Grapple Should I Get A Grapple

[K5lwq]

Looks like you already have a very good assortment of implements to take on this task - to which a grapple and/or pallet fork could be useful additions, and there's already been a fair amount of good advice provided so I'll attempt to keep my thoughts short, and content rich.

Pallet forks work well for trees and large pieces of wood. However, they don't work as well as a grapple when it comes to lots of smaller pieces, or things where it's harder to locate the balance point (e.g. shrubs with a root ball attached that's still shedding dirt). I started with pallet forks and quickly bought a grapple because of the additional control it has over objects being carried. So I'd say being able to use equipment to carry things in a controlled manner always beats moving things by hand. ....whereas I'm not so sure I'd say that's always the case when it comes to using equipment to move things that aren't/can't be controlled by the equipment.

When it comes to root removal both a grapple and a box blade have their use. The grapple can rake through the ground, but the front wheels may come off the ground due to how tractor loader arms are attached to the tractor.... much like when digging with a tractor. However a box blade plays to a tractor's strengths in that at the more it loads up the more it drives the rear wheels into the ground which increases traction. Personally I prefer to use a box blade to build windrows of roots, and use the grapple to pickup the windrow.

Pushing over trees can be done, though it's not risk free and does requires attention to detail, along with using leverage for the best results. Use the trunk as a lever to find where the roots are, and then push the tree toward the longest roots. For the sake of safety you'll want to avoid snapping the trunk -- especially if your front wheels end up off the ground (as has already been noted tractor loaders aren't really optimized for pushing/digging, and weird/undesirable things can happen when loaded up too much). Once the tree is over use the root ball like a "wheel" with the trunk as the "axle" to break/remove the remaining roots. Using an approach like that can permit removal of trees larger than the use of shear brute force alone. With proper techniques the size of the tree matters less than the type of tree, it's root structure, and the soil type (along with it's moisture content).

Of course, since you have a backhoe that can also help locate/break roots as backhoes on tractors will typically be able to generate higher break out forces (from what I've seen anyway) along with having narrower buckets to concentrate that force in a smaller area.

So yes, I'd say it's very feasible it's just a case of being patient, paying attention to what is happening when you're working, and not using speed/brute force (e.g. ramming, jerking, etc) to force things to happen.

In all reality that adage of "slow is smooth smooth is fast" is also very applicable to operating heavy machinery.

Just my :2cents: ...which admittedly may not be worth even that much.

Well said!

No matter the tools you have or use, learn to use them properly. I have cleared a lot of ground with a axe, swing blade, kaiser blade and a pick axe. All cheaper and less maintenance than a chain saw, tractor, front loader, bucket, grapple or forks.

I use my grapple more than my forks. I use my forks more than my bucket. Before I had a loader, I found ways to do everything I needed to do with just a bare tractor. Before I got a grapple and forks, I could not imagine life without the bucket. I have not used the bucket in over a year now. You learn to use the best tool in your arsenal for the task at hand.

 

[mardenm]

My tractor gets plenty of wear and tear with just the normal front end loader work. If I need to dig up rocks or small trees, I'll use my pallet forks up to a point. You can do a lot with forks.

If i need to pull out either difficult or larger trees, I will resort to using physics instead of brute force and risk damaging my tractor.

For trees up to 5 to 6 inches, I will use a 5:1 mechanical advantage rope pulley and pull them out with the tractor using the draw bar. If your B2350 weighs about 1700lb, you should be able to pull with at least 1,000 of force. With a 5x from the pulleys, that is a nice, safe, slow 5,000lb of pull in low gear.

For really large trees, I use a 40:1 MA pulley system. In fact I used it last year to pull down an 80' Beech tree.

I build all my own rope pulleys. It would cost you about $500 to build the 5:1 using:
2x double pulleys
1x 150' x 1/2" rigging rope
1x large portawrap
2x 57,000lb shackles
2x Heavy Duty Tow Straps
1x Steel Carabiner

This method is simple and fast. From my perspective this is also safer and saves you wear on your tractor.

 

[jjp8182]

Well said!

No matter the tools you have or use, learn to use them properly. I have cleared a lot of ground with a axe, swing blade, kaiser blade and a pick axe. All cheaper and less maintenance than a chain saw, tractor, front loader, bucket, grapple or forks.

I use my grapple more than my forks. I use my forks more than my bucket. Before I had a loader, I found ways to do everything I needed to do with just a bare tractor. Before I got a grapple and forks, I could not imagine life without the bucket. I have not used the bucket in over a year now. You learn to use the best tool in your arsenal for the task at hand.

I've used many of those, often in planned work and just as often in unplanned work. For me, it's been the unplanned work that has really taught me the value of not only knowing/learning how to use a variety of tools, but the value in how to look at a tool and evaluate how it could be used in an effective (and safe/risk-cognizant) manner. Having to work those unplanned projects in a wide variety of undesirable conditions that have ranged from cleaning up collapsed trees in 90F+ high humidity head, to unearthing burst water lines use to transport heat from a furnace to a house in sub-zero temps (while avoiding excess damage to the roots of a tree my parents wanted to keep alive), to cleaning up storm damage to maintain vehicle accessibility while there are still active storms in the region has all served to also drive home the value of stepping back, evaluating the situation, and approaching the problem from a different angle (in both a figurative and literal sense) if/when needed.

