I own and have used hard for over 200 hours, what looks 100% identical to the economy rake grapple shown in this video. The label says it is a Pro Works brand. I am super happy with it. By far, adding this rake style hydraulic grapple to our John Deere 1025R, has been the #1 best accessory that we've added (the offset flail mower is probably #2). For smaller tractors like ours, the ability to lift significantly heavier logs and rocks makes the rake style grapple a better choice in my opinion. We live on a 43 acre treed lot that was devastated by an insane storm 1.5 years ago. I've been cleaning up the 1000's of destroyed trees ever since and it feels like there is no end to the tree destruction. After over 200 hours of hard use (I've added over 300 hours to the tractor cleaning the trees up), the grapple still works great. The only significant wear is at the hinges for the grapple. These economy grapples just use holes with bolts running through them for the hinges. I have always injected grease into them using a grease needle, but they have still become quite sloppy. As a result the grapple doesn't close as tight as it used to and the slop allows the grapple to open&close by about 7", without the cylinder moving. This doesn't impact functionality hardly at all, but it is something to consider when comparing economy grapples to more expensive ones that have proper hinges and grease fittings. If you have trees and brush you need to clean up and you don't own a grapple, buy one today. You will not regret the purchase.
I have the ironcraft 48" root rake grapple on a kym 2515h. I actually bought the root grapple first, tried it on two piles and hated it because the opening is so big it didn't grab anything, returned for the root rake grapple. I use for property clean up, tearing out fences, literally raking the ground to uproot shrub, picking up logs, branches, and even just straight trash. Works great! My complaints are 1) I wish it had some serrated bits on the top grapple piece, on occasion, stuff can slide out, although not often. 2) I wish the bottom rectangular teeth were tapered on the top so that no climb wire and other stringy bits don't get stuck and instead slide off - I often have to get off the tractor to yank it off the teeth.
I'm a farmer. I chose a rock bucket grapple for my 90 hp skidsteer to pick up rocks and hold bigger rocks with the grapple. Some cases a clam shell grapple would be better for brush piles and picking up logs. In the end, I chose what I did for the option of doing 2 things with one attachment. Courtney, love your videos and insight. Keep up the good content.
I just bought my tractor(T25), and decided last minute to get a grapple, and the only cheap option they had was the root grapple(48"), even if I though I would have like the rake grapple. I have no experience in tractor, but so far I kinda like the root grapple. Right now, my primary use of it is to bring the grapple back, and manually move dead tree from ditch and put it inside the rake. Because of the long flat space, and the height the grapple arm go, I can put a lot of material while the grapple is open and bring a pretty big load. The specs say not to dig with it...., so I'm a bit worries so far to actually bring it low to the ground and move forward to pickup material, so the rake grapple might be better for this application... I'm not sure I'm happy with my choice, but time will tell.
I bought the 60-inch economy root grapple. I chose it due to the price, weight, and because I won't be doing daily grapple work. So far I am pleased with it.
Root grapple, despite being a grapple, is really made to use more like a bucket where you tilt it down and drop into the dirt to catch roots, and rocks, and it needs to be stout to take the abuse of up rooting those materials. Where the grapple rake you’ll lower it just above the ground or barely into the ground and “rake” into your pile is never meant to do subsoil work and isn’t built as stout, so you can have a lighter unit to free up some lift capacity.
Use expanded metal fastened to the lower portion of the rake/grapple to work or sift smaller sized material. Both designs are a great tool to have and they over lap quite a bit in usefulness.
If they made a grapple in between these two (longer bottom, more gradual curve, top pressure points like the root style, but without its bottom teeth) I would buy it for my dad in a heartbeat. For over a decade a set the forks has worked well to load logs on his saw mill, but the older he gets (~80) the more often he seems to tilt the forks the wrong way (and controls in general), causing things to roll off too fast or not when/where he wants. He recently asked me to help him with a log he dropped off the forks for the third time in less than a year and mentioned wanting a grapple. A deep bottom would help scoop under stuff, but the teeth of the root style grapple might cause stuff to hook on it and bounce instead of gently slide off the smooth tips of the rake style. Even with the bottom tilted forward I doubt the rake style sticks out enough for him to pick a log off of a stack. That's the #1 plus of the forks and why he's stuck with them for so long.
