The WICKED Root & Debris GRAPPLE!!!!!!!

[Goose69]

I bought an EA Grapple because I wasn't happy with the " grippiness" of a competitors product. I had a very nice 66" Blue Diamond Grapple, but it did not work well for ripping out vines, brush, small saplings, and briars....
...had a chance to sell it for more than I paid for it, and bought the EA 66" dual lid. The design of the teeth work much better for my main purposes.. and are the main reason I bought it...(;

 

[IslandTractor]

I bought an EA Grapple because I wasn't happy with the " grippiness" of a competitors product. I had a very nice 66" Blue Diamond Grapple, but it did not work well for ripping out vines, brush, small saplings, and briars....
...had a chance to sell it for more than I paid for it, and bought the EA 66" dual lid. The design of the teeth work much better for my main purposes.. and are the main reason I bought it...(;

I'll thank you for Travis as he is probably still dancing for joy to read your post.

Do you recall what the tine tips looked like on your Blue Diamond? Was that one of the straight bottom tine grapples?

 

[Goose69]

I'll thank you for Travis as he is probably still dancing for joy to read your post.

Do you recall what the tine tips looked like on your Blue Diamond? Was that one of the straight bottom tine grapples?

.
... No they didn't have the straight bottom tines.. they had the traditional tine with gussets on the sides of each tine. Then they were all welded onto a tube.. it was a quality built grapple, made here in Tennessee, and I'm sure would last forever.
.
..But for my uses of clearing out lots of overgrown fences, lots of neglected pasture areas, old food plots, logged out timber areas, etc. it did not perform as well as I had hoped.

....The teeth on the EA do exactly what I was hoping for, when I purchased a grapple.

.. i do use it for lots of topped trees, and cleaning up all the rotten logs I'm pulling off of the log home I am restoring, and cleaning up the remains of an old shed etc, etc, the list goes on. For those uses, my old grapple would have performed just as well, but wouldn't have looked as good doing it. LOL.

 

[IslandTractor]

The WICKED Root & Debris GRAPPLE!!!!!!!

Well ......... he is the OP!

I think I recall someone suggested you start your own grapple thread so you can make the rules?

Just yanking his chain. Have you noticed that Travis posts a grapple baby shot every time the thread has been inactive for a day or two. Keeps the marketing thread alive.

Rules, Rules, I don't need to show you no stinking rules! This is the interweb baby.

And, take Travis's advice and read the first 30-40 posts in this thread. It started with a number of folks pestering EA for a narrow single grapple. I wasn't even around then. It's you double wide lovers who need to find your own playground.

 

[Cataclysm]

Here is another shot of the versatile Wicked Twin hard at work! Here I am stacking Bermuda grass sprigs. There was enough dirt in the sprigs to make them fairly heavy but the limiting factor here was volume. Notice how the sharp teeth grip the slippery sprigs. :laughing:

 

[EverythingAttachments]

.
... No they didn't have the straight bottom tines.. they had the traditional tine with gussets on the sides of each tine. Then they were all welded onto a tube.. it was a quality built grapple, made here in Tennessee, and I'm sure would last forever.
.
..But for my uses of clearing out lots of overgrown fences, lots of neglected pasture areas, old food plots, logged out timber areas, etc. it did not perform as well as I had hoped.

....The teeth on the EA do exactly what I was hoping for, when I purchased a grapple.

.. i do use it for lots of topped trees, and cleaning up all the rotten logs I'm pulling off of the log home I am restoring, and cleaning up the remains of an old shed etc, etc, the list goes on. For those uses, my old grapple would have performed just as well, but wouldn't have looked as good doing it. LOL.

Not sure how long it's been, Goose, but I remember our conversation about your application. I'm glad it's working as we planned. Man, those teeth really sound like a very useful feature to have! :thumbsup:
Travis

 

[EverythingAttachments]

.
... No they didn't have the straight bottom tines.. they had the traditional tine with gussets on the sides of each tine. Then they were all welded onto a tube.. it was a quality built grapple, made here in Tennessee, and I'm sure would last forever.
.
..But for my uses of clearing out lots of overgrown fences, lots of neglected pasture areas, old food plots, logged out timber areas, etc. it did not perform as well as I had hoped.

....The teeth on the EA do exactly what I was hoping for, when I purchased a grapple.

.. i do use it for lots of topped trees, and cleaning up all the rotten logs I'm pulling off of the log home I am restoring, and cleaning up the remains of an old shed etc, etc, the list goes on. For those uses, my old grapple would have performed just as well, but wouldn't have looked as good doing it. LOL.

