Talk to me about skid loader grapples

[artbaldoni]

Have a 7753 Bobcat. Looking to pick up a grapple. Tell me your experience. Root rake rounded style? Longer tine type? Solid bottom? Single or dual clamp?
I'll take all the info I can get! :msp_confused:

Thanks!!

 

[Hedgerow]

You need to PM Grandpatractor about this... I think you'll find he knowledgeable...

 

[owbguy]

I have wondered what is best for logging and moving firewood. Here are some options:
WILDKAT ATTACHMENTS - Grapples
I like the Extreme Rock Grapple and Extreme Root Rake Grapple. The first looks good for moving firewood and the other looks better for moving logs. I'd like to see a better combo of the two.

 

[Beefie]

You need to PM Grandpatractor about this... I think you'll find he knowledgeable...

:agree2: I think it is made by a company called Rineo , very durable Grapple.


Beefie

 

[tawilson]

I'll be getting one for my Bobcat this spring also. I think the root rake style will be my choice but dunno for sure. Brush cleanup is the main thing, but picking up logs and moving them around is on the agenda too.

 

[BSD]

what is your main objective for the grapple? they make many different versions because they accel at different things.

I have a true root rake style grapple. it is awesome at grabbing brush, and cleaning up a clearing. It is AWFUL at grabbing logs. here is a picture i took with a 30" butt. it took several attempts to get it picked up.

if you want to do logs, you want one with flat bottom tines to scoop the logs.

 

[andydodgegeek]

Grandpa tractor has a really nice quality unit, I read on another post it is a midsota. Here is the address to the manufacturer. He has the industrial one on the bottom of the page. I just talked with a guy there and he said they are around $2600. I am looking to get one myself http://www.midsotamfg.com/pages/Grapples/

 

[ptjeep]

Do you have a welder and a grinder/chop saw? You can build one for a fraction of what a new or used one cost. I have about $350 in mine but i had some pieces laying around. I just finished building it a few days ago but havent got to try it out because of the rain. I went with the open tines on bottom to allow dirt and rocks to fall threw. I've heard that the closed bottom style works better for demolition clean up so it kinda depends on what you need it for. Mine will be used for moving logs and cleaning up tree tops so i didnt want to be picking up any dirt also. Something to think about is the size of the grapple you buy/build. A friend of mine bought a grapple thats roughly 55-65" wide and is very heavy. Its fine for his cat with tracks because the tip point is where the front roller is on the tracks. My bobcat 751 tips on the front axle which is further back than compared to the track machines. My initial plan was to just borrow his grapple until he talked about how heavy it is and i got to thinking about how that would take away from the amount of weight i could pick up before the machine starts to tip. Thats why i decided to build my own which is 48" wide and now i dont have to worry about borrowing one. Thats just a few things to think about, cause i just spent the last few weeks thinking about the same. Good luck in what ever you choose.

 

[owbguy]

flat bottom you say. how about this one? I thought this would be good for grabbing split firewood. would it work well for that? how about for picking up logs to buck? Thoughts?
80"OPEN BOTTOM GRAPPLE BUCKET SKIDSTEER ATTACHMENT | eBay

 

[gink595]

I have a 773 with a 72" root grapple, it is the bee's knees for tree work. You can move alot of **** in no time with it. Tops, logs, rocks!

I wish mine wasn't so big, all they had a 72" when I bought mine. I'd like to be a bit smaller because it is so heavy...around 1000#.

 

[bigbucks]

Grizzly Grapples

Check out Grizzly Grapples they are amazing. Very handy.

 

[BSD]

that's another good point, a grapple does NOT need to be as wide as your machine. my machine is 78" wide and my grapple is 66". it just adds unnecessary weight.

 

[SPDRMNKY]

I have this same style grapple, and love it. great for brush and forest debris...takes some style adjustments to pick up logs and rocks. also works great for heavy brush clearing since the top and btm almost touch when closed...just pinch and rip.

to pick up logs and rocks I do this...

open er' way up, and set er' down
move forward until you start to nudge the object
tilt forward...sometimes WAY forward (this causes my skidloader to tip back, can be leveled by raising boom...depends on situation)
close grapple...as you do this roll/tilt back to keep the top tines close to the ground, but not digging in

takes some practice, but becomes second nature...think of it like trying to pick up an M&M off the counter...you want to pinch it

cheers!

 

[ken45]

I have a root grapple like this:

I didn't understand all the differences when I bought it. It is far from optimum for my needs.

They may work very well for picking up a single big log like gink shows where you can tip it down over the top of the log and close the grapple on the single log. It's almost impossible to pick up multiple logs. Anything smaller than 20" diameter or so will not be clamped tight and may come off the end.

It does work reasonably well for picking up brush but again, you have to tilt it down and then the clamps stop you from pushing forward into a pile.

I think a much better design for pickup up multiple logs, or for pushing into brush piles would be something with the ends of the tines down low.

Ken

 

[Steve2910]

I built mine in a weekend for about $500. Most of the expense was the cyls & hoses. We've used it for brush, firewood, & scrap metal. Dual clamps that close independent of each other was the best decision I made during the build. I still need to refine the hose routing, as they are they get torn up on a regular basis.

 

[redprospector]

I've got a root rake type grapple and a demolition grapple. They both have pro's & con's.
Whatever you choose make sure that it has independant grapples on each side so that it will grip an uneven load. Also make sure that the grapple tines are made of heavy enough material. In my opinion anything less than 3/4" material is too light. There's not much worse than squeezing down on a log with a burl or something on it, and later finding out that it bent your grapple tines.

Andy

 

[ken45]

I still need to refine the hose routing, as they are they get torn up on a regular basis.

<sigh> I have that problem too with my commercial grapple

I think the hoses are too long for one thing.

Ken

 

[sam-tip]

with root grapple narrower is better. I had 74" and 60". i sold the 74 and narrowed the the 60. It is hard to pick up one branch with the larger. I love log skidder style grapple.

Sent from my SCH-I800 using Tapatalk

 

[grandpatractor]

Here is a vid of the one we have . the link that andydodgegeek put up is the one that makes ours. It is the one at the bottom of that page.
At the end of the vid you can see how he loads ever higher than what the bucked will dump. I like the flat bottom for what we use it for. It is easier to skim the ground with a flat bottom than it is with the curved tines digging in. The open bottom also works well for letting the snow and debris fall through and not ending up in the truck.

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/d4ZLWIkDalw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[ken45]

I agree that looks like the ideal style grapple for working with logs. Of course a good operator helps

Ken