Millonzi Grapple Review

[Charlesaf3]

So since IslandTractor loves his root grapple from Millonzi, and the price was great - $645 plus shipping - I went ahead and ordered one. I've used it for a little while and love it - its incredibly useful. I'd strongly recommend it at this point, its great value for money. And the people at Millonzi were very pleasant to deal with.

Its a Quick Attach grapple made for skid steers, but this small one is light enough for my b3030 to use with out problems - 347 pounds, 42" wide. I already had a QA on the front (can't begin to say how useful that is), and a rear remote run forward. Some do it with a diverter valve, I guess, but I don't really know enough to comment on the pluses and minuses of either. I don't find using the remote with it to be any problem - the lever is convenient on the b3030.

As compared to a bucket grapple, there are some pluses and minuses, but I think its net plus. A bucket grapple would help you hold things in the bucket, but I think this works better for most grapple features. It holds much more brush etc. since it doesn't have sides. Its been even better for digging out root balls and stumps than I expected. And it grabs enormous quantities of brush. I've also been using it to transport split wood from my logpile to my stacking area, which it does nicely - I grab a bunch of them, then throw more on, and use the grapple to to hold them tight.

I'll update this with further comments as I keep using it, and hopefully Island Tractor, who has a lot more experience with it, will weigh in as well. Here are some pictures of the grapple - there are more including close ups of the welds/teeth/cylinder etc. at charlesaf3 - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

 

[Willl]

Nice looking grapple ya got there Charles.

645$ Wow, is that complete ?
Had I known that 2 months ago, I think I would of bought instead of fabbed.

Questions;

How thick are the lower teeth ?
Do you know it's weight ?
Do they have a website ?

 

[MrJimi]

Gee, I wonder how much for a 6 or 7 footer? That looks kick fanny nice
Ya need to post a link for the rest of us, unless we should go thru Island Tractor, which is no problem with me at all.
Jim

 

[radman1]

Where did you buy it? Can it be purchased directly from Millonzi and shipped? I have large project involving moving sheared cedar trees into piles and that is what I am looking for. Not much weight, open sides, and grapple.

 

[Charlesaf3]

I bought it directly from Millonzi, and they shipped it to me. (Island Tractor bought it off them through ebay, and really liked it, and I saw his posts on it) THeir website is

Welcome to the future homepage of

Lower teeth are made of 3/8 stock. They go from 3 and 3/4 at the cross bar to a point, and are serrated - I think you can see it on the album in the link. They are reinforced at the sides, so they look like a + head on made of 2 perpendicular arrows.

They have various sizes - mine weighs 347 pounds.

It came more or less complete - the hydraulics ended in 1/2 NPT so I had to buy quick couplers to fit mine. makes sense I guess.

My one quibble is that the hydraulic tubing is pretty exposed - I cable tied it to the frame in a way that kept it out of the way. I'm going to get some protective sleeves to put it in since I'm worried about brush damage.

You can do a search on Island Tractor & grapple for posts he's mentioned it on.

 

[schmism]

your looking at another $200 in shipping? freight on pallet kinda thing?

how did you arange shipping? (pickup at termnal... delevery no lift gate?)

 

[Charlesaf3]

your looking at another $200 in shipping? freight on pallet kinda thing?

how did you arange shipping? (pickup at termnal... delevery no lift gate?)

Yep, freight on pallet. I paid around $300 for shipping, but they are in Illinois, and I had it shipped to my front door and dropped. IslandTractor picked his up at the terminal and it was less.

 

[Charlesaf3]

They do have dealers btw - problem is closest dealer to New England is in western New York.

 

[IslandTractor]

That grapple looks almost as good on a Kubota as it does on a Kioti. Nice to have another grapple fan in the pack. Now we need someone with a green or blue tractor to get one and post photos.

I think the 48" grapple is actually listed as weighing 280lbs. Maybe the 347 is with pallet or maybe the 280 is wrong. Main point is that FELs like the LA403 and my KL120 with lift capacities in the 800-900 lb range are more than big enough to do real work. Some of the other full grapples weigh in at over 600lbs and are simply too heavy for smaller and mid size CUT FELs. I've also posted before that I would personally get the 48" grapple even if I had a 40-50hp tractor as you can load more stuff into the grapple than you can see around anyway so what's the use of a bigger one?

I'm glad Charles is having a good time with his. I am regretting only that my grapple has been so effective a tool that I am nearing the end of my main brush clearing project. I may have to take on volunteer jobs for our conservancy group just to stay in practice next summer.

As noted above, you can get the grapple direct from Millonzi. I am sure there is some conflict with retail dealers but in this internet world I think Millonzi is correct to sell direct. Before I found the Millonzi grapple I had looked at nice grapples from ATI and WRLong but the cost was literally three times as much and I couldn't take advantage of having done all the leg work myself as those companies will only sell through retail dealers. I don't feel like paying $1000 extra just to have a dealer pick up the phone and place the order. It was simple to deal with Millonzi directly and the shipping costs (less than $200 OH to MA) were no more than what ATI or WRLong would have added on top of their list prices anyway. I had mine shipped on a pallet to a local FedEx terminal where I picked it up with a Uhaul trailer. Painless. The only thing that I would note is that Millonzi is not yet making their own QA adapters for the tractors. I got mine through Millonzi but I think it was made by Horst in Canada. Excellent adapter but ATI also makes a nice one.

For those of you with serious brush clearing projects, the combo of a grapple and a bush hog is unbelievably efficient and those two implements work beautifully together. They not only tag team well in clearing areas but the brush hog is a perfect counterweight for the large loads of brush/logs you can lift.

My summary: the grapple gets 4 stars. No regrets after a vigorous season of use. And, it is a bargain too.

 

[Charlesaf3]

Yep, it's great to play, I mean work, with! And no end to the advantages of being able to grab things - I love the thumb on my backhoe for the same reason. Even at around a thousand delivered for me I think it was a bargain.

The 347 was marked (you can see it in the pictures) as the weight on it. Probably does include the pallet - oops

Did you do anything to protect the loose hydraulic tubes? I'm definitley planning on adding sleeves to guard them from chafing and thorns