wr long or ??? for brush & logs?

[IslandTractor]

You must have some thick brush if you can fill the grapple in 5' or 6'.

If it isn't thick I just use the bush hog.

 

[nc redneck]

I would get the WR 4 in 1 . I can get a pick up load of brush in one bite. Put it in a pile then drive over it with tractor several times to break up small stuff, then bite and grab. 4 in 1 eliminates the need for scrape blade ( plus you have down pressure ). A 4 in 1 is by far the best thing I have on my tractor. A buddy of mine who does this for a living taught me if it does not have 4 wheel drive and a 4 in 1 its not worth having. Never had and never needed a grapple, so cant give any input there.
I was doing a job this past week picking up tree trimmings and brush. I had forks on tractor did not want to change out. After 3 piles of brush I went and dropped forks and put on 4 in 1 as it is so much better and faster.

 

[Deerherd]

We were warned earlier in the thread about the short grapple guru chiming in but I thought no, there is no way. He surely won't post all the pictures we have seen in every grapple thread on TBN already, offering up that Wildcat. There is no way he can draw a comparison to the perfect 300 lb grapple for a CK20 to a 88 hp 10,000 lb setup. I was wrong.

There is a reason all those stupid salesmen are pushing the wider grapple. If you aren't covering your tracks you run the real risk of leaving that perfect stick/scrap poised to puncture a tire or flip up and impale something in your tractor that leaks some sort of fluid. This never happens when your close to the road.

If you want to cut a hole through a hedgerow, try that with a grapple where your tires stick out past it on both sides.

I hate to make you do it but look at one of the photos where Island Tractor has his grapple open facing the ground. (By the red barn) The bottom jaw in the rake position is now working in the same fashion as the RGB grapple, but the top lid limits the amount and height of material it can gather.

I can't link to videos on my IPad it always just takes me some random top views selection. Just make sure that your not comparing it to one with a flat bottom jaw like the other two versions people have posted on this thread.

I'm real happy with my grapple and happier still I don't have to read any more grapple posts!

 

[k0ua]

OBG can be opened, slightly dumped and then kicked up to flip the logs further into the pile. Can also use the longer bottom tines to push the dumped load further away after releasing.

This was very important to me, as I stack thin logs and brush on a brush pile, and I need that "flipping" ability.

 

[k0ua]

Well the bottom line is they make different grapple designs, because each design works best for certain jobs.. I don't think there is a "best" grapple design for every thing, each design is best at some things, and maybe a compromise at other things.. That's what I think.

James K0UA

 

[IslandTractor]

I ordered a WR Long RBGD 84 grapple a little over three weeks ago that is on the truck to be delivered this week. RBG

Was going to order the same style you are considering but after using a friends who has a tree service, went with the RBG series.

I think the EA version is nice, but a little small for your tractor. Good luck and I'll be sure to post a new thread when it arrives.

This cannot possibly be the same guy who is confidently telling us about the superiority of RBG grapple types is it. Has he even operated his grapple yet. He posted on 9/23 that it was supposed to arrive this week. It is 9/26. Is he kidding?? Talk about a no nothing internet expert blowhard.

 

[TomSeller]

I thought Dave bought the same grapple as was in that video - am I incorrect on that? Is there an option to get longer teeth?

I don't think any manufacturers have a longer lower tooth option on their rake grapples, it is just that certain manufacturers have longer lower teeth.

I would not give up my rake grapple, I have a borrowed L grapple and the rake is on more than the L. I tend to push debris into a pile with the rake while grubbing out the shallow roots. Later when there is no burn ban I move debris to a burn pile with the L. Neither works well for me for the opposite function. I dig with a backhoe, so I don't use either grapple for that.

 

[IslandTractor]

We were warned earlier in the thread about the short grapple guru chiming in but I thought no, there is no way. He surely won't post all the pictures we have seen in every grapple thread on TBN already, offering up that Wildcat. There is no way he can draw a comparison to the perfect 300 lb grapple for a CK20 to a 88 hp 10,000 lb setup. I was wrong.

There is a reason all those stupid salesmen are pushing the wider grapple. If you aren't covering your tracks you run the real risk of leaving that perfect stick/scrap poised to puncture a tire or flip up and impale something in your tractor that leaks some sort of fluid. This never happens when your close to the road.

If you want to cut a hole through a hedgerow, try that with a grapple where your tires stick out past it on both sides.

I hate to make you do it but look at one of the photos where Island Tractor has his grapple open facing the ground. (By the red barn) The bottom jaw in the rake position is now working in the same fashion as the RGB grapple, but the top lid limits the amount and height of material it can gather.

I can't link to videos on my IPad it always just takes me some random top views selection. Just make sure that your not comparing it to one with a flat bottom jaw like the other two versions people have posted on this thread.

I'm real happy with my grapple and happier still I don't have to read any more grapple posts!

When you finally take the training wheels off your grapple you will find that driving into brush doesn't leave small daggers waiting to puncture your tires. Who told you that? Clearly you haven't had the ability to determine it yourself. When you drive into brush, you either rip the plants out of the ground or your tractor stops. You do not "cut daggers" at one foot level which then conveniently puncture your tires. Did a salesman tell you that? Thought so. You got screwed newbie.

I have driven into brush with my grapple for the past six or seven years. Never damaged a tire. This is what happens in thick brush: You open the grapple with bottom tines just at ground level and upper jaw wide open. You drive forward in low 4wd. The phalanx that forms when you push brush ahead of you clears a path that angles backwards but does NOT touch your front tires. Wouldn't matter if it did but indeed it doesn't until you get far enough in that your grapple is full and it is time to clamp and reverse. Move the debris to a pile then come back in on one of the sides that you just cleared. Repeat process. Eventually you will either clear the area or find a stump or tree that requires something other than a grapple to remove.

If you look at the photo of my grapple picking up small sticks, you will see that I picked up the same amount as a RBG would even though that is a task best done by the RBG. The RBG does not however do such a great job with larger brush because the pinch point gets jammed almost immediately with longer brush or branches and anything lower is likely to fall out.

Put a little more seat time in before waxing eloquent again on grappling techniques.

 

[TomSeller]

Flip side is that RBG can only dump right at the SSQA. OBG can be opened, slightly dumped and then kicked up to flip the logs further into the pile. Can also use the longer bottom tines to push the dumped load further away after releasing.
.

Yes, particularly important when dumping onto a fire. With a rake you have to drop on top (bad, bad) or drop in front of and push into the fire (extra motions). With some practice you can "slide" or "flip" into the fire from farther away and keep your hoses away from the heat with an L grapple.

 

[IslandTractor]

I don't think any manufacturers have a longer lower tooth option on their rake grapples, it is just that certain manufacturers have longer lower teeth.

I would not give up my rake grapple, I have a borrowed L grapple and the rake is on more than the L. I tend to push debris into a pile with the rake while grubbing out the shallow roots. Later when there is no burn ban I move debris to a burn pile. Neither works well for me for the opposite function. I dig with a backhoe, so I don't use either grapple for that.

Any grapple is better than no grapple. Any experienced grapple user will figure out the best way to use the tool and which jobs to use it on. I'm sure there are jobs I do with my OBG that I would prefer to do with a RBG if I had one handy. Nice thing is that there is so much overlap that there really is no reason to have both.