The WICKED Root & Debris GRAPPLE!!!!!!!

[sidecarist]

Grapple City!!!!

I'm sure mine was there on Wednesday, but I just heard it was delivered to my friends business. I'll pick it up late this afternoon, then put it to work tomorrow on a couple of blow down oak trees.

 

[k0ua]

Travis, did you see the attachment I am building for my Wicked 50 inch?
I will let you know if it works.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/customization/369492-my-wicked-grapple-bush-grabber.html

 

[sidecarist]

Grapple City!!!!

I'm sure mine was there on Wednesday, but I just heard it was delivered to my friends business. I'll pick it up late this afternoon, then put it to work tomorrow on a couple of blow down oak trees.

 

[ishiboo]

By the way, I am not suggesting any malice or self-interest on EAs part at all... I doubt the minimal cost in steep between the two would ever pay for less-than-satisfied customers. Just saying maybe there should be more confidence in the units to maximize usability on the new high-HP, low-weight CUTs.

 

[EverythingAttachments]

Travis, did you see the attachment I am building for my Wicked 50 inch?
I will let you know if it works.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/customization/369492-my-wicked-grapple-bush-grabber.html

I have been following and I like it, James! Very creative.
I'm anxious to see how it performs! :thumbsup:
Travis

 

[EverythingAttachments]

I went over to the factory this morning and snapped some more pics.

A tacked 60" Dual Lid Wicked Grapple

 

[k0ua]

I have been following and I like it, James! Very creative.
I'm anxious to see how it performs! :thumbsup:
Travis

I started to weld on it some more this afternoon and it started raining...

Well, we need the rain..I will have to remember this method of rainmaking in the future.

 

[EverythingAttachments]

I started to weld on it some more this afternoon and it started raining...

Well, we need the rain..I will have to remember this method of rainmaking in the future.

Ah, if that's the rainmaker, I need to start making one!
It's been 2 weeks since I cut my grass and I doubt I will this weekend either.
Sad thing is....It was picture perfect the last time I cut it.
Travis

 

[bubbacuse77]

Travis, if your snapping pics, mind if I get a couple of mine?

Also, I know no one is bashing EA but I think these guys need to be recognized for a few things that set them apart.

1. The only implement dealer to be active on TBN offering product advice and having product videos explaining why they are built the way they are. If I wanted to see why or how a frontier product from JD was made, forget it. How many other manufactures make such a quality product and offer to customize it and interact with the customer this much?

2. The only ones trying to improve their product constantly. The wicked Grapple is a great example of this. I think it is BS to say they are trying to upsell folks into bigger grapples. They are the ones that invented the smaller lighter grapples because Ted understood the need for our small tractors to have small and light yet strong grapples. Try getting any other manufacture or salesman at a local implement to give you a more honest answer about what is best suited for your tractor. Where EA is at a disadvantage is that unless you live in NC you can't put your hands on one until you buy it. I think being able to see and perhaps demo one would solve these issues. Tractor manufactures are all over the board on how they rate loaders and every tractor has diffrent physics relative to there stability. Best I can expect them to do is make their best recommendation and the purchaser should be able to know their tractor capacity from lifting other things. EA provides the weight of each implement and it isn't too hard to figure out how far the moment arm is. From there you could easily have an idea of what size suits you. The 54" grapple I just bought weighs in at 349 pounds. My forks are 480, so I think they did some amazing work to get these grapples as light as they did.

3. Made in the USA

 

[IslandTractor]

Travis, if your snapping pics, mind if I get a couple of mine? Also, I know no one is bashing EA but I think these guys need to be recognized for a few things that set them apart. 1. The only implement dealer to be active on TBN offering product advice and having product videos explaining why they are built the way they are. If I wanted to see why or how a frontier product from JD was made, forget it. How many other manufactures make such a quality product and offer to customize it and interact with the customer this much? 2. The only ones trying to improve their product constantly. The wicked Grapple is a great example of this. I think it is BS to say they are trying to upsell folks into bigger grapples. They are the ones that invented the smaller lighter grapples because Ted understood the need for our small tractors to have small and light yet strong grapples. Try getting any other manufacture or salesman at a local implement to give you a more honest answer about what is best suited for your tractor. Where EA is at a disadvantage is that unless you live in NC you can't put your hands on one until you buy it. I think being able to see and perhaps demo one would solve these issues. Tractor manufactures are all over the board on how they rate loaders and every tractor has diffrent physics relative to there stability. Best I can expect them to do is make their best recommendation and the purchaser should be able to know their tractor capacity from lifting other things. EA provides the weight of each implement and it isn't too hard to figure out how far the moment arm is. From there you could easily have an idea of what size suits you. The 54" grapple I just bought weighs in at 349 pounds. My forks are 480, so I think they did some amazing work to get these grapples as light as they did. 3. Made in the USA

