Seeking Grapple Wisdom

ritcheyvs · Aug 28, 2016

I have a 2006 DK45s with the KL451 loader. This is a self-leveling loader with the Skid Steer Quick Attach interface and it's rated at 2800 lb lift at the pivot pin. I have been lusting after a grapple, mainly to move/remove small trees and brush and to move sections of larger dead trees (after sawing to a manageable length).

I've seen a number of promising grapples online, mainly from Everything Attachments and Titan. I was overwhelmed with the material in the Attachments forum and was hoping to gain more concise knowledge here.

What are the considerations about width? I've seen grapples from 4 ft to 6 ft (and larger). Is there an advantage to a wide grapple? It seems to me (with zero experience) that a 4-5 ft grapple would be plenty. Does that seem right?

What about construction and strength and weight? The heavy (like 700-800 lb) Titan grapples (extreme and regular) look very beefy with 1/2 inch teeth and sides but that's a LOT of dead weight. On the other hand, the lightweight (3/8 inch steel) 48 inch Titan unit weighs only 450 lb and the 60 inch EA Wicked Root Grapple (also 3/8 inch) is under 400 lb. EA claims to use better steel and it looks like they remove excess metal to make it lighter. Are these lighter units up to the job or should I look for the beefiest unit?

Single or dual lid? Does the second lid add utility?

What about bottom tooth shape? The EA Wicked Root Grapple and main Titan design have narrow teeth (cut from plate) that tip up at the front. The Titan Extreme design appears to have very pointy (replaceable) teeth that are nearly horizontal. Does it matter? What are the advantages of each?

I realize that each owner will have limited experience with one (or maybe two) designs, but that's a lot more experience than I have. So I welcome your input on good or bad points of these or any other grapples you may have used.

Woody65 · Aug 28, 2016

You will love a grapple when you get one. It is the most used FEL attachment that I use. I have a JD 4300 and have been using an EA wicked grapple 48" for a couple of years now. It has handled everything that I have thrown at it including clearing 4 acres of timber along with countless brush. The 48" doesn't restrict the amount of load I can pick up. I routinely carry 25-30' loads as long as they are relatively balanced. You have a high lift capacity with your tractor so a larger or beefier one wouldn't hurt you too much. But a 48" grapple would probably do you just fine. Good luck and have fun....

k0ua · Aug 28, 2016

This thread ought to get interesting. :laughing:

I have limited experience having only owned one grapple the 50 inch EA wicked single lid.

I can tell you this much, I have never wished for a wider grapple. NEVER. I have wished at times it was narrower, but the SSQA is i think about 45 inches, so it can't be any narrower to speak of. I realize some people use them to plow roots up and want a path plowed as wide as the tractor. I haven't needed this function

I have never wanted two lids. But I haven't owned a two lid grapple either. The two lid proponents will point out they can more likely clamp on irregular loads. OK. I haven't had any trouble clamping onto irregular loads with my single lid. Take it for what it is worth.

I am a proponent of the grapples using the high strength steel with lighter weight. Every pound put into grapple weight is a pound you cannot lift of load. I cannot speak to the tooth design as I haven't owned different styles.

4570Man · Aug 28, 2016

I have a 60" grapple and it is way too wide. A 48" would be much better. I have a two lid grapple, but if I had a 48" wide one 1 lid would work. If I had a 1 lid grapple I'd want greatly increased clamping force. I'd prefer a tooth design that closes flat so I could clamp on small trees and pull them out of the ground. My current V tooth is nearly useless for trying to pull brush out of the ground.

k0ua · Aug 28, 2016

4570Man said:
I have a 60" grapple and it is way too wide. A 48" would be much better. I have a two lid grapple, but if I had a 48" wide one 1 lid would work. If I had a 1 lid grapple I'd want greatly increased clamping force. I'd prefer a tooth design that closes flat so I could clamp on small trees and pull them out of the ground. My current V tooth is nearly useless for trying to pull brush out of the ground. View attachment 478962 View attachment 478963 View attachment 478964

View attachment 478965

I can pick up a twig the size of a pencil or less with my EA single lid.

