I initially wanted to get an Everything Attachments 55 'Wicked Grapple' as this is popular and lots of satisfied users/ reviews. However they told me it would be 6+ months and at the time their prices increased significantly.
Doing some research, I was considering Land Pride as the alternative, however wanted a number of implements, all of which prices went up a lot and were unavailable (with no ETA). I found Homestead offered lots of implements at a lower price than everyone else and more heavy duty on paper (vs both Land Pride OR Everything Attachments). They were actually claiming 5-6 weeks (not MONTHs) and free shipping. I was able to get a discount by ordering multiple items. I ordered all pinnacle series and Kubota orange:
- 72 inch root grapple (~2800)
- 72 box blade (~1100)
- front hydraulic post hole digger (~2200)
- 60 inch rotary cutter (~2000)
Checking the site now, I'm glad I did as prices went up a LOT since then. I am not sure about the comparison now, but when I was ordering, the quality for the money is hard to beat. For example, a similar post hole digger from Land Pride was 3400, 1800 for a box blade, 2300 for rotary cutter, 3500 for grapple...all of which were inferior on paper AND unavailable. Everything Attachments had prices similar to Land Pride, though I'm sure higher quality.
The sales/customer service process was great. Having some concerns that it's a newer brand, I tested this and they passed. They email back and forth promptly, return calls, look up answers to questions and get back to you etc. Not concerned about having problems then calling them up to get it resolved. After buying, I got signed up in their newsletter and it's cool to see updates on new products etc...the company seems to have some energy going on rather than be a boring manufacturer.
This review is for the grapple. I got it 1 month ago and used it quite a bit. It took 8 weeks for the stuff to arrive, however at the time they advertised 5-6 weeks for everything, but 8 weeks on the brush cutter. They shipping everything in a bundle, so I had to wait for the last piece to complete.
On observation, the thing is STOUT and well built. Metal is thick, precisely cut, straight, welds are nice, consistent paint job, and everything is gusseted to prevent bending. They have neat 'cosmetic design touches' thrown in (not just a simple boring tool look). I've done some stupid stuff with it, some of which was intentional and otherwise accidental and the grapple is fine....on a 5k LB 33 HP tractor, the grapple is NOT the weak link.
Above is the short story and below is the long story. Sorry if it's too rambling.
Most recently, I dug out a pine stump about 26 inches in diameter (after cutting the tree down that died) and it was way too heavy for the tractor to lift using pallet forks. I'm guessing the stump was about 2000 lbs with most of the weight way out front with roots sticking out or a good 6x6 feet. The grapple saw no damage grabbing and dragging it on trails and then in woods. One time the stump roots got wedged into the grapple and I got a bit scared as it wouldn't come out...I had to use the grapple to wrangler it (strong rapid loader movements against a heavy object wedged), but all was well (no damage). Once the heavy stump is partly off the ground, it can fall a direction and a piece of the stump/root could lever itself inside. I'm guessing THIS is how the dude in the video bent his grapple. Next time I think that if the tractor can't lift it, I'm not going to fool with it using the grapple...instead use chains to drag it from behind. This is to say not that I'm concerned with the grapple bending, but that it would be faster, easier, and safer to drag a heavy object going straight rather than backwards.
When clearing brush, I rammed a huge rock buried that I didn't see in the ground. This was definitely a teeth grinding moment...on inspection, I found zero damage on the grapple aside from paint worn off.
The 72 inch width + flat side stands are very handy as I can see the angle/depth the grapple is set to. Back dragging with the lid works best to clean though because you can see even better, have more control, and can get close to stuff. It has hard stops so that if you're back dragging and hit a big root or something, you don't over extent the cylinders leading to them failing. Definitely see the advantage of a large long single lid as you got lots of surface area to grab stuff...I imagine 2 smaller claws would be tricky and not having ability to back drag would reduce productivity.
