited to put all of this together. Wish UPS could overnight all of this steel!

 

[IslandTractor]

Last decision to make: after Kubota loader, Tach-All QA, custom 48" Markham grapple, and now which bucket???

I forgot Markham makes buckets too. It would be a no brainer for me. Get the Markham and save a bundle. Unless you are operating a construction business, any bucket is going to last about as long as the tractor.

 

[jgrreed]

Last decision to make: after Kubota loader, Tach-All QA, custom 48" Markham grapple, and now which bucket???

No matter what bucket you get, be sure and get a toothbar. I have the JD factory light duty bucket. They've received some bad press on TBN, but mines OK. It a little bent here and there, but not too bad. I'm told adding a toothbar will stiffen it up a bit too, and that's what I plan on doing. I'm going to get it from Markham on the same shipment as an LD grapple.

-Jer.

 

[Lunk]

If everything goes as planned, I'll be ordering a 60" light-duty grapple rake, along with a toothbar for my dirt bucket, from Markham this week.

I was quoted $900.00 on the 60", $269.00 for the toothbar, and $62.54 shipping to central Wisconsin.


Lunk

 

[HCJtractor]

Lunk, you and I are both waiting for our grapples from Markham. Ordered mine last Fri. along with a bucket and toothbar. Mine is a 48' standard duty. How do you plan to route your hydraulics? What do you plan to use it for? I am hoping it works to widen our grown up roads or at the least to pick up and move chainsaw debris.

 

[Lunk]

Lunk, you and I are both waiting for our grapples from Markham. Ordered mine last Fri. along with a bucket and toothbar. Mine is a 48' standard duty. How do you plan to route your hydraulics? What do you plan to use it for? I am hoping it works to widen our grown up roads or at the least to pick up and move chainsaw debris.

I'll be using rear remotes, and routing the hoses along the inside of the loader arms, probably zip-tied (or otherwise attached) to the other hydraulic lines located there. My FIL owns the adjoining 90 acres to mine, and there's about 20 acres of woods that need some routine clearing - Lots of deadfall, etc. I also have about 2 acres of nasty-wasty lowland scrub that needs to disappear.

Lunk

 

[HCJ]

I picked up my new grapple today and got in several hours of play time. We have a road along the river grown up in what we call "privy hedge" that needs cleaned up and widened. We chained sawed quite a bit last week and left it in place or piled up and planned to move it with the new grapple. WOW!! This thing is awesome! I moved giant piles of debris very easily. But I also discovered it's almost easier and neater to just rip these up by the roots and not cut them first. Either way, the grapple really impressed me. I've got to practice more to get smoother at the operation. Thanks guys for all of the advice in the past in helping me decide. I got a standard duty Markham made from 1/2" stock, 48" wide with tighter spacing than normal (4.5") They custom made this for me mainly based on Island Tractor's advice. It's quite a bit beefier than the light duty they offer. Put it on a M6800 Kubota 4WD. Controls are a WR Long electric over hydraulic. We had a few glitches (Markham first sent me the wrong one) but Melissa quickly made it right as soon as she was informed that they screwed up. All in all, my experience with Markham was very positive. Also bought a bucket and tooth bar from them but haven't tried it yet. My loader is also new, a Kubota LA1002 but with a Tach All quick connect. That connection is about as simple as it can get, takes only seconds. My only fear is that I am going to damage my hydraulic lines wading into these tangled up thickets of bushes, small trees and vines. Has anyone had that happen, or are these hoses tougher than I think? I'll post some pictures soon.

 

[IslandTractor]

My only fear is that I am going to damage my hydraulic lines wading into these tangled up thickets of bushes, small trees and vines. Has anyone had that happen, or are these hoses tougher than I think? .

Glad you like your grapple. I've not heard anyone with a grapple complaining.

Regarding the vulnerable hoses. Best to put them into a sheath (usually nylon or polyester) that prevents abrasion from hurting the lines and then to use some bungee cord or similar stretchy device to take up slack and keep the hoses behind the grapple and up (rather than dropping down) so they are in full view of the operator and therefore less likely to snag something. I basically use a bungee cord to hold the slack close to the torque tube on the FEL which allows the hoses to stretch when the grapple is closed and in the dump position (that is the longest the hoses need to be) but otherwise holds the excess close to the midline where I can see it easily.

 

[HCJ]

We spent 10 hours today with this grapple. What an amazing tool! We have about a mile of road along the river that had just about disappeared. For several years. it had grown up so much that only a tiny tunnel was left. Driving even a tractor through it was difficult. We kept saying we need to hire a dozer, but a dozer seems to make such a mess and creates walls of debris and mounds of dirt along the road that creates another problem. We chain saw other roads, but this one was just too far gone and it was overwhelming, hence we ignored it and lost one of our main roads. Problem solved! We knocked down treees and plucked them up by the roots and carrried all this debris to an out of the way location. We now have a clean wide road that looks great. The grapple worked flawlessly. My buddy who is a skeptic and rarely issues complements, feel in love with it! He plans to go back tomorrow for more fun. Heck, we may clear the whole 300 acres! Your advice about the width and spacing, along with the beefier 1/2 steel was on the money! Thanks again for sharing your knowledge. As far as the hydraulics lines, my dealer left them unattached and hanging low. That was our only fear. Where do you buy the sleeves you mentioned? I definitely think we need more abrasion resistance, and the bungee cords are a good idea. I wish they had made the lines a little longer. At full extension, there isn't much slack left.

We also discovered it seemed to work better travelling in reverse after grabbing a full load of debris so that the wheels did not grab the load and pull limbs toward the hydraulic lines.

Harold