Utility grapple vs grapple bucket

[frischtr]

Has anyone tried the 29 or 45 inch utility grapples listed on the PT website under new attachments? I am planning a 425 purchase in the next couple of months and am trying to decide on what attachments to get. I'm definitely getting the light material bucket and I wonder if the utility grapple may be more useful than the grapple bucket, especially if I will already have a bucket.

Thanks in advance...

 

[magicheater]

Might I suggest you look at Loader Buddy and consider this before getting a more complicated attachment.

 

[BobRip]

I have the 4 in1 bucket, the grapple bucket, and the light material bucket (LMT). I have not used the light material bucket in many months. The 4 in1 and grapple bucket are great items. The utility grapple looks like a big improvements over the grapple bucket, but I have not tried it.

The 4 in 1 is so much easier to fill than the LMT, thus you can effectively carry more load. You can also fill go backwards and forwards which allows you to always fill going down hill, a big advantage.

IMHO forget the LMT.

 

[ponytug]

I think the critical question is what do you plan to use it for?

I use the 4N1 constantly when moving earth; as Bob writes, you can fill coming and going. I use the LMB constantly when moving non-earth/stone materials; compost, chipped materials, etc.

I do very little brush moving, but when I do, I wish I had the grapple. (Easy to have attachment envy, I think.)

All the best,

Peter

 

[SpringHollow]

I had a heavy duty large (~1 yd) bucket with tooth bar made by Lackender that i use a lot for moving dirt with my 1850. I have the standard grapple bucket but I use it only as a grapple. I find having a grapple bucket to be handy at times but not as a bucket. But that is partly because it is not as wide as my tractor.

Ken

 

[MossRoad]

Has anyone tried the 29 or 45 inch utility grapples listed on the PT website under new attachments? I am planning a 425 purchase in the next couple of months and am trying to decide on what attachments to get. I'm definitely getting the light material bucket and I wonder if the utility grapple may be more useful than the grapple bucket, especially if I will already have a bucket.

Thanks in advance...

Welcome to TBN!

 

[MossRoad]

Might I suggest you look at Loader Buddy and consider this before getting a more complicated attachment.

You know that loader buddy would not work at all on a Power Trac tractor without extensive modification, right?

 

[IslandTractor]

I don't own a PowerTrac (wish I had a 425 to complement my CUT:thumbsup but I do have plenty of experience with a standard grapple and 4n1. Regular grapples are far more efficient than grapple buckets for almost any brush, root digging or log moving task. Having a bucket grapple is much better for brush than just a plain bucket but really is a compromise vs the standard grapple. Bucket sides get in the way. You cannot dig under roots nearly as effectively and you also cannot see what you are doing as well because you cannot see through the bucket like you can see through the grapple.

If I could have only one front implement it would be a bucket grapple but if I could have two then depending on budget I'd own either a regular bucket or 4n1 and a regular grapple.

 

[KentT]

I'd vote for the grapple bucket to go with your LMB....

I have a grapple bucket, LMB and HD rock bucket. I do not have the utility grapple. IMO, the PowerTrac utility grapple is a VERY light-duty grapple, the way it is designed and reinforced.

Dedicated grapples, like the utility grapple, are great for handling brush or small logs -- but that is essentially ALL that they are good for. In comparison, the PT grapple bucket is VERY versatile. It is my single most used implement and stays on the tractor almost all the time.

Note that it has very agressive teeth, standard, and adding a toothbar isn't necessary. It digs and pulls roots out better than the HD rock bucket because it has much longer teeth (I sharpened the edges of the teeth on mine a little bit using a grinder), and it will still move a considerable amount of brush and grasp logs too big for the PT to carry...

Simple example of its versatility -- it is absolutely great for cleaning off the garden at the end of the season. Tilt the bucket, sinking the teeth a couple inches into the ground and backdrag across the garden until you've drug out a bucket load of debris (dead stems, and grass/weeds that've grown up, etc.). Then, stop back up a few feet and use the bucket to pick up that load and carry it to the "slow compost pile". Then repeat the process. The long, narrow teeth on the grapple bucket loosen enough topsoil doing this that you can then sow a cover crop if you'd like...

I also use the grapple bucket a lot to haul large objects in the bucket, using the grapple to hold the item in. It hauls a 55 gallon drum nicely, for example, without any need to strap or chain it in -- simply close the grapple on it gently. My friend uses it all the time to haul his little Troybilt tiller to the garden.

I use the LMB only for hauling stuff, mostly light materials -- topsoil or mulch (and I've spread literally tons of mulch). Since I got the grapple bucket, I don't use my HD rock bucket at all. I'm considering cutting it down someday and modifying it to work on my minihoe to clean out ditches, kinda ike a Gradeall.

Here's a video of my grapple bucket showing the amount of brush you can easily grab and move. IMO, it will "grapple" as much as most people will need, most of the time...

YouTube - Power Trac Grapple Bucket

 

[IslandTractor]

Might I suggest you look at Loader Buddy and consider this before getting a more complicated attachment.

I've never seen one of these in action but I cannot imagine it works very well. Nothing to hold a load of brush in place. No way to secure logs without chaining. No way to scoop dirt. Solid back obstructs view of tines. All in all a pretty weird device that might be useful for moving small hay bales or something like that but in no way would substitute for either a grapple or grapple bucket.