I moved 17 foot logs (average ~20 inch diameter from same tree that had the stump). The grapple handled it fine and it was easy to grab on them (again it helps to see the sides to get a good bite). More of the problem was the physics of logs so long and trying to balance/ maneuver them. The flex made it look like I might tweak my loader, but it was fine. I don't think I'll be doing that again as it felt the tractor is too small/light weight, though 12/13 foot logs are easy to deal with. Ideally I want a log skidder as moving large logs down tight sloping/winding trails with a grapple isn't ideal...nor can you get to logs that are off trails or steep hills.
IDK if you're 'supposed to' do this, but I've been using the grapple to remove low tree branches. You can raise the loader up high, then grab on them. The single lid has lots of hydraulic pressure and it snaps surprisingly thick stuff. Or thinner stuff you grab and pull down/up/away to break it. Again it helps to have that extra side width as you're going down the trail. Maybe it's expected, but I'm surprised at how much clamping force these grapples have...snaps large branches with ease or just a few teeth on the side or center can really grab on to stuff.
I did push over small trees with the grapple (2-3 inches) and pulled them out of the ground like weeds. I really doubt you can damage anything doing that. There was a 5 inch tree that I didn't even attempt...used my chainsaw to cut it and later backhoe to pull the stump out, then used the grapple to get ride of the stump.
You can kind of 'till' the ground with the grapple. IDK if this a good or bad thing, but the triangle gussets on the bottom or top tines dig in breaking up dirt (imagine a triangle point pushing in the ground vs just a straight line). This plus a box blade lets you do a lot of clean up/ land clearing.
What I discovered after usage is that spacing between the tines is important. You want it to be tight otherwise you can't grab smaller stuff, smaller stuff makes it past, and it's just less effective for cleanup. The tines are spaced at about 9 inches and honestly I wouldn't mind tighter, though I suppose more tines mean more weight and more difficult to dig with. Idea I had was to add mesh in between the lower tines.
The grapple weighs similar to my 66 inch factory bucket or forks (~350 LB). If I bounce it up and down rapidly high up, I can feel the weight (just like the factory bucket). However when moving heavy things, it's down low and not a problem. I wouldn't want to trade for a smaller size or lighter build to save 100lbs... don't see a benefit. When moving brush, you can't realistically 'fill up' even a 72 inch grapple with enough weight...brush isn't that heavy. Someone bragging about how light weight their grapple is allowing them to lift more is (IMO) a non-issue unless you got a really small tractor or talking about a much higher weight difference. IMO, I don't think a grapple is the ideal tool to be lifting heavy weight such as logs...for that you want a log grapple or chain attachment on the bucket/loader.
People say the weakest link in a grapple is the top lid apparently. Those schedule 80 tubes (2x) are nearly as large as parts of the LA525 loader (2 of them combined are probably more strong). The lid side bars are single (6/18 or .375 inch thick plate steel, like everything else on the grapple), but have huge gussets with homestead H logo and design like curves...not an expect, but that should be more ridge than double 1/4 inch bars. I can't imagine what you can do to the grapple to damage it as it's built really heavy duty.
There is a grease zerk fitting on the main pin, which is actually a huge bolt (the fitting is in the center top back of grapple tube, making me question what if something nick's it), but that's it. The pins that hold the cylinders in place don't have a zerk, which I find kind of odd because the top pin does move with the cylinder. On checking them, I don't see any wear and notice the pin spins freely, so I guess that's the reason. Cylinders are made in Canada.
The hoses were a bit long for me, however I was able to loop them to make them shorter, have some play, and not catch on anything. My land pride third function connections ends up being directly behind the quick connect lever...not ideal as the hoses end up rubbing under the right leveler a little. I might be able to make some adjustments on the connections so that they're less in the way (90 degree fittings maybe). EDIT: I ended up loosening the bracket that holds the hydraulic connectors and angling them down, so this way there is no interference with the skid steer levers, with the hoses a good 5-6 inches lower...I suspect it wasn't installed at the correct angle by the dealer since there was no third function implement to test with.
Last the quick attach coupler has a decent amount of play. It fits and locks in, but is more loose than my Land Pride attachments or factory bucket, which take a little force to lock. The stands let you set it down and pick it up like a bucket then also when you rest the tractor, you don't have sharp points digging down, which is nice.
