Newbie with an 863 has question about root grapples

Hello everyone - I picked up a Bobcat 863 with 1600 hours a couple of months ago to help clear some property I have of ROCKS, trees and small brush. I have it narrowed down to four brands: quick attach Saber Tine Heavy-Duty Tine Grapple; Solesbee's rake; Carolina's Heavy Duty Root Grapple; and a Faver.

So much information to consider - weight, length, type of steel being used ( too soft), size of opening, how many teeth. :Banghead

Any help in narrowing it down would be appreciated but my big question is what size. I originally thought of going wider than my tracks ( 78 inches) but then found a few posts stating to go narrower than your tracks. I have 60 acres and about 30 is in pasture - if you dare call it that - as it looks like more like debris from a asteroid scattered all over the place. If I could sell the rocks I'd be rich.

My bobcat is a 863, 73 hp, outside tire track is 76 inches wide ( has spacers installed) - probably 79 inches +, if I put the metal tracks on.

Opinions may vary, but I like mine to be wider then the tires. Reason being as you move forward is cleans debris so you don't run over it. Much smoother ride when clearing.

I noticed when I was shopping for attachments, when you look closely, a lot of makers use A36 steel, which sounds good when used by name, but it mild steel and has pretty low yield strength properties compared to medium carbon steels which some of the better mfgrs and OEM's use. If the grapple tines are fortified strong enough I'm sure A36 will work fine. What I found is that for a little more money, you can find a product made of higher spec steel, something like a 1018. I guess the real test is how the implement has held up after years of use ...but how can you know that?

Jeepwalker said:

I noticed when I was shopping for attachments, when you look closely, a lot of makers use A36 steel, which sounds good when used by name, but it mild steel and has pretty low yield strength properties compared to medium carbon steels which some of the better mfgrs and OEM's use. If the grapple tines are fortified strong enough I'm sure A36 will work fine. What I found is that for a little more money, you can find a product made of higher spec steel, something like a 1018. I guess the real test is how the implement has held up after years of use ...but how can you know that?

Click to expand...

More common higher strength structural steel will be A572 g50. Either way it's still just crap mild steel held to minimum tolerances. The real good stuff will have the wear surfaces made from Hardox or AR plate, but you probably won't find any cheap attachments with that.

Greyson

http://www.quickattach.com/attachments/grappleskeletonrockbucket/

I use one like this but the tines are 6"s apart, same width as my wheels which is about 6'. I like it. If was was cleaning up a large open area I might want a slightly wider bucket but I go into the brush often and I am happy with the 6' width.

I have a CID grapple that has worked really good for clearing land. You definitely want it to be at least as wide as the tires or tracks. If not you end up running over allot of stuff and going back over were you have already been. Consider the weight of the grapple too, if too heavy you end up limiting what you can carry. I think mine weighs around 1200 pounds. If you want to pick up rocks I'd measure the rocks then try to find one with bottom tine spacing that fits the rocks you have. Good luck I cleared 210 acres this summer and was ready to pull my hair out before it was done. We averaged 4 hours per acre but brush was really bad.

I have a Lofflin 84" root grapple that I've had for about 18 years. It was the first of it's kind that I ever saw. (not a lot of choices back then) It's been on several machines and has been really worked on my 110 hp Gehl. I managed to "tweek" one of the grapple lids a little, and bend one of the points moving a pintle ring trailer around. Both of these injuries are from doing what I shouldn't have been doing. Other than those self inflicted problems, it's a beast! PS you want wider than your machine for sure. Mine is just shy of coverage with only the tires, and well short with the ott's on.

I would say definitely as wide as the tires, last thing you want to be doing is coming back to try and dig out the stuff your tires pushed in on the last pass.