Unless one has a good reason to go wider, my recommendation is the
60" Single Lid.
Some like wide and some like narrow, but the 60" is right in between.
Some like dual lids.
Size and lid configuration are really personal preference IMO. The weight is right on all of them!
Travis
Just for argument's sake, why the 60 instead of the 54 or (if available) the 48?? Agree with single lid (obviously!!).
A narrower
grapple will dig better. It will weigh less. It will be easier to maneuver around objects like trees. Easier to store.
A wider
grapple will scoop up more solid objects like short firewood pieces but doesn't necessarily scoop up more brush or branches or logs. Brush is sticky. A 48"
grapple with a mouthful of brush will be at least 72-84" wide with the load. Hard enough to see around that when driving to the burn or dump pile. A 48"
grapple will hold and lift MORE branches and logs than a 72" simply because it weighs less and can carry a larger net load. One other point is that grapples generally are not great at being used as rakes to clean up an area of loose debris. Problem is that they tend to either not be low enough to the ground and pass over debris or they are so low that they dig in an rip up turf/sod.
When someone asks for advice it doesn't make too much sense to give a broad range of options without explaining the pros and cons. Most folks have almost no experience with grapples to rely on when making a choice. Give the guy a rationale and set of principles on which to make a choice. An important point to communicate to CUT owners who are almost always buying their first and only
grapple is that
grapple width has almost no relation to standard bucket width. Ignore completely that most standard buckets are 60" or 72" because it is irrelevant to the vast majority of
grapple work. Think instead about how huge (YUGE!) excavators have
grapple claws that are only about three feet wide. That's because they are more efficient than wider heavier
grapple claws. Grapples are grasping devices not rakes.
I think the easiest and most accurate way to understand a
grapple is to liken it to a human hand. Our hands are not two feet wide. We don't have multiple thumbs. We need to scoop or grasp and secure a load with both our hand and a
grapple. Both are very efficient in relatively narrow dimensions and with a single "lid".
48 inch
grapple photos below. I don't think you'd get any more brush or tree limbs etc into a 60 or 72. You certainly wouldn't be able to dig stumps or roots or rocks as well with a wide
grapple as with a narrow
grapple. You would also have more money left in your pocket with a narrow
grapple too.