In summary, I'm satisfied and plan to get Homestead's tiller next (55 inch).
EDIT: Tried to fix grammar.
Doing some research, I was considering Land Pride as the alternative, however wanted a number of implements, all of which prices went up a lot and were unavailable (with no ETA). I found Homestead offered lots of implements at a lower price than everyone else and more heavy duty on paper (vs both Land Pride OR Everything Attachments). They were actually claiming 5-6 weeks (not MONTHs) and free shipping. I was able to get a discount by ordering multiple items. I ordered all pinnacle series and Kubota orange:
- 72 inch root grapple (~2800)
- 72 box blade (~1100)
- front hydraulic post hole digger (~2200)
- 60 inch rotary cutter (~2000)
Checking the site now, I'm glad I did as prices went up a LOT since then. I am not sure about the comparison now, but when I was ordering, the quality for the money is hard to beat. For example, a similar post hole digger from Land Pride was 3400, 1800 for a box blade, 2300 for rotary cutter, 3500 for grapple...all of which were inferior on paper AND unavailable. Everything Attachments had prices similar to Land Pride, though I'm sure higher quality.
The sales/customer service process was great. Having some concerns that it's a newer brand, I tested this and they passed. They email back and forth promptly, return calls, look up answers to questions and get back to you etc. Not concerned about having problems then calling them up to get it resolved. After buying, I got signed up in their newsletter and it's cool to see updates on new products etc...the company seems to have some energy going on rather than be a boring manufacturer.
This review is for the grapple. I got it 1 month ago and used it quite a bit. It took 8 weeks for the stuff to arrive, however at the time they advertised 5-6 weeks for everything, but 8 weeks on the brush cutter. They shipping everything in a bundle, so I had to wait for the last piece to complete.
On observation, the thing is STOUT and well built. Metal is thick, precisely cut, straight, welds are nice, consistent paint job, and everything is gusseted to prevent bending. They have neat 'cosmetic design touches' thrown in (not just a simple boring tool look). I've done some stupid stuff with it, some of which was intentional and otherwise accidental and the grapple is fine....on a 5k LB 33 HP tractor, the grapple is NOT the weak link.
Above is the short story and below is the long story. Sorry if it's too rambling.
Most recently, I dug out a pine stump about 26 inches in diameter (after cutting the tree down that died) and it was way too heavy for the tractor to lift using pallet forks. I'm guessing the stump was about 2000 lbs with most of the weight way out front with roots sticking out or a good 6x6 feet. The grapple saw no damage grabbing and dragging it on trails and then in woods. One time the stump roots got wedged into the grapple and I got a bit scared as it wouldn't come out...I had to use the grapple to wrangler it (strong rapid loader movements against a heavy object wedged), but all was well (no damage). Once the heavy stump is partly off the ground, it can fall a direction and a piece of the stump/root could lever itself inside. I'm guessing THIS is how the dude in the video bent his grapple. Next time I think that if the tractor can't lift it, I'm not going to fool with it using the grapple...instead use chains to drag it from behind. This is to say not that I'm concerned with the grapple bending, but that it would be faster, easier, and safer to drag a heavy object going straight rather than backwards.
When clearing brush, I rammed a huge rock buried that I didn't see in the ground. This was definitely a teeth grinding moment...on inspection, I found zero damage on the grapple aside from paint worn off.
The 72 inch width + flat side stands are very handy as I can see the angle/depth the grapple is set to. Back dragging with the lid works best to clean though because you can see even better, have more control, and can get close to stuff. It has hard stops so that if you're back dragging and hit a big root or something, you don't over extent the cylinders leading to them failing. Definitely see the advantage of a large long single lid as you got lots of surface area to grab stuff...I imagine 2 smaller claws would be tricky and not having ability to back drag would reduce productivity.
I moved 17 foot logs (average ~20 inch diameter from same tree that had the stump). The grapple handled it fine and it was easy to grab on them (again it helps to see the sides to get a good bite). More of the problem was the physics of logs so long and trying to balance/ maneuver them. The flex made it look like I might tweak my loader, but it was fine. I don't think I'll be doing that again as it felt the tractor is too small/light weight, though 12/13 foot logs are easy to deal with. Ideally I want a log skidder as moving large logs down tight sloping/winding trails with a grapple isn't ideal...nor can you get to logs that are off trails or steep hills.
