MTL Grapple Review

JCoastie · Jun 11, 2021

MSUBulldog said:
And lastly informed me that a 1* review would void the warranty of the grapple I purchased. He then hung up.

wow! awful

fried1765 · Jun 11, 2021

JCoastie said:
wow! awful

Apparently, Cliff is still building his well deserved reputation.

sheamus · Jun 16, 2021

Wow that is terrible.

One of the issues with the cheaper grapples I see is weight. The EA root grapples for compact tractors are under 300# for the 50”, and 350# for the heavier duty 54”.

Most of the cheap ones don't list weight, and when they do, they are almost always 450# or more. The root rake styles can be lighter, but I am only interested in the non-rakes (the ones with flat bottom).

On a 25-40HP CUT the weight can be a significant difference. So I am considering paying for the EA plus shipping to Canada...

If I owned a bigger, heavier tractor, I'd just get a cheap grapple because weight is less of an issue.

fried1765 · Jun 16, 2021

sheamus said:
Wow that is terrible.

One of the issues with the cheaper grapples I see is weight. The EA root grapples for compact tractors are under 300# for the 50”, and 350# for the heavier duty 54”.

Most of the cheap ones don't list weight, and when they do, they are almost always 450# or more. The root rake styles can be lighter, but I am only interested in the non takes.

One a 25-40HP CUT that is a big difference. So I am considering paying for the EA plus shipping to Canada...

If I owned a bigger, heavier tractor, I'd just get a cheap grapple because weight is less of an issue.

Because I have a Kubota L48TLB grapple, weight was not a significant factor for me.
My Mid-State Attachments grapple weighs 500#, but also has a fully covered steel back plate, which keeps the branches away from my tractor.

PLanger · Jun 16, 2021

MSU......sorry about your trouble. I have owned an MTL grapple going on 3 years and using it on a second tractor. I have never had a reason to contact the manufacturer other than ordering. The grapple arrived promptly after the order was placed and as new. It has been excellent and I have had no issues and no reason to contact the manufacturer. I would buy another in a heartbeat based on my experience. Great value IMO. Many share this opinion. This is not an accusation, but in general I am always suspicious of a new member that jumps on the forum with an axe to grind.

fried1765 · Jun 16, 2021

PLanger said:
MSU......sorry about your trouble. I have owned an MTL grapple going on 3 years and using it on a second tractor. I have never had a reason to contact the manufacturer other than ordering. The grapple arrived promptly after the order was placed and as new. It has been excellent and I have had no issues and no reason to contact the manufacturer. I would buy another in a heartbeat based on my experience. Great value IMO. Many share this opinion. This is not an accusation, but in general I am always suspicious of a new member that jumps on the forum with an axe to grind.

I understand your new member "axe to grind" comment, but MTL (Cliff) has a whole host of customer complaints.
Based on their customer complaint history I would certainly not buy anything from them.
You were obviously a lucky customer.

TractorTYMe · Jun 16, 2021

I initially was going with an MTL grapple, but reading up on things made me decide to save up a little more and get the Homestead Implements one on my profile picture, I'm glad I did. It is an awesome tool.

caver · Jun 16, 2021

I bought an MTL tree puller last year and really the only thing wrong was one zerk was missing and another angled so it was not accessible. It was built better than I expected. The price has gone up several hundred bucks so glad I bought when I did.

MSUBulldog · Jun 16, 2021

PLanger said:
MSU......sorry about your trouble. I have owned an MTL grapple going on 3 years and using it on a second tractor. I have never had a reason to contact the manufacturer other than ordering. The grapple arrived promptly after the order was placed and as new. It has been excellent and I have had no issues and no reason to contact the manufacturer. I would buy another in a heartbeat based on my experience. Great value IMO. Many share this opinion. This is not an accusation, but in general I am always suspicious of a new member that jumps on the forum with an axe to grind.

I fully agree with your comment. First off, the grapple itself is definitely solid. Being an engineer, I am aware that many steer clear of implements made of A36 structural steel on larger machines. However, I was perfectly fine with it given the price and my intended use for my NH TC40A. All welds appear solid and there is no doubt it will last me for a long time. As far as having an axe to grind, I was never looking for a fight. I personally decided to take the bad reviews with a grain of salt and give them a shot. Seriously, everything went flawlessly until I asked a question. That’s when it went down hill very fast. I did not appreciate the condescending after hours response nor the ridiculous phone call that came the next day. To cap it off, there was a blatant lie response to a review I left on google. Most people I do business with don’t respond after hours to messages sent within business hours. Most would wait unti the next day. Unfortunately, MTL did and blamed me. The reason I posted here was this site helped me chose a heck of a tractor back in 2008. I was an active member at that point, but unfortunately my information got lost and I had to create a new account. I wanted to repay the favor to many of those that regularly use the site and are actively looking for answers to questions. I also wanted to weigh in on the fact that bad experiences with MTL are very legit. One should not get treated like garbage for asking a question. Especially after they just dropped $1200 or more on an implement. Thank you again for the response to my post.

AbbiesFarm · Jun 18, 2021

I bought the MTL 72" RK5 Rock Grapple in February 2020, I love it. I use it mostly for brush and tree clean up. Well made, no issues, so I never needed to call or complain. The finish is fine so far, it's a tool that gets treated pretty bad and the steel is thick enough that rust won't be an issue for so long I don't really care if the paint fails. Heck I've used it to place brush directly in the burning burn pile. I don't particularly understand why people are so critical of paint on implements. I have implements that are 30+ years old, probably been without paint for most of their life and they are still just as usable today as they were 30 years ago. Shipping was fast, like 8 days. I could have 2 of these for the same price as one of the brand everyone pushes here. Great deal.