There is another difference between the clam shell and "standard" light duty grapples such as the LD48 from Millonzi. No vendor sells a clam shell for less than about $1500 while the LD48 costs less than $900. I am not sure of the WRLong price on their new OMG 48 inch grapple but I am pretty sure it is closer to the Millonzi than it's clamshell brother.
I appreciate that some people think the clam shell may be better for certain tasks but I don't know how much experience ANYBODY has in comparing the two types. Most of us buy one, learn how to use it and that is all we really can comment on with authority. I understand the theory behind the clamshell and there is no doubt that for picking up small sticks or for holding a single small diameter log it would be better but I don't understand why anyone would think it is superior for root grappling. For starters the bottom tines have horizontal rather than vertical orientation which would tend to dig rather than rip as you drive the tractor into brush/roots. I find the LD48 vertical style tines do an excellent job of getting under roots. I can rip a whole bush out roots and all with no trouble at all (see photos).
I have never seen anyone on TBN with either style of grapple complain and then switch to the other style. I take that to mean that both are essentially equally effective overall even if they may have particular strengths and weaknesses.
Size of the grapple is a recurring discussion and if you have read any of my posts you know that I am a strong advocate of smaller grapples for tractors. The unspoken rule of thumb used by people who sell grapples seem to be that they recommend grapples close to the size of the tractor's primary bucket. That, IMHO, is flat wrong and leads people to use heavier and more expensive grapples than optimal for a tractor FEL. I don't know whether the people who sell these things ever use them and they typically are selling primarily to skid steer operators who have a different need than tractor owners.
There are two things that seem to push people to buy larger than they need. 1) they believe a bigger grapple will hold more, and 2) they think they will damage a light weight or smaller grapple. Both of these are simply wrong based on my experience. For starters, you can cram much more into any grapple than you can effectively use because almost any grapple can be stuffed with enough brush to completely obstruct your forward vision. Being able to stuff in more is senseless as you cannot travel far with it anyway unless you have someone walking along side telling you where to turn (see photos). Second, a larger grapple always weighs more and therefore decreases, not increases, your net lift capacity. Third, to my knowledge, no one has managed to break or do anything more than cosmetic damage to a Millonzi LD48 and some of us have been beating the snot out of our grapples for the past two or three years. I use my LD48 on a 41hp tractor with a loader that has a lift capacity of over 2700lbs and a breakout force of over 4000lbs. I can lift the rear of the tractor off the ground while trying to dig out stumps yet I have not damaged the grapple. You damage grapples or FELs with asymmetric or off center loads (more likely with a clamshell than standard or with a wide grapple than a narrow one). No way you could damage a LD48 with a
L3300.
There are several companies now that make the LD48 style grapple including WR Long, Millonzi and a few others. There is more experience with the Millonzi on TBN recently but I would have no hesitation to buy a WRLong based on their fine track record.