Not sure how long it's been, Goose, but I remember our conversation about your application. I'm glad it's working as we planned. Man, those teeth really sound like a very useful feature to have! :thumbsup:
Travis

**Ah, the double post hasn't happened in a while. I know how to delete it, but I'll just leave this one here, too.**

 

[EverythingAttachments]

I bought an EA Grapple because I wasn't happy with the " grippiness" of a competitors product. I had a very nice 66" Blue Diamond Grapple, but it did not work well for ripping out vines, brush, small saplings, and briars....
...had a chance to sell it for more than I paid for it, and bought the EA 66" dual lid. The design of the teeth work much better for my main purposes.. and are the main reason I bought it...(;

:thumbsup:

I'll thank you for Travis as he is probably still dancing for joy to read your post.

:cool2:
I almost signed in last night for this, but figured I'd be up before you guys anyway! :laughing:
Travis

 

[IslandTractor]

:thumbsup:



:cool2:
I almost signed in last night for this, but figured I'd be up before you guys anyway! :laughing:
Travis

Up early after the party? :laughing:

 

[EverythingAttachments]

Here is another shot of the versatile Wicked Twin hard at work! Here I am stacking Bermuda grass sprigs. There was enough dirt in the sprigs to make them fairly heavy but the limiting factor here was volume. Notice how the sharp teeth grip the slippery sprigs. :laughing:

Cat, You sure are very good at showing off it's versatility! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Travis

 

[ProjectKing]

I'll thank you for Travis as he is probably still dancing for joy to read your post.

Do you recall what the tine tips looked like on your Blue Diamond? Was that one of the straight bottom tine grapples?

IslandTractor... what brand is your grapples? I'm not sold on the Everything Attachment outfit yet.

 

[IslandTractor]

The WICKED Root & Debris GRAPPLE!!!!!!!

IslandTractor... what brand is your grapples? I'm not sold on the Everything Attachment outfit yet.

Mine is a Millonzi light duty 300 lb 48" which is no longer available as the owner of the small Millonzi company died. My 12 yo Millonzi has battle scars but works just fine on my Kioti DK40se which is pretty heavy and has a loader that lifts 2760lbs at pivot points (so basically about as heavy and strong as any CUT on the market).

I obviously like my Millonzi a lot but I do think that the EA Wicked grapples are better made. The upper lid on the EA compact and midrange grapples is a far better design and build. I much prefer my 42+" jaw opening but otherwise the EA looks better. I have no problems with my less aggressive bottom tine teeth and I don't personally see the advantage of the narrow bottom tines on the EA as I never root rake more than 6" deep. .

Bottom line is that the EA grapples are about as good as you can get these days. They are a bit pricey but for CUT sized tractors I think they are still the best choice these days.

If you've read through this "discussion" you know that I believe the 50-60" single lid compact or midweight EAs weighing less than 400lbs (edit: best at 350lbs or so for big CUTs and less than 300lbs for 35hp or less) make the most sense for CUT general duty. I don't see any reason to put the 600+lb Extreme versions on any CUT regardless of horsepower. Those are more suitable for utility size tractors.

 

[ProjectKing]

The WICKED Root & Debris GRAPPLE!!!!!!!

Mine is a Millonzi light duty 300 lb 48" which is no longer available as the owner of the small Millonzi company died. My 12 yo Millonzi has battle scars but works just fine on my Kioti DK40se which is pretty heavy and has a loader that lifts 2760lbs at pivot points (so basically about as heavy and strong as any CUT on the market).

I obviously like my Millonzi a lot but I do think that the EA Wicked grapples are better made. The upper lid on the EA compact and midrange grapples is a far better design and build. I much prefer my 42+" jaw opening but otherwise the EA looks better. I have no problems with my less aggressive bottom tine teeth and I don't personally see the advantage of the narrow bottom tines on the EA as I never root rake more than 6" deep. .

Bottom line is that the EA grapples are about as good as you can get these days. They are a bit pricey but for CUT sized tractors I think they are still the best choice these days.

If you've read through this "discussion" you know that I believe the 50-60" single lid compact or midweight EAs weighing less than 400lbs (edit: best at 350lbs or so for big CUTs and less than 300lbs for 35hp or less) make the most sense for CUT general duty. I don't see any reason to put the 600+lb Extreme versions on any CUT regardless of horsepower. Those are more suitable for utility size tractors.

Great advice!! Thank you very much. Yes I hear you on the heavy grapples. Their primary purpose is for heavy skid steer machines.

What are your thoughts on the two different style of grapples? Rake and standard? The rake seems to work well for grubbing out roots. But the standard model with the lower longer horizontal tines seems to pick up more brush, etc.

 

[TomSeller]

Great advice!! Thank you very much. Yes I hear you on the heavy grapples. Their primary purpose is for heavy skid steer machines.

What are your thoughts on the two different style of grapples? Rake and standard? The rake seems to work well for grubbing out roots. But the standard model with the lower longer horizontal tines seems to pick up more bush, etc.

I have a rake grapple and it seldom gets used largely since it doesn't hold much debris*. You can grub out roots like you say and they are good for back raking an area smooth.

