Grapple Anbo Grapple Rake

[garth466]

Well she came in the other day. I have yet to use it. I might run next door and see how it works on the neighbors blackberries. I'm trying to keep her kind of clean for my buddy who is supposed to be here to hook up my new lights. Two 25W up high on the front and two 25W on the ROPs in the rear. Hopefully that will light up my night a little better.

 

[GreatWhitehunter]

That looks great, I'm in the market for a grapple myself. If you don't mind what did that set you back? Did you pay extra for the jd q-tach?

Matt T.

 

[Deerlope]

I was qoute for a 6ft 3000 bucks plus 300 for shipping to NY.

 

[garth466]

Mine was right at $3000 including our punitive sales tax and shipping. Anbo is 6 hours from me, so I don't know how much more shipping would be but mine was about $90. I don't know how well it works because it is dark now and my lights still aren't hooked up. Maybe I'll know in the morning.

 

[GV40U]

I have the 5' BoDozer Grapple, made by Borgford Design (www.borgford.com), also made in Colville, WA. The design is very similar to AnBo. There was some past relationship between people in these two companies, I went with the BoDozer based on the recommendation of my dealer though I couldn't see a lot of difference (at least from the pictures) in design and function. I've had mine for 4 years and I can confirm that it will rip out blackberries...nothing finer... and move logs. I've attached a couple of pictures from when the tractor and grapple were new. The logs in the pictures are salvaged Pacific yew logs, much heavier than Douglas fir. I've learned a lot about using a grapple since these pictures were taken. A bit of practice and you can become very efficient with it but you may drop a few things and become a little frustrated before you become a practiced hand. I recently spent about 6 hours moving and piling about 150 dead and dying 6' to 15' tall incense-cedar trees that a friend had cut off at the base so he could replant a failed timber stand. However, my favorite job is to rip into blackberries and brush and in a few minutes have a piece of ground that is nearly ready to plant. You will have fun.

 

[GV40U]

Ooops...I forgot to mention in my last post that you might want to consider attaching some wire mesh (expanded metal or perforated metal) to your grill guard to protect your grill from sticks if you are moving brush with your grapple. There is a distinct possibility of small sticks pushing through the back of the grapple into the grill...doesn't take much imagination to figure out how I know about that particular problem. Though the pictures I posted do not show a grill guard, it wasn't long after I took those pictures that I built one. I'll try to post pics tomorrow but you can find several clever solutions by doing a search on this site.

 

[dknarnd]

That is a good looking grapple...I looked at it pretty hard but just couldn't justify the price tag of it and went with WR Long instead, but the Ando was my first choice. Shipping for me into NJ was going to be just over $400 so with that then all the wet lines the price was not justified by me.

 

[MrJimi]

This is the link that Greg posted
Here

Jim

 

[garth466]

I heard the "Bo" in Bodozer is the same "Bo" in Anbo. I am going to upgrade the grill guard because I've already learned that too. I'm going to have to replace my grill anyway.

 

[jimmysisson]

Nice looking unit. I kind of like the idea of carrying logs with some horizontal part of the grapple, rather than relying on hydraulic pressure in the clamp. Yours looks like it goes under the log suffieciently. It also looks like your clamping hoses could use one less turn around the QA crossbar so they're not pulled too tight.
Jim

 

[garth466]

I thought of that too. That's the way the set it up, but I haven't used it yet. You've reminded me to make a note to change that the next time I'm out there.

 

[Hammy]

You'll love it! I have a 72" AnBo, it works great and is built rock solid. Enjoy!

Craig

 

[Kytractor]

How do you like your anbo now. I am thinking of purchasing a 72. Or possibly the bodozer.

 

[flINTLOCK]

I got the 72" light version ANBO and love it. Picking boulders, clearing brush, moving logs. Very well made.

 

[Kytractor]

Thanks. I am looking at the standard duty 72inch. From all my research it seems to be a very well made grapple.

 

[IslandTractor]

Thanks. I am looking at the standard duty 72inch. From all my research it seems to be a very well made grapple.

Very well made, very expensive, very heavy and not indestructible. Of note, there have only been a few reports of significant damage to grapples on this board over the past couple of years and at least one ?2 were related to Anbo grapples. One guy twisted the top arm while trying to pull a log. Don't recall the specifics of the other (including whether it was an Anbo or another clam shell grapple). One report of a problem doesn't count for too much except that it was notable that Anbo refused to fix it. It is also notable in that the Anbo is sold as the roughest toughest etc but the damage occurred in a pretty routine use and would not have occurred with a simple single arm grapple. The Achilles heel of the clam shell grapples seems to be that trying to clamp on an asymmetric load which can apparently twist the upper arm frame.

