Texas Grapple Shootout

[Xfaxman]

I had one of these, unusual to have two lids on a rake style, most just have one.


View of the attachment plate


Made by Vassar Equipment in Perkins, OK. Click the link to their Website: Page Title

 

[bindian]

Brandi, that was a concern I also had. Even though the long tine ANBO could dig at a variable depths, would I need a cross bar to limit the depth, and what should that depth be?

Don,
Mine has a depth of about 4-5 inches before I drag the cross bar into the dirt. I'm thinking 6 inches would be a nice length. Of course, it all depends on how deep you wanna rake. I have the backhoe if I wanna dig something big and deep out.
hugs, Brandi

 

[sd455dan]

My two major task,would be to move old hay piles to wash outs located at other areas on place and the other cleaning up behind my dozer. It would also be nice to remove yaupons and maybe pick up a 4x5 round bale.

For the old hay piles a unit like the Faver would work or even a round tine Grapple like this Melecio Tine Grapple Buckets which is similar to my grapple- although heavier duty, these open style grapples mimic a pitch fork which is hard to beat for moving hay... not sure how it would work for Yaupons


Melecio also has some neat rock buckets with close tine spacing , root rake grapples and others

 

[bindian]

For the old hay piles a unit like the Faver would work or even a round tine Grapple like this Melecio Tine Grapple Buckets which is similar to my grapple- although heavier duty, these open style grapples mimic a pitch fork which is hard to beat for moving hay... not sure how it would work for Yaupons


Melecio also has some neat rock buckets with close tine spacing , root rake grapples and others

That would be a construction grapple, not designed for digging anything. I have heard of folks using fork lift forks on a FEL to pop out roots. Guess that's why I have heard of bent and broken forks too. The right tool for the right job saves wear and tear on tools and equipment.
hugs, Brandi

 

[Deerherd]

Don,
Mine has a depth of about 4-5 inches before I drag the cross bar into the dirt. I'm thinking 6 inches would be a nice length. Of course, it all depends on how deep you wanna rake. I have the backhoe if I wanna dig something big and deep out.
hugs, Brandi

IMHO tooth design has more impact on digging ability than any other aspect. I went with a wider spade style with lots of horizontal "cutting edges" because most of the roots in my neck of the woods grow up and down.

I can sink the teeth up to the cross bar and dig up to 10 to 12" deep, but seems to work best 4-8" down with the cutting edges more perpendicular to the roots. In my wet clay soil if you're not careful you can move a lot of dirt! Dirt does build up on the spade style teeth and requires quite a bit of "grunt" to run effectively but it does a great job. Here's a picture of the grapple and one showing how the dirt builds up on the crossbar.





It is a dual lid rake style and this is what it looked like new.

 

[txdon]

Dave I do like the lid on your grapple - it opens wide and covers the entire grapple. On the grapples we were using the lid only came down very close to the grapple. I would like the lid to mesh through the grapple a bit to really grab the brush and pull out from the top the brush that I did not cut the roots completely.

 

[pacerron]

I would like the lid to mesh through the grapple a bit to really grab the brush and pull out from the top the brush that I did not cut the roots completely.

I have no grapple experience and am not familiar with your roots... but I can see uncut roots getting jammed between the upper and lower teeth if they meshed through and were very close to one another. Then a lot of wasted time getting the thing un-jammed.

 

[Xfaxman]

I have no grapple experience and am not familiar with your roots... but I can see uncut roots getting jammed between the upper and lower teeth if they meshed through and were very close to one another. Then a lot of wasted time getting the thing un-jammed.

No wasted time, just pull them up out of the ground and open the lid! :thumbsup:

These tines overlap a lot and are very close together.


There has been brush jammed between them, but it falls out when you drop the brush on the pile.

 

[txdon]

It appears that as long as there is no cross bar, in front of the crossover point of the lid, sticking brush would fall out easy or could be dislodged by back dragging.

Xfaxman, I like the way each of you tines has a matching lid tine.

A grapple like yours, about 50-54" with the tines 6-7" apart, a full lid with matching tines, and opening at least 45" or more - that would be my ideal grapple.

 

[mikim]

What make and models are these grapples?.....The one on the Kioti is a "worksaver" and was bought through the local Kioti dealer. The one on the NH is a "CID" ..??.. I bought it online several years ago and I think you can get the same one at palletforks.com now.