Thumb Please Help.....Grapple or Thumb?

[jinman]

If you are talking about mounting either the full-width grapple or thumb to your existing bucket, then the thumb is plenty. I have one on my rock bucket and it is great for just holding and stabilizing brush or other debris I'm carrying. A thumb and bucket forks will give you a lot of brush carrying capacity. What I like about the thumb is that it only weighs about 75 lb and can be removed from the bucket easily if it gets in the way. A grapple attached to the bucket would be much heavier.

If you are talking about deciding on a thumb or a stand-alone grapple/root rake, then by all means get the full grapple. But, if you are just modifying your existing bucket, I think a thumb will be plenty.

Here's my rock bucket and thumb with a mouthfull.
Mouth Full

 

[Arky217]

I find myself in the same dilemma. If my loader had a SSQA bucket, then I would go for the Markam grapple for sure.

But it appears that I would need to spend at least $800-$1000 to convert the loader and bucket to QA when you add up the adapter, bucket plates, shipping and welding.

So I'm considering the "Thumb" for about $430 with shipping and possibly a toothbar ( which looks like it would greatly aid in helping the grapple to 'grapple' ) for about another $400 with shipping ).

Another possibility might be a grapple made to fit your pin on loader, but the only one I've found so far where the manufacturer will make it like that is the "Ranch Rake" by M & M, however, it's over 2 grand !

Anyone have any other suggestions, especially for someone on a budget ?

Thanks,
Arky

 

[IslandTractor]

Adding a welded or bolted on grapple to a standard bucket and controlling it with rear remotes is by far the least expensive way to go if you don't already have a skidsteer universal adapter on your FEL.

There is no easy way to quantifiably compare that set up to a true grapple but I'd guess that if having a bucket allows one unit of brush clearing etc and a true grapple allows ten units then a bucket grapple would come in around five. Not as effective as a grapple but way more effective than a bucket with hooks and chains. There are many advantages over not having any form of grapple and only a few real disadvantages compared to the grapple. A bucket grapple is not so good for carrying logs (sides get in the way) and you'd need to add a toothbar $$ to get much root digging done but otherwise you'd do pretty much the same work. Some advantages of bucket grapple too especially for carrying firewood and smallish rocks or sticks.

 

[CurlyDave]

For me, the much better visibility with a real, full grapple makes a huge difference.

With either a thumb or a grapple attachment mounted on a bucket, I would never be able to see exactly what was being pinched. With a great big brush pile, it only matters at the end, but gathering up small piles from a lot of places would be very frustrating.

 

[IslandTractor]

For me, the much better visibility with a real, full grapple makes a huge difference.

With either a thumb or a grapple attachment mounted on a bucket, I would never be able to see exactly what was being pinched. With a great big brush pile, it only matters at the end, but gathering up small piles from a lot of places would be very frustrating.

I agree and should have mentioned this in my note above. It is very helpful to be able to look through a grapple at what you are working to grasp or uproot. Still, it is fair to point out that if the alternatives (absent a "real" grapple) are to use either a plain bucket, bucket with chainhooks, or a bucket with a top grapple for collecting and moving brush etc then the grapple bucket takes the prize with no question. A grapple bucket especially with a toothbar would still be a very useful tool even with the visibility issue. It would simply be necessary to adapt one's technique to look under the bucket and to therefore come "down" on the object of interest rather than to drive right up to it. Any grapple is better than no grapple.

 

[Cat_Driver]

They're two different animals. With the thumb you pick up stones and sand with the lift and if costs you money to dispose of the things you pick up you will be paying to have dirt thrown away. With a grapple you pick up only the debris and leave behind all rocks and sand etc.

I went 100% grapple and it works for my needs because it costs me per ton to dump refuse and a lot of sand a gravel adds up quickly - so much that I ended up saving enough to pay for the grapple.

 

[Phineas7]

I've been considering one of these for at least a year: Add On Grapple
My problem is I keep talking myself out of it and the price keeps going up. Considering we're probably headed for some inflation in the next year and metal prices are going back up, I need to talk myself into it!

I already have a Toothbar and there's no way I can justify the cost or storage involved with a full grapple. It looks small enough that it would be easy to put on or remove by hand, but would easily double or tripple the load of logs or brush I can carry. Not to mention the manual labor involved with getting it balanced on the bucket. I already have an extra valve spool available from when I added a hydraulic "top" cylinder a while back.

 

[IslandTractor]

I was all set to buy an Add A Grapple about four years ago when I happened upon an eBay auction for my Millonzi LD48 which I won for $600. The rest is history but I really thought the Add A Grapple was the best way to mount a grapple on a standard bucket without needing to weld.

 

[Gordon Gould]

Just to confuse you more - I have moved an awful lot of lots and loaded my
one ton truck with saw logs to many times to count and I do it with ease
using a 5 foot bucket and ATI grapple. I do have some nubs welded
onto the grapple fingers for a better grip on the logs.
I'm not saying its better than a grapple bucket but it cant be much worse
especially if you dont have a detachable bucket like I dont.

 

[IslandTractor]

I think the ATI makes a grapple is very similar in concept to the Add A Grapple. Both are bolt on units that can be temporarily detached from the bucket if you like. As I recall (4 year old data) the ATI version was a chunk of change more expensive than the Add A Grapple.