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Travis
I think EA knows that I have been very supportive of their efforts to expand grapple options for CUT owners. Indeed, I'd go so far as to say that EA is the only grapple manufacturing company out there besides WRLong that really focuses on the CUT market and they have been far more responsive than other companies. EA has done a LOT to bring appropriately sized grapples to the CUT market and currently produces the best quality and best designed grapples aimed at CUT use. My prodding for lighter, narrower grapples with larger jaw openings is, as EA knows, a long standing and sometimes quixotic effort of mine to educate potential grapple buyers but is also to encourage EA not to sit on its laurels but to continue to make even better grapples for the CUT market.
Case in point. We have a happy customer who has put a 600lb+ grapple on to a CUT with less than 2500lbs of lift capacity. That is a waste of both lift capacity and money unless someone can prove otherwise. It is the proverbial 1 ton truck purchase to collect groceries at the supermarket or take flower arrangements to church once a week. There is simply no way that any L series or even M series Kubota needs a 600lb grapple. 600lb grapples are for true full sized utility tractors with loaders capable of lifting 3000lbs at a minimum.
I am well aware that EA doesn't push such oversized grapples but they certainly do "bend in the wind" willingly when the customer wants one. Hard to argue against that as a business, after all the customer is always right and besides they have much higher profit margins on the Mega grapple than on the smaller ones. If Granny wants an F350 to drive to church on Sundays why can't I sell her one? Right? But I think we all can agree that what is best for Granny is not always what is best for Ford. It may not be the Ford salesman's fault when Granny rolls out of the dealership in a one ton but that still doesn't make such a purchase reasonable.
The point of my original post criticizing the mega grapple choice in this case is to prod EA to continue to IMPROVE their offerings. The only legitimate argument, IMO, for the mega grapple choice on a CUT is that only the mega grapple line has a jaw opening of 40+ inches. There are lots of times when a 30" or even 37" jaw opening might be less useful than 42 inches. No one should be forced to buy an overbuilt heavy and expensive grapple simply because they want a large jaw opening. Granny shouldn't be forced into purchasing a one ton simply because she has a legitimate need for a six foot bed to transport flowers to church. Ford makes a number of options to allow Granny to get the functionality she needs without purchasing a heavy duty truck. EA needs to redesign some of their excellent grapples to further improve them so wider openings are available. 30 inches is totally reasonable for a SCUT. 37 is probably OK for most uses on 30hp machines. 37 becomes a limiting factor on CUTs with lift capacities over 1500lbs. I have a traditional narrow light duty grapple (see my avatar photo) with a jaw opening of 42 inches. That grapple was initially mounted on a 20hp tractor with lift capacity of just over 1000lbs. It is now on a 40hp tractor with lift of 2700+lbs. It has served well in both. I have NEVER wished for a smaller jaw opening. The geometry is not rocket science. EA makes much better grapples than my twelve year old 300lb grapple so why can they not improve the jaw opening dimensions??? Where is the Mark 2 version of their very successful sub compact grapple? Why can't the current compact grapple jaw open a few more inches?
I guess there will always be folks who just have to have the biggest possible truck even if a salesman points out that a smaller truck will be more cost efficient and that the larger truck is literally always excessive for the intended work but I also think that there is a responsibility for the salesman to make the pitch vigorously if they really have the customer's best interest in mind. Can the salesman really be considered to have done his/her job if Granny rolls out of the dealership in a F350 when her only need is to transport flower arrangements once a week to church?? Did the grapple salesman make perfectly clear that by selecting a mega grapple that the customer would actually be able to lift LESS material than with the perfectly adequate compact grapple???
I believe it is the role of a discussion forum like this to help educate both the manufacturer and the potential customer how to offer and select the appropriately sized implement for intended uses. We need to keep pushing EA to expand and improve their already best in class grapples. EA needs to do a better job with their marketing materials on the interweb too. Their grapple chart
Untitled Document and descriptions simply don't educate grapple naive customers about how to make a choice very well at all. We also need to continue to help educate other CUT owners making their first and usually only grapple purchase. Just posting nice photos and keeping this thread going as a thinly disguised classified ad doesn't do it.