4570Man · Aug 28, 2016

k0ua said:
I can pick up a twig the size of a pencil or less with my EA single lid.

I can too if it's laying horizontal and on dirt. My grapple has an overbite which makes it impossible to pick up small stuff on concrete. I want to pick up a twig the size of a pencil standing vertical.

TomSeller · Aug 28, 2016

k0ua said:
I can pick up a twig the size of a pencil or less with my EA single lid.

Can you grab me a toothpick?

k0ua · Aug 29, 2016

4570Man said:
I can too if it's laying horizontal and on dirt. My grapple has an overbite which makes it impossible to pick up small stuff on concrete. I want to pick up a twig the size of a pencil standing vertical.

While I haven't picked up a vertical pencil, I am pretty certain I could. Because the teeth come together on the tips and have flats on them. There is no overbite, they match perfectly. The only problem would be feathering correctly to prevent smashing a cedar pencil, but I think I could do it. It would make a heck of a video don't you think?

k0ua · Aug 29, 2016

TomSeller said:
Can you grab me a toothpick?

I can see I need to make a video..

4570Man · Aug 29, 2016

k0ua said:
While I haven't picked up a vertical pencil, I am pretty certain I could. Because the teeth come together on the tips and have flats on them. There is no overbite, they match perfectly. The only problem would be feathering correctly to prevent smashing a cedar pencil, but I think I could do it. It would make a heck of a video don't you think?

I'm not very interested in picking up pencils with my grapple although it would make a good video. I would rather see you try to pull saplings out of the ground. I could pick up a pencil with my backhoe thumb. It bites better and has a lot smoother hydraulic controls. The all or nothing solenoid controlled grapple controls aren't very good for precise moments.

ritcheyvs · Aug 29, 2016

OP here with some interim thoughts.
I did find this TBN thread with lots of info. Especially from Island Tractor,
Looks unanimous that 48 inches is plenty.
I may need to look at Wildcat too.

LD1 · Aug 29, 2016

I got a 66" tomahawk. I am happy with it, appears well built. And happy I saved quite a bit of money.

oosik · Aug 29, 2016

I choose a Land Pride SGC 1560 - single lid grapple. Its definitely a heavy duty grapple and is 60" wide. Its narrower than either the front or rear tread width - so if the tractor will go there - so will the grapple. Without a doubt - its the most used implement I own. Specs list its weight @ 820 pounds.

I chose this HD grapple because I pick & move really big heavy rocks and chunks of large pine trees. I didn't want an implement that would be twisted, tweaked or bent when I used it. Had it 2 1/2 years and never a moments problem.

Budweiser John · Aug 29, 2016

I really like my "Quick Claw" by Quick Attach (1-866-428-8224).
It will handle good sized rocks, tree trunks. Loose brush, and doubles as a pretty fair root rake for removing saplings and snags when clearing land areas.
As others have stated, 4' is plenty wide enough for every day work.

B. John

N2DFire · Aug 30, 2016

We have the Everything Attachments 50" Compact Wicked Root Grapple on our tractor (rated for up to 35 HP) - and love it! It never comes off unless we specifically need the bucket or pallet forks.

For your 45HP you'd need to step up to the "Wicked Root Grapple for Compact Tractors" - There is a Single Lid and Dual Lid version - both available in 54" Width.

As for the argument that heavier is better. I'm on the side that says weight in the grapple is load lost. Better design (with stress analysis) and higher quality steel will give you an equally strong or stronger unit than one that's simply built beefier. Watch some of Teds videos. He deliberately does "bad stuff" in testing just to see what his products will take.

As for the picking up pencils & toothpicks...
Just last night I was mowing (rotary cutter) and ran up on a piece of roofing tin in my path. Quick tilt n pinch with the grapple and I was right back into mowing.