IDK if you're 'supposed to' do this, but I've been using the grapple to remove low tree branches. You can raise the loader up high, then grab on them. The single lid has lots of hydraulic pressure and it snaps surprisingly thick stuff. Or thinner stuff you grab and pull down/up/away to break it. Again it helps to have that extra side width as you're going down the trail. Maybe it's expected, but I'm surprised at how much clamping force these grapples have...snaps large branches with ease or just a few teeth on the side or center can really grab on to stuff.
I did push over small trees with the grapple (2-3 inches) and pulled them out of the ground like weeds. I really doubt you can damage anything doing that. There was a 5 inch tree that I didn't even attempt...used my chainsaw to cut it and later backhoe to pull the stump out, then used the grapple to get ride of the stump.
You can kind of 'till' the ground with the grapple. IDK if this a good or bad thing, but the triangle gussets on the bottom or top tines dig in breaking up dirt (imagine a triangle point pushing in the ground vs just a straight line). This plus a box blade lets you do a lot of clean up/ land clearing.
What I discovered after usage is that spacing between the tines is important. You want it to be tight otherwise you can't grab smaller stuff, smaller stuff makes it past, and it's just less effective for cleanup. The tines are spaced at about 9 inches and honestly I wouldn't mind tighter, though I suppose more tines mean more weight and more difficult to dig with. Idea I had was to add mesh in between the lower tines.
The grapple weighs similar to my 66 inch factory bucket or forks (~350 LB). If I bounce it up and down rapidly high up, I can feel the weight (just like the factory bucket). However when moving heavy things, it's down low and not a problem. I wouldn't want to trade for a smaller size or lighter build to save 100lbs... don't see a benefit. When moving brush, you can't realistically 'fill up' even a 72 inch grapple with enough weight...brush isn't that heavy. Someone bragging about how light weight their grapple is allowing them to lift more is (IMO) a non-issue unless you got a really small tractor or talking about a much higher weight difference. IMO, I don't think a grapple is the ideal tool to be lifting heavy weight such as logs...for that you want a log grapple or chain attachment on the bucket/loader.
People say the weakest link in a grapple is the top lid apparently. Those schedule 80 tubes (2x) are nearly as large as parts of the LA525 loader (2 of them combined are probably more strong). The lid side bars are single (6/18 or .375 inch thick plate steel, like everything else on the grapple), but have huge gussets with homestead H logo and design like curves...not an expect, but that should be more ridge than double 1/4 inch bars. I can't imagine what you can do to the grapple to damage it as it's built really heavy duty.
There is a grease zerk fitting on the main pin, which is actually a huge bolt (the fitting is in the center top back of grapple tube, making me question what if something nick's it), but that's it. The pins that hold the cylinders in place don't have a zerk, which I find kind of odd because the top pin does move with the cylinder. On checking them, I don't see any wear and notice the pin spins freely, so I guess that's the reason. Cylinders are made in Canada.
The hoses were a bit long for me, however I was able to loop them to make them shorter, have some play, and not catch on anything. My land pride third function connections ends up being directly behind the quick connect lever...not ideal as the hoses end up rubbing under the right leveler a little. I might be able to make some adjustments on the connections so that they're less in the way (90 degree fittings maybe). EDIT: I ended up loosening the bracket that holds the hydraulic connectors and angling them down, so this way there is no interference with the skid steer levers, with the hoses a good 5-6 inches lower...I suspect it wasn't installed at the correct angle by the dealer since there was no third function implement to test with.
Last the quick attach coupler has a decent amount of play. It fits and locks in, but is more loose than my Land Pride attachments or factory bucket, which take a little force to lock. The stands let you set it down and pick it up like a bucket then also when you rest the tractor, you don't have sharp points digging down, which is nice.
In summary, I'm satisfied and plan to get Homestead's tiller next (55 inch).
EDIT: Tried to fix grammar.
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