Grapple Should I Get A Grapple

[MechanicalGuy]

Trees grow perpendicular to the ground. A grapple, if your tractor is on all four wheels, is parallel to the ground. Grabbing an object that's [tall and] perpendicular to the grapple is tough.

I've gotten some pretty good sized trees (though mostly stumps) out with my B7800 and a tooth bar, but at a speed that's just slightly faster than my dog could dig out the stump/roots! I've determined that the loader on my B7800 is indestructible: I've had the tractor's rear wheels up off the ground and literally bouncing the tractor- yes, do NOT do this! (but, again, the B7800 won't break, I've given it everything I can throw at it) I've popped out a few stumps with my NX5510, just the loader and bucket, but given all the mass involved I'm a lot less eager to do this; I use its grapple to pick up stuff that's already down (and some really huge stuff at that).

Watch out if pushing over trees. I recently reminded myself to stop doing this as I had the top of one tree snap off and hit my cab top: I got lucky, the piece landed firmly on it's side, spreading out the impact over a large enough area that it didn't break anything. I DO, however, have a dent in my hood from debris flying out from my grapple. Industrial equipment is far more suited to such work!

I like to [try to] plan to combine similar work into a project. And when it comes to taking out trees and stumps (mostly stumps) I rent an excavator. The cost isn't really all that much. Not long ago I over-extended my loader's curl with the grapple on and I busted a curl cylinder. That was about $600, which is enough to cover the rental of a decent excavator for a good couple of days.

You gotta push them over and then put the bottom tines of the grapple under the roots.

 

[monteu]

I'm new here and fairly new/inexperienced with tractors. I recently purchased a Kubota B2301 with loader, mid mower deck, backhoe, and box blade. I bought it for a number of reasons including a number of jobs with our existing home and efforts into building our new home. My thought was that if I put enough hours on it saving me from hiring out, it would pay for itself over the course of this work.

So, one of the tasks is clearing small trees (up to 3 or 4 inches) and shrubs. I can yank one by one with a chain or use the bucket to dig in just in front and pop out rolling the bucket back. I was hoping a grapple might make shorter work of this plus allow to grab what I pop out and stack (and then use the grapple to grab the stack and put in a trailer or burn pile). I also have a fence line overgrown with pricker vines that haven't been touched in probably 40 years. I could also see myself grabbing and piling up other overgrown piles in the field.

Is this feasible?

I bought a used Kioti last spring that had a grapple with it. It is the attachment or tool I have used the most so far. It wasn't even on my list to have but I love it.

 

[BRMyers]

I'm new here and fairly new/inexperienced with tractors. I recently purchased a Kubota B2301 with loader, mid mower deck, backhoe, and box blade. I bought it for a number of reasons including a number of jobs with our existing home and efforts into building our new home. My thought was that if I put enough hours on it saving me from hiring out, it would pay for itself over the course of this work.

So, one of the tasks is clearing small trees (up to 3 or 4 inches) and shrubs. I can yank one by one with a chain or use the bucket to dig in just in front and pop out rolling the bucket back. I was hoping a grapple might make shorter work of this plus allow to grab what I pop out and stack (and then use the grapple to grab the stack and put in a trailer or burn pile). I also have a fence line overgrown with pricker vines that haven't been touched in probably 40 years. I could also see myself grabbing and piling up other overgrown piles in the field.

Is this feasible?

My EA 55" Wicked Root Grapple has shipped. If all goes as planned, first weekend in November I will be able to tell you how effective the grapple is for the projects you mentioned.

 

[the old grind]

I bought another CUT to not have to take a grapple off to move materials or snow with a std bucket. Of course now that I have vertical and horizontal grapples I bought another CUT for that.

Here's a tree I cleaned up using two machines, and the truck I loaded up using the MIE "Hound Dog" grapple. thumbsup



Here's what I did with what my 18" Echo CS400 rent asunder to haul off the site, some UNLOADED by hand, but piled on with the grapple.



Be warned! A good grapple won't come cheap, and the 'payback' can stretch into weeks.

 

[Rocky Hoffler]

I’ve had four grapples over the years and use it way more than bucket remember to factor in cost of third function valve I have a new one coming from EA waiting on delivery it’s setting at truck line in Jacksonville. I’ll make a statement people use to say if you ever have a front end loader you will never not have one I will go a step further and say if you ever had a grapple you won’t do with out one

 

[jjp8182]

I bought another CUT to not have to take a grapple off to move materials or snow with a std bucket. Of course now that I have vertical and horizontal grapples I bought another CUT for that.

Be warned! A good grapple won't come cheap, and the 'payback' can stretch into weeks.

:thumbsup: :drink: Here's to having vertical and horizontal grapples. I personally started with a 66" EA single lid grapple and then about a year later added a Danuser Intimidator. While I haven't added the second machine yet it's in the plan after getting the first paid off, and a larger truck first to pull them around. At which point a second tractor or compact telehandler is likely

...though I'd say depending on the location the "payback" might be in the first use.

Before I bought the first grapple I was piling brush on the tines of the pallet forks (which I'd bought with the tractor).... and while it worked, doing so in the middle of summer in Alabama with a relatively small number of 4-6" lower tree limbs (with all their branches) was enough to make that EA grapple seem like an absolute bargain. It was good-bye heat stroke, good-bye cutting limbs/branches down to lengths that can be manually handled and hello to cruising across the property with material firmly held in a grapple and removing/cleaning up multiple trees in a single day.

About the only loader attachment I use more frequently is my pallet forks, but the grapple(s) get far many more hours of usage hands down (with the EA one getting a bulk of those given the Intimidator doesn't handle moving stuff in bulk any where near as well).

 

[JWR]

I certainly chime in, agreeing that the grapple is very useful and tends to stay on the tractor longer than you planned. I do not however like it all that well for stump removal. If you get hooked on the left or right end (which is a big temptation) you'll run into twisting of the loader and other damage events. The heavier narrow nose stump tool they sell to fit your SSQA attach point is a better tool for stumps.

 

[jjp8182]

I certainly chime in, agreeing that the grapple is very useful and tends to stay on the tractor longer than you planned. I do not however like it all that well for stump removal. If you get hooked on the left or right end (which is a big temptation) you'll run into twisting of the loader and other damage events. The heavier narrow nose stump tool they sell to fit your SSQA attach point is a better tool for stumps.

I'll agree with that .... though depending on the size/type of the tree I've found it easier to push it over and use the trunk as a axle to roll the roots out of the ground. ..there's just something fun/satisfying about hauling off an entire tree with it properly balance and sticking 5'-15' feet out each side of the grapple. It's sort of like seeing a dog carrying around a dramatically oversized bone.