Think hard before you invest in a $3000 grapple because there are not many tasks that cannot be done with one costing much closer to $1000. WRLong and a few other companies sell basic root grapples that seem to function just as well as the uber engineered $3000 types.

 

[Kytractor]

Very well made, very expensive, very heavy and not indestructible. Of note, there have only been a few reports of significant damage to grapples on this board over the past couple of years and at least one ?2 were related to Anbo grapples. One guy twisted the top arm while trying to pull a log. Don't recall the specifics of the other (including whether it was an Anbo or another clam shell grapple). One report of a problem doesn't count for too much except that it was notable that Anbo refused to fix it. It is also notable in that the Anbo is sold as the roughest toughest etc but the damage occurred in a pretty routine use and would not have occurred with a simple single arm grapple. The Achilles heel of the clam shell grapples seems to be that trying to clamp on an asymmetric load which can apparently twist the upper arm frame.

Think hard before you invest in a $3000 grapple because there are not many tasks that cannot be done with one costing much closer to $1000. WRLong and a few other companies sell basic root grapples that seem to function just as well as the uber engineered $3000 types.

Do You remember what forum The anbo that had been twisted was in? My dealer priced the Wr long 72 grapple in the high twos. It would seem the way the clam shell is designed that it would be easier to push up against the brush or logs and then clamp down on it and tilt up. Is the open bucket design harder to slide under an object?

 

[Tym Man]

Oliver and Dahlman makes a grapple that stands like an anbo yet has two independant grapples like the most root grapples and scrap grapples do. it is the BR series

Oliver & Dahlman, Tractor & Skid Steer Attachments

 

[daveyb45]

I just bought a millonzi grapple,,,$1000, 48 inch,,,,,works great on the front of my DK45se. Absolutely amazed at how well it works. It does not over power the tractor. The quick attach does limit the tilt back power but I see it as a safety factor. Knocked over some big trees,,,8 to 10 inch in diameter. Then just ripped out the roots a little at a time. Picked up trees 30 feet in length. Biggest problem is fitting between the trees along the road. Had to cut them shorter. I cannot see buying a bigger grapple and I am glad I did not. The 66 inch was the next size up the supplier had, looked alot heavier and would have needed to be on a bobcat or very large tractor. My brush pile is growing fast,,,gonna be a big burn this winter. Best thing I bought,,,why wrassle when you can grapple.

 

[IslandTractor]

Do You remember what forum The anbo that had been twisted was in? My dealer priced the Wr long 72 grapple in the high twos. It would seem the way the clam shell is designed that it would be easier to push up against the brush or logs and then clamp down on it and tilt up. Is the open bucket design harder to slide under an object?

Sorry, I don't recall specifically but I'm sure a little search work would locate the post.

The clam shells are nice for picking up smaller debris. However, the more "traditional" root grapple like the one in my avatar do very well with brush and logs and rocks. Indeed, I think the clamshell has some disadvantages when going after rocks and larger objects because the only thing holding the object in place is the clamp pressure while with the traditional grapples you really cradle the object(s) in the bottom and just use the upper clamp to hold them from falling out when you are moving. Kinda like the difference between picking up an object with two fingers vs placing it in your palm to lift and carry. The clamshells also have a bit harder time leveraging things out of the ground as they have shorter more vertical bottom tines so you cannot get as good leverage. Finally, they have a shorter reach with the bottom tines so you will find it harder to get under the roots of a bush or tree to pop it out of the ground intact.

Intact brush as in bushes and small trees are easy for both types of grapples. The clamshell has an advantage in "pick up sticks" but I don't find that is such a common task. If the "sticks" are a couple of feet or more long then there is no particular advantage for the clamshell. A clamshell can be more efficient than a single upper jaw grapple in scooping up large numbers of sticks spread around an area rather than piled too.

Whichever type you get, don't get one as wide as your primary bucket. That is a common misconception. Narrower grapples weigh less so leave you with more payload capacity. I can lift a lot more with my 280lb Millonzi 48 inch light duty grapple than I could if I had a 800lb Anbo. The narrower the grapple the more force you can apply to an area of root, rock etc while breaking out and the narrow grapples are always lighter than their wider cousins. A wide clamshell is more vulnerable to the sort of torquing of the upper arm with an asymmetric load that I described in the earlier post. It goes without saying that a narrower grapple is cheaper too.

Dealers and even manufacturers (maybe excepting WRLong) don't always have much experience using grapples on CUTs so they tend to give pretty generic advice. If you have a big skidsteer then a big wide grapple is probably appropriate especially if you are trying to clean up construction sites. The manufacturers generally rate the grapples for skidsteers in commercial use rather than for CUTs and IMO they underrate their smaller grapples. Even WRLong does that. For most CUT users however a smaller lighter grapple is best. If your tractor has a 200lb standard bucket that doesn't break why do you need an 800lb high tensile steel grapple?