Courtney (or anybody), if you were to bring your FEL up as high as possible and curl forward as much as possible, the bottom teeth of either of these would be more vertical (i.e., perpendicular to the ground) than, say, the bottom teeth of my BrushCrusher BC-4215, right? One of the biggest issues I have with my BC is the inability to dump a load into a tall brush pile, but these would work better for that, right? Also, if vines or limbs got wound around teeth and caused "lock-jaw" of the grapple, either of these would allow the use of hydraulic pressure to force the jaws open, right? Just wanting to make sure I'm understanding the differences here. Thanks!
I definitely prefer the root grapple vs the rake. I like being able to get under the load and carry it rather than have the hydraulic force clamping it the whole time. That said, my favorite is the add-a-grapple because I can grab brush piles, logs, move dirt all with one bucket and only 3 pins and 2 hoses to remove it. that said, I don't have a skid steer mounting plate or I would definitely get the Iron Craft Root grapple as it is a great price.
I thought my EA wicked root grapple wasn't a bad price at 3500 including shipping. I compared prices at a couple dealerships. Then checked online. I considered quality, weight and price when choosing mine. It took me a month or 2 for figure out which one to go with. Great videos btw. Wish I saw them before buying my grapple. Still proud of my choice. Everything Attachments are great to work with. Great customer service. Definitely going to by their drag blade and other attachments they offer later down the road.
I think it depends if you are doing brush or logs. If you do a lot logs, the root grapple will hold them better especially if you cutting them up on site. If you only do logs occasionally then the root rake is better.
I want to know how you install one of these on a tractor not necessarily made for them My Yanmar YM1500 they say can handle a front end loader... but where would I get one in the states? It's a Japanese Tractor. So how do I attach something more available and generic all purpose.
I believe I recall you mentioning in past videos that you have very few rocks. Do you think it would sway your decision if you had more rocks to deal with? Moving rocks is the one thing that has me leaning toward a root/rock grapple vs the grapple rake design. I’ll probably wind up with one of the designs that is more of a skeleton bucket+ rock grapple with dual jaws. If it can move trees, brush, small boulders and also let me sieve out grapefruit sized rocks it would be the most useful in my region.
That's easy for any grapple...they will all open wide enough, have enough teeth, etc to grab onto firewood rounds. I'd stick with 48" or 54" wide to keep the weight down.
As someone who’s torn up a lot of tractors messing with trees & stumps my advice would be take whatever money you were planning on spending in implements & hire a dozer to come knock it all out in one trip. Dozers are made for that kind of work, tractors are not. It will save you money in the long run in repair cost.
Depends on the situation (as always). I think you are right for a smaller lot or one-time project like clearing a site. If you have land to maintain however the ability to grab and move treetops etc as they come down and to assist in firewood prep etc. means a grapple can make sense.
Rakes are designed to push through roots still in ground that’s why they have the cutting teeth on them the other one is designed to move large amounts of material quickly I wouldn’t try the rake for that on the summit due to lack of power not picking on summit wouldn’t try it on any smaller tractor or if I had to it be small bites look at a dozers root rake and you’ll see what I’m talking about
I own and have used hard for over 200 hours, what looks 100% identical to the economy rake grapple shown in this video. The label says it is a Pro Works brand.
I am super happy with it. By far, adding this rake style hydraulic grapple to our John Deere 1025R, has been the #1 best accessory that we've added (the offset flail mower is probably #2).
For smaller tractors like ours, the ability to lift significantly heavier logs and rocks makes the rake style grapple a better choice in my opinion.
We live on a 43 acre treed lot that was devastated by an insane storm 1.5 years ago. I've been cleaning up the 1000's of destroyed trees ever since and it feels like there is no end to the tree destruction.