EA is certainly a very fine outfit and does a great job of interacting with potential customers here on TBN. They run a great business. They do need a bit of prodding sometimes however. I think Travis will acknowledge that it took a year or two of pestering by yours truly before they decided to make a compact light duty grapple which is now one of their best sellers. They did a brilliant job on that near perfect CUT specific grapple (it still needs a wider opening!). So I'm not ragging on EA. They are more than fair and work hard to satisfy their customers. My point here is simply that they virtually never "undersize" their recommendations. Having a 35hp limit on the compact 50" is what I'm bitching about. That grapple, with a larger 40" opening would satisfy the needs of at least half the folks here on TBN. Probably more. I seriously doubt the 35hp limit is a result of destructive testing.

So, while EA can do whatever it wants, if they participate in TBN discussion threads rather than just passively advertising here then it's fair game to give constructive criticism.

 

[KentT]

Don't want to steal Ted's or Travis's thunder, but did want to point out just how responsive they are, contrary to some of the opinions above.

I talked to Travis in late August about ordering a new grapple, but having them weld on the proprietary Power Trac quick attach plate rather than the standard skidsteer type. They were willing to do so, at a fee, and so I picked up a blank QA plate and sent it to them right after Labor Day.

Here's three pics of my "custom" 50" Compact Grapple being built, provided by Travis. It is now awaiting the hydraulic cylinder and hoses. I think it will likely ship this coming week.

As he and I were sharing pics in the Power Trac forum below, some owners of the smaller T-8 class Power Tracs voiced concerns that the 50" Compact Grapple was still a bit heavy for the T-8 class machines that have only 800 lb of lift on their loaders. The factory offers only the option of a 45" grapple bucket or a lightweight 29" grapple for those machines. (They offer a larger 54" grapple bucket, but still a narrow (29") but slightly heavier duty utility grapple for my larger 30hp class machines.)

I suggested to Travis that there might be a market for a narrower and lighter grapple (based on their 50" Compact Grapple design) with the mini-skidsteer QA plate like used by the Toro Dingo. It could then be adapted to the Power Trac QA plate, to address these size/weight concerns. He shared early pics of just such a product just yesterday... at about 33" wide with a 30" lid and 30" opening.

The first three pics below show my custom 50" being built, while the last two are of their new mini-skidsteer design.

Looks like they're pretty danged responsive to me...

 

[sidecarist]

Now I need to put this one to work for real!

 

[k0ua]

Travis take a look at my finished (minus removing sharp edges and painting) grapple attachment. It really works!

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...icked-grapple-bush-grabber-2.html#post4558892

 

[EverythingAttachments]

Now I need to put this one to work for real!

It looks right at home on your tractor. Yea, let it eat!!
Travis

 

[DieselBound]

Freshly brewed! EA is now shipping my grapple and forks

 

[EverythingAttachments]

Freshly brewed! EA is now shipping my grapple and forks

Oh yeah, it won't be long now!! :thumbsup:
Travis

For those that don't like clicking:

 

[xtn]

Trimming up trees along the driveway...moving the results across the property to the burn pile...the easy way!

 

[EverythingAttachments]

Trimming up trees along the driveway...moving the results across the property to the burn pile...the easy way!

View attachment 481822

Nice! Hours by hand translates into minutes with a grapple!!
Travis

 

[DieselBound]

Nice! Hours by hand translates into minutes with a grapple!!
Travis

And this past weekend I had to load down the back of my Polaris Brutus with a bunch of brush, by hand of course I figured it easier than trying to strap it to my B7800's bucket.

My wife is wondering how I'm going to recoup all these costs. I told her to not discount the value of less trips to the doctors (due to strains from jumping on and off the tractor and man-handling stuff into the loader bucket)!

 

[lostcreekranch]

Yep, your grapple is your best hired hand!



Pushed out a bunch of cedars that were 6" plus at base.