I have a picture on my phone that I will try to upload tonight, I was cleaning up a fallen tree and came upon a roughly 2-3" diameter limb that had been driven into the ground when the tree fell. I cut the main trunk of the tree off of it & then pinched it between a bottom tooth and the "fang" of the lid and yanked it right out.

Good luck with whatever you pick but I feel that EA is hard to beat for the money.

adventure bob · Aug 30, 2016

Size depends on what your going to primarily do with it. I have a 72" EA on a K6060. I primarily move 12' to 16' logs that are between 8" and 36" round. I move all the slash that comes off them as well. I can, after much practice, pick up slash piles and leave a rake clean surface. It definitely takes practice though. When I first got the grapple I was very frustrated with the ability to pick up slash and wondered if I had made a mistake with this grapple. Then I watched a professional logging crew do it with a 96" on a big bobcat. Its a technique thing, and man this guy was good at it. I watched for about an hour and then went home and practiced...a lot.
The wide grapple also makes root raking faster. For me, and what I do with it, I couldn't see a smaller grapple being as useful.
I can pick up a single <1" stick with mine, again practice and challenges from my 11 year old son. The teeth on the EA line up very nicely, but only at four points.
From a build quality perspective, I am totally satisfied, I abuse the crap out of this grapple and have never tweaked it. Our neighbor bought a "cheaper" grapple that he has had to fix twice. Two bent tines and a busted weld, and his isn't as big as mine. The only issue, and its really a nitpic, I have with mine is the angle of the grease zerts on the rams at the fixed end. Kind of a pain to get any grease gun on. Not EAs fault, its how the holes were drilled in the rams at the ram manufacturer.
I also ran this grapple on my older K4060, but it probably put to much stress on the arms if you picked something big up that was not centered. Didn't bend or tweak anything but you could definitely see it load the arms up unevenly. I would have to put it down and pick it up more towards the CG. The K6060 arms don't flex at all.
Hope that helps from someone who cuts and moves 15-20 big logs a weekend.

k0ua · Aug 30, 2016

adventure bob said:
Size depends on what your going to primarily do with it. I have a 72" EA on a K6060. I primarily move 12' to 16' logs that are between 8" and 36" round. I move all the slash that comes off them as well. I can, after much practice, pick up slash piles and leave a rake clean surface. It definitely takes practice though. When I first got the grapple I was very frustrated with the ability to pick up slash and wondered if I had mad a mistake with this grapple. Then I watched a professional logging crew do it with a 96" on a big bobcat. Its a technique thing, and man this guy was good at it. I watched for about an hour and then went home and practiced...a lot.
The wide grapple also makes root raking faster. For me, and what I do with it, I couldn't see a smaller grapple being as useful.
I can pick up a single <1" stick with mine, again practice and challenges from my 11 year old son. The teeth on the EA line up very nicely, but only at four points.
From a build quality perspective, I am totally satisfied, I abuse the crap out of this grapple and have never tweaked it. Our neighbor bought a "cheaper" grapple that he has had to fix twice. Two bent tines and a busted weld, and his isn't as big as mine. The only issue, and its really a nitpic, I have with mine is the angle of the grease zerts on the rams at the fixed end. Kind of a pain to get any grease gun on. Not EAs fault, its how the holes were drilled in the rams at the ram manufacturer.
I also ran this grapple on my older K4060, but it probably put to much stress on the arms if you picked something big up that was not centered. Didn't bend or tweak anything but you could definitely see it load the arms up unevenly. I would have to put it down and pick it up more towards the CG. The K6060 arms don't flex at all.
Hope that helps from someone who cuts and moves 15-20 big logs a weekend.

Bob, you are definitely on the cutting edge of the spear so to speak with a lot of heavy usage. I pickup more rocks than logs with my little EA 50 inch. Practice certainly is key to getting better at handling the grapple. It amazes me with what all we can pick up with one with a few hours of practice.