*some rake styles have longer lower teeth and will hold more debris.

 

[IslandTractor]

I have a rake grapple and it seldom gets used largely since it doesn't hold much debris*. You can grub out roots like you say and they are good for back raking an area smooth.

*some rake styles have longer lower teeth and will hold more debris.

Agree. The terminology to describe the two basic grapple types is confusing. "Rake grapple" usually refers to what I call a clamshell grapple. The standard or root grapple is different. The two main differences are that the clamshell type has short bottom tines and depends on hydraulic pressure on the upper lid to hold the load. The standard or root grapple has long lower tines and can lift a load without even closing the lid.

IMO the big problem with the clamshell/rake type is that any large object like a branch or log will jam the lid so the grapple cannot further compress and secure anything below that branch. If you have a log on top of a brush pile you will have difficulty picking up the brush once the log jambs into the upper jaw hinge. However a root or standard grapple can simply slide the long bottom tines under multiple branches etc and gravity holds them in place. Doesn't matter if brush is above or below the log. The upper lid is mostly used just to crush so you can carry more and to prevent the load that rests passively on the lower tines from falling out forward. If you simply curl the grapple the load stays in place even without closing the upper jaw.

There are certainly tasks for which the rake style grapple is well suited but for general wide ranging grapple tasks that might include digging, breaking roots, carrying mismatched objects etc, the standard root grapple is more efficient.

 

[ProjectKing]

Agree. The terminology to describe the two basic grapple types is confusing. "Rake grapple" usually refers to what I call a clamshell grapple. The standard or root grapple is different. The two main differences are that the clamshell type has short bottom tines and depends on hydraulic pressure on the upper lid to hold the load. The standard or root grapple has long lower tines and can lift a load without even closing the lid.

IMO the big problem with the clamshell/rake type is that any large object like a branch or log will jam the lid so the grapple cannot further compress and secure anything below that branch. If you have a log on top of a brush pile you will have difficulty picking up the brush once the log jambs into the upper jaw hinge. However a root or standard grapple can simply slide the long bottom tines under multiple branches etc and gravity holds them in place. Doesn't matter if brush is above or below the log. The upper lid is mostly used just to crush so you can carry more and to prevent the load that rests passively on the lower tines from falling out forward. If you simply curl the grapple the load stays in place even without closing the upper jaw.

There are certainly tasks for which the rake style grapple is well suited but for general wide ranging grapple tasks that might include digging, breaking roots, carrying mismatched objects etc, the standard root grapple is more efficient.

Excellent info! Thank you!! I think the longer lower tine model would benefit me much more.

 

[EverythingAttachments]

A couple guys were bragging on their Wicked Grapples in the EA Facebook Group over the weekend!
The color was GREEN, too!
Travis

First is a 73" Dual Lid for tractors up to 75hp. It is installed on a John Deere 5075e Utility Tractor, which has a lift capacity of over 2,000 pounds and a breakout force of around 5,000.

"I really like how the double lid will grab hold of any odd shaped log. This piece is over 1000 pounds and the grapple has a tight grip on it."

Second is a 60" Dual Lid on a John Deere 4300 compact tractor. It's loader is rated at around 1,200 at 30" in front of the pins.

"This was an odd shaped stump that was right at the lift capacity of my loader."

 

[IslandTractor]

Why are your clients always bragging about how a dual lid made it possible to lift an odd shaped tree or stump? Is that part of the sales pitch?

I have NEVER met a stump or tree/log that I could not clamp securely with a wide jaw single.

Why does this unsubstantiated myth about dual lids persist??

Maybe you guys need to design a test to compare your 37" opening dual versus a 42" opening single...

We need scientific data not Facebook posts from novices!

 

[EverythingAttachments]

Why are your clients always bragging about how a dual lid made it possible to lift an odd shaped tree or stump? Is that part of the sales pitch?

I have NEVER met a stump or tree/log that I could not clamp securely with a wide jaw single.

Why does this unsubstantiated myth about dual lids persist??


We need scientific data not Facebook posts from novices!

I post with no favoritism and do not push my customers either way. I also speak to everyone about their application if they're open to it. If their mind is made up, I may give them other's opinions as to what is best, but refuse to argue.

I would recommend you to post all of the user pics and experiences you could find concerning a Milozonieus(ah) grapple, but that guy already posts them in here. :laughing:

Travis

 

[lostcreekranch]

Why are your clients always bragging about how a dual lid made it possible to lift an odd shaped tree or stump? Is that part of the sales pitch?

I have NEVER met a stump or tree/log that I could not clamp securely with a wide jaw single.

Why does this unsubstantiated myth about dual lids persist??

Maybe you guys need to design a test to compare your 37" opening dual versus a 42" opening single...

We need scientific data not Facebook posts from novices!

GROAN.