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

[IslandTractor]

:laughing:
That's the maiden voyage of my father in law's 50" Wicked Grapple on his L3301. The ground was nice and soft and she'll dig if you desire.

This is how it functions when you feather the joystick properly.
Like butter!
Travis

View attachment 512518

View attachment 512519

Still confused. Why would anybody need to drive a submerged grapple through a patch of land???

 

[EverythingAttachments]

Still confused. Why would anybody need to drive a submerged grapple through a patch of land???

Not sure why anyone would want it as submerged as the first pics I shared, which was just for fun, but when you let the pipe act as a depth gauge as designed, it does a great job at ripping up roots, vines and other slightly embedded rubbish! It gathers in the bucket and you simply clamp it and transport it.
Travis

 

[4570Man]

It depends on what backhoe it is. Do you know what you'll be getting?
Travis

Probably a JD310.

 

[4570Man]

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

Still confused. Why would anybody need to drive a submerged grapple through a patch of land???

To rip up roots although I find a tooth bucket works a lot better. Not sure why though. I also much prefer smooth tips over serrated ones. I've yet to find something that the serrations help. They hang up on brush which usually isn't a big deal but sometimes it makes a quick dump onto a burning pile hard. It makes dumping a wad of fence wire pretty difficult.

 

[EverythingAttachments]

Probably a JD310.

It'll take a serious grapple. I MAY be able to have one of these made for it, but they charge around $500 extra for the 310 mount.
Construction Attachments XTreme Duty Root Rake Grapple for full size Tractors
Travis

 

[Bigfish50]

All, I did receive my 54" single lid grapple on Friday from Fedex which is 6 weeks to the day from when I ordered it from EA. Picked it up late in the day and was able to install the grapple same day in the dark no less without issue. Hook up was a breeze and hydro hoses were exactly what was needed so Thanks Travis! I cycled thru opening and closing the cylinder several times then checked my hydraulic fluid. Added about a quart to get it back between the lines and good to go! Have put about 4 hours on grapple today and it is performing flawlessly.

One question - I was thinking there was a spring attached to the hoses that kept the hydro lines up and away from the action? Is that an optional item? or aftermarket? If so anyone have a link? Thanks.

Two Pics:

 

[DieselBound]

With my wider (than my tractor) grapple I am able to test the space in which I will run my tractor through, test to see if I will fit (with a bit of wiggle room). I can also probe off to the sides where I don't know what's in the underlying brush: I have a lot of logging debris to contend with.

I have found that (because I can never seem to perfect the art of determining the perfect balancing point) in cases in which I have an off-center load that the wider grapple base works well to hold a load: most times I don't have the best angle to attack things- it's my world, I'm pretty used to working in it Travis, I think that you had recently posted some pictures of such loads that I'd placed in another thread. Does it put a twisting strain on the loader? Sure. But but with a more concentrated load in a smaller grapple you can have a load shift and present an equally, if not an ever greater, twisting force: this argument is overblown. A wider grapple also allows one to rip a wider section when ripping up roots: I have lots of area to clear, lots of blackberries and salmon berries- LOTS of roots! (with bush hog in the rear and the grapple in the front I'm able to make for pretty quick work of this)

It's a BIG world out there. Sometimes one has to have a BIG grapple! :thumbsup:

 

[DieselBound]

One question - I was thinking there was a spring attached to the hoses that kept the hydro lines up and away from the action? Is that an optional item? or aftermarket? If so anyone have a link?

I was also confused about this. EA's larger grapples (dual lids) have those mechanisms - "hose savers." Something to do with protecting the hoses AT the grapple end. The smaller grapples and the single lid ones don't have these. EA, however, sells a hose saver (just look it up on their site). I put one on my NX (had to have a welding shop do it- I don't have a welder; I didn't think that it would be safe to use one of the studs for the torque tube cover): it works fine, but I'm not quite satisfied with how I have everything situated- may look for shorter hoses off the grapple and, perhaps, switching to 3/8" couplers (1/2" couplers are bulky, and by the time you get adapters set up you have quite a big chunk of fittings, and weight, hanging there off the hose saver). I'm thinking about making a bulkhead-like plate to sit on the top of my hose saver: thinking about a lot of things!

 

[Cataclysm]

But why use a CUT FEL, with long spindly arms that are engineered to lift, as a pushing tool??? EA loves to toot their horn about the narrow tines and essentially encourages folks to abuse their loaders. Ask JD or Kubota if they engineer loaders for use as bulldozers. Ask why real bulldozers have short, fat arms rather than long and thin.

We all do some digging with our grapples but really should not be sinking tines five or six inches underground and driving forward as though you were pulling a ripper or plow. Safer to dig with a grapple while barely moving or stopped. No real difference between wider arrow tines or narrow EA tines for that sort of work.

Best tool I have used for the common task of clearing subsurface brush roots or clearing an area for seeding is the Ratchet Rake which is best used on the standard bucket by pulling in reverse. Leaves a much better seed bed than any grapple and doesn't risk hitting some immovable buried object while driving forward.

Use the right tool for the job.

I like that style and almost went with it. I have an idea and the other grapple will work better with it. Plus I don't really want to plow up roots with my FEL. I'm thinking the rippers on the BB will do that better and without stressing the FEL. The grapple can comb the debris out of the spoils.

On another note his hoses are hanging too low to for around here. Those would likely get pulled off.

Maybe you missed this post I made? I'm not going to plow with my FEL. Since I'm not going to plow with my FEL there is no need to limit myself with a skinny single lid grapple. For my uses I'd rather have the full size twin lid setup.

How another person uses their tractor and what implements they choose is up to them.

 

[Cataclysm]

With my wider (than my tractor) grapple I am able to test the space in which I will run my tractor through, test to see if I will fit (with a bit of wiggle room). I can also probe off to the sides where I don't know what's in the underlying brush: I have a lot of logging debris to contend with.

I have found that (because I can never seem to perfect the art of determining the perfect balancing point) in cases in which I have an off-center load that the wider grapple base works well to hold a load: most times I don't have the best angle to attack things- it's my world, I'm pretty used to working in it Travis, I think that you had recently posted some pictures of such loads that I'd placed in another thread. Does it put a twisting strain on the loader? Sure. But but with a more concentrated load in a smaller grapple you can have a load shift and present an equally, if not an ever greater, twisting force: this argument is overblown. A wider grapple also allows one to rip a wider section when ripping up roots: I have lots of area to clear, lots of blackberries and salmon berries- LOTS of roots! (with bush hog in the rear and the grapple in the front I'm able to make for pretty quick work of this)

It's a BIG world out there. Sometimes one has to have a BIG grapple! :thumbsup:

Yep, I'm in that camp too.

Obviously there are two different paradigms on WRG's. Neither is wrong, everyone has different uses and its great that EA makes more that one size and more that one model.