While this forum is focused heavily on tractors, it seems to me that a mix of heavy equipment, power tools, and even simple hand tools is very often the most effective set of tools to accomplishing many larger projects. For example, even when having heavy equipment available having (and using) a pick mattock and cutter mattocks can make things go so much easier as there can be significant value in being able to manually locate and sever individual roots.

 

[downsizingnow48]

I have a grapple and forks but found the way that puts least stress on my small tractor is the backhoe with root ripper. For most trees I cut the roots on one or two sides then slowly nudge the tree over. A bunch of TBN folk have made them, I bought mine.

 

[bambam31]

I don稚 have a grapple but I do have a piranha tooth bar on my bucket. On numerous occasions I have dug up trees up to 6 and pushed them over. I leave them where they lay. If I had to move them then a grapple would be the tool to use.

 

[JWR]

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?

There are many issues and things to consider. The 3 or 4 inch trees are not going to be dug out of the ground with the 2301 in 95 of 100 tries (unless they are very shallow-rooted things like autumn olives.) The backhoe is the most potent tool you have for that purpose and really the machine is just too small for it. BUT, we all do what we can no matter what machine we have and I'm sure you do too.

For sure the grapple is a useful and feasible tool for you. NOT for pulling trees. One issue is that you will need hydraulic remotes added to the tractor unless you already have a spare plus control valve and plumbing, hoses, etc.. That is not cheap.

One option you might consider is what I call a pinch bucket or commonly called a 4-in-1 bucket that opens like a clamshell and allows you to both grab things as well as normal bucket operation. It also facilitates "dozer" like operation though you are not going to do much dozing with that size tractor. I have used pinch buckets on larger tractors for 20 years and found them t be VERY versatile and one of the most useful tools i ever bought. I just bought a grapple a couple months ago because I have so many trees dead on my farm from the ash borer worms. Every ash tree on my farm is dead -- and I am talking HUNDREDS of trees. That's why I bought the grapple. It allows me better visibility than the pinch bucket as to what I pick up AND the grapple tends to get hold of limbs and debris first try where the pinch bucket often takes several attempts. I even added a "toothbar" (homemade) to my pinch bucket for that reason. The toothbar improves the capture rate terrifically but is still not like a grapple.

One point regarding grapples -- you generally do not need as wide a grapple as you do a bucket. A grapple can be too wide and be a nuisance. Another thing is that "off balance" (left/right) loads become far more likely with a grapple than with a bucket and you do not have much turnover resistance with that tractor. Be cautious. Good luck of course.

I summary, YES, you will find the grapple to be a very useful tool if you keep in mind the limitations of the size of the machine, etc.

 

[westmich]

Sorry for the long delay, but I did order a grapple and it arrived 10+ weeks later. Yeah!!!!

Trying to get it connected but I am running into some issues - https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/hydraulics/417017-finding-power-beyond-port-third.html

Since I first posted, though, I did manage to get a set of bucket forks which have come in more handy than I could have imagined. I also ended up clearing quite a few of the small trees between the bucket/chain method and using a tree grubber (like a set of logging tongs with spiky ends) and the winch on my Jeep. With two guys, that was actually the most productive method. I also picked up a three point wood chipper on sale that I will use for the next couple of years and then resell.

There is also mowing and a lot of general use in cleaning up the property and buildings. Managed to put about 80 hours on it between two of us from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Very happy with the purchase overall.

Assuming I get it connected, I still have a lot of worked planned for the grapple. I've got about 2500 feet of overgrown fence line - old fencing and barb wire, dead trees and limbs, wood felled by the power company left in place, and thorny vines growing over and through everything. I'll post some pics when I get started.

 

[MechanicalGuy]

I've used my grapple to pull on a few trees. It doesn't work well on pine trees, they're too hard to grab. It works really well on privet, because the form chains of trees and rootball together. There is a lot to grab

 

[DieselBound]

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.

 

[lennyzx11]

Sorry for the long delay, but I did order a grapple and it arrived 10+ weeks later. Yeah!!!!

Trying to get it connected but I am running into some issues - https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/hydraulics/417017-finding-power-beyond-port-third.html

Since I first posted, though, I did manage to get a set of bucket forks which have come in more handy than I could have imagined. I also ended up clearing quite a few of the small trees between the bucket/chain method and using a tree grubber (like a set of logging tongs with spiky ends) and the winch on my Jeep. With two guys, that was actually the most productive method. I also picked up a three point wood chipper on sale that I will use for the next couple of years and then resell.

There is also mowing and a lot of general use in cleaning up the property and buildings. Managed to put about 80 hours on it between two of us from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Very happy with the purchase overall.

Assuming I get it connected, I still have a lot of worked planned for the grapple. I've got about 2500 feet of overgrown fence line - old fencing and barb wire, dead trees and limbs, wood felled by the power company left in place, and thorny vines growing over and through everything. I'll post some pics when I get started.

I used a Diverter valve from KennyG for mine. Flawless since 2015. Plumbed into the raise lower circuit.

Later on I added 4 remotes to the rear using power beyond but I like the diverter so much I kept it as it is. With the button under my thumb on the joystick, it’s simple to activate and use the stick to control opening and closing.

A cordless sawzall with demolition blades helps cutting stubborn roots in order to get the tree to lean over better than a chainsaw to me. I like to get the stump out if at all possible.

Too late now but I agree with not needing a grapple as wide as a bucket. It is a lot easier to see and use if it’s about the width of the front tires outsides for me. And the weight reduction helps.

I use my EA grapple for everything. Lately it’s been pulling grape vines down out of trees and firewood logs for cutting up.