After over 200 hours of hard use (I've added over 300 hours to the tractor cleaning the trees up), the grapple still works great. The only significant wear is at the hinges for the grapple.
These economy grapples just use holes with bolts running through them for the hinges. I have always injected grease into them using a grease needle, but they have still become quite sloppy. As a result the grapple doesn't close as tight as it used to and the slop allows the grapple to open&close by about 7", without the cylinder moving.
This doesn't impact functionality hardly at all, but it is something to consider when comparing economy grapples to more expensive ones that have proper hinges and grease fittings.
If you have trees and brush you need to clean up and you don't own a grapple, buy one today. You will not regret the purchase.
I have the ironcraft 48" root rake grapple on a kym 2515h. I actually bought the root grapple first, tried it on two piles and hated it because the opening is so big it didn't grab anything, returned for the root rake grapple. I use for property clean up, tearing out fences, literally raking the ground to uproot shrub, picking up logs, branches, and even just straight trash. Works great!
My complaints are
1) I wish it had some serrated bits on the top grapple piece, on occasion, stuff can slide out, although not often.
2) I wish the bottom rectangular teeth were tapered on the top so that no climb wire and other stringy bits don't get stuck and instead slide off - I often have to get off the tractor to yank it off the teeth.
I'm a farmer. I chose a rock bucket grapple for my 90 hp skidsteer to pick up rocks and hold bigger rocks with the grapple. Some cases a clam shell grapple would be better for brush piles and picking up logs. In the end, I chose what I did for the option of doing 2 things with one attachment. Courtney, love your videos and insight. Keep up the good content.
I just bought my tractor(T25), and decided last minute to get a grapple, and the only cheap option they had was the root grapple(48"), even if I though I would have like the rake grapple. I have no experience in tractor, but so far I kinda like the root grapple. Right now, my primary use of it is to bring the grapple back, and manually move dead tree from ditch and put it inside the rake. Because of the long flat space, and the height the grapple arm go, I can put a lot of material while the grapple is open and bring a pretty big load. The specs say not to dig with it...., so I'm a bit worries so far to actually bring it low to the ground and move forward to pickup material, so the rake grapple might be better for this application... I'm not sure I'm happy with my choice, but time will tell.
I bought the 60-inch economy root grapple. I chose it due to the price, weight, and because I won't be doing daily grapple work. So far I am pleased with it.
Root grapple, despite being a grapple, is really made to use more like a bucket where you tilt it down and drop into the dirt to catch roots, and rocks, and it needs to be stout to take the abuse of up rooting those materials. Where the grapple rake you’ll lower it just above the ground or barely into the ground and “rake” into your pile is never meant to do subsoil work and isn’t built as stout, so you can have a lighter unit to free up some lift capacity.
So good information and good video of Topik
Use expanded metal fastened to the lower portion of the rake/grapple to work or sift smaller sized material. Both designs are a great tool to have and they over lap quite a bit in usefulness.
If they made a grapple in between these two (longer bottom, more gradual curve, top pressure points like the root style, but without its bottom teeth) I would buy it for my dad in a heartbeat. For over a decade a set the forks has worked well to load logs on his saw mill, but the older he gets (~80) the more often he seems to tilt the forks the wrong way (and controls in general), causing things to roll off too fast or not when/where he wants. He recently asked me to help him with a log he dropped off the forks for the third time in less than a year and mentioned wanting a grapple. A deep bottom would help scoop under stuff, but the teeth of the root style grapple might cause stuff to hook on it and bounce instead of gently slide off the smooth tips of the rake style. Even with the bottom tilted forward I doubt the rake style sticks out enough for him to pick a log off of a stack. That's the #1 plus of the forks and why he's stuck with them for so long.
He could get an add-a-grapple for the forks.
Great video and comparison. Thanks for all the information.
Love the scripture at the end
Great comparison video! I like the clamshell style grapple with double lids.
