hayden
Veteran Member
I've joined the ranks of grapple owners. For such a simple device, there sure are a lot of different designs - probably more than any other implement, and probably why they get so much air time on TBN.
In my case, I went with a WR Long RBG-72 (that's 72" wide). It's the slightly heavier version of the grapple someone else recently got (RBG2). I haven't weighed it, but the specs say it's 665lbs. The manufacturer actually calls it a Root Rake Brush Grapple.
Here are the different designs that I've seen and what I liked/didn't like about them for my needs.
Buckets with a grapple - I think these are typically called Grapple Buckets. Great for grabbing stuff and holding it in a bucket, but bad for letting the soil and small debris fall out of a load while the big stuff remains held. I didn't want one of these.
Forks with a grapple - The Mellonzi is like this. There's a row of forks parallel to the ground where the bottom of the bucket would be, then a grapple clamp above. These seem good for scooping under something then clamping down on it. They don't seem so good at coming down from above and clamping an object, mostly because there isn't any curve to the lower forks. I've seen some designs where there is a seration on the lower forks which would help.
Rake/tines with a grapple - This is what I ended up getting. It's angled more to come down on top of a pile and clamp it rather than scoop under and clamp. I like this for picking logs. However, there is enough bucket roll in the loader to still scoop.
Cost for these things is all over the map with a low of about $1000 to over $4000. Wider grapple are more expensive, as are heavier/stronger ones. This one came in at $2200 which is pretty reasonable for a heavier grapple. I really lean towards getting heavy duty attachments - I've bent up too many lighter ones.
Enough with the talking. I've been scolded in my past few posts for no pictures, so here they are. The first few are hooking the grapple up off it's shipping pallet, then attaching and dressing the hydraulic hoses. Last are a few of the grapple open and closed, then is search of it's first victum which ended up being a small stump I dug out last fall.
In my case, I went with a WR Long RBG-72 (that's 72" wide). It's the slightly heavier version of the grapple someone else recently got (RBG2). I haven't weighed it, but the specs say it's 665lbs. The manufacturer actually calls it a Root Rake Brush Grapple.
Here are the different designs that I've seen and what I liked/didn't like about them for my needs.
Buckets with a grapple - I think these are typically called Grapple Buckets. Great for grabbing stuff and holding it in a bucket, but bad for letting the soil and small debris fall out of a load while the big stuff remains held. I didn't want one of these.
Forks with a grapple - The Mellonzi is like this. There's a row of forks parallel to the ground where the bottom of the bucket would be, then a grapple clamp above. These seem good for scooping under something then clamping down on it. They don't seem so good at coming down from above and clamping an object, mostly because there isn't any curve to the lower forks. I've seen some designs where there is a seration on the lower forks which would help.
Rake/tines with a grapple - This is what I ended up getting. It's angled more to come down on top of a pile and clamp it rather than scoop under and clamp. I like this for picking logs. However, there is enough bucket roll in the loader to still scoop.
Cost for these things is all over the map with a low of about $1000 to over $4000. Wider grapple are more expensive, as are heavier/stronger ones. This one came in at $2200 which is pretty reasonable for a heavier grapple. I really lean towards getting heavy duty attachments - I've bent up too many lighter ones.
Enough with the talking. I've been scolded in my past few posts for no pictures, so here they are. The first few are hooking the grapple up off it's shipping pallet, then attaching and dressing the hydraulic hoses. Last are a few of the grapple open and closed, then is search of it's first victum which ended up being a small stump I dug out last fall.