Courtney (or anybody), if you were to bring your FEL up as high as possible and curl forward as much as possible, the bottom teeth of either of these would be more vertical (i.e., perpendicular to the ground) than, say, the bottom teeth of my BrushCrusher BC-4215, right? One of the biggest issues I have with my BC is the inability to dump a load into a tall brush pile, but these would work better for that, right?
Also, if vines or limbs got wound around teeth and caused "lock-jaw" of the grapple, either of these would allow the use of hydraulic pressure to force the jaws open, right? Just wanting to make sure I'm understanding the differences here. Thanks!
I definitely prefer the root grapple vs the rake. I like being able to get under the load and carry it rather than have the hydraulic force clamping it the whole time. That said, my favorite is the add-a-grapple because I can grab brush piles, logs, move dirt all with one bucket and only 3 pins and 2 hoses to remove it. that said, I don't have a skid steer mounting plate or I would definitely get the Iron Craft Root grapple as it is a great price.
I thought my EA wicked root grapple wasn't a bad price at 3500 including shipping. I compared prices at a couple dealerships. Then checked online. I considered quality, weight and price when choosing mine. It took me a month or 2 for figure out which one to go with. Great videos btw. Wish I saw them before buying my grapple. Still proud of my choice. Everything Attachments are great to work with. Great customer service. Definitely going to by their drag blade and other attachments they offer later down the road.
I think it depends if you are doing brush or logs. If you do a lot logs, the root grapple will hold them better especially if you cutting them up on site. If you only do logs occasionally then the root rake is better.
I want to know how you install one of these on a tractor not necessarily made for them
My Yanmar YM1500 they say can handle a front end loader... but where would I get one in the states? It's a Japanese Tractor.
So how do I attach something more available and generic all purpose.
GREAT Video.... This is a nice to know video.... 😮😊
do they make a add a grapple that is electric instead of hydrologic
i have a 3025 e
Obviously, it depends on the material and the amount of work you may need to do. But with the summit, I would have to agree. The rake is better.
I believe I recall you mentioning in past videos that you have very few rocks. Do you think it would sway your decision if you had more rocks to deal with?
Moving rocks is the one thing that has me leaning toward a root/rock grapple vs the grapple rake design. I’ll probably wind up with one of the designs that is more of a skeleton bucket+ rock grapple with dual jaws. If it can move trees, brush, small boulders and also let me sieve out grapefruit sized rocks it would be the most useful in my region.
Will these include hoses?
IDK what you are doing with your grapple but when we are picking rocks out of a field the tine spacing is very important.
Logs, brush, boulders, debris, etc. If you are picking out small rocks, then get a rock bucket or rock grapple.
great
so if I want a grapple to pickup big firewood rounds, which style on a Summit tractor?
That's easy for any grapple...they will all open wide enough, have enough teeth, etc to grab onto firewood rounds. I'd stick with 48" or 54" wide to keep the weight down.
@@GoodWorksTractors love the price on that 48" ironcraft grapple!
As someone who’s torn up a lot of tractors messing with trees & stumps my advice would be take whatever money you were planning on spending in implements & hire a dozer to come knock it all out in one trip. Dozers are made for that kind of work, tractors are not. It will save you money in the long run in repair cost.
Depends on the situation (as always). I think you are right for a smaller lot or one-time project like clearing a site. If you have land to maintain however the ability to grab and move treetops etc as they come down and to assist in firewood prep etc. means a grapple can make sense.
Rakes are designed to push through roots still in ground that’s why they have the cutting teeth on them the other one is designed to move large amounts of material quickly I wouldn’t try the rake for that on the summit due to lack of power not picking on summit wouldn’t try it on any smaller tractor or if I had to it be small bites look at a dozers root rake and you’ll see what I’m talking about
i see summit gave you a new tractor
Get a 4 in 1 bucket.
The worst “cheap” grapple has to be the Westendorf Brushcrusher.
Get more information on these American-made grapples here: www.goodworkstractors.com/?s=ironcraft+grapple Don't forget, we ship all over the USA!