@OldSchool59, I'm in the same boat as you: Looking for a root rake grapple and would much rather have an EA in 66" for my 73hp. I called yesterday, too, and same story: 3 month wait. I can't wait that long, as I've got scotch broom growing to the heavens and choking off my young trees. I drove to the local Kubota dealer and they had in stock a Land Pride SGC1572 and wow, was that impressive to see in person. While I'd hands-down prefer an EA Wicked grapple, when I saw this I really saw a great option to the EA. 1/2" plate throughout and AR400 steel. What a beast and looks well made. Their SGC1560 (63") version (784lbs) is a couple of hundred pounds heavier than the EA 66", if those few pounds matter to you. The 74" is another hundred pounds (882lbs). I know it's going to have the "Land Pride Tax" and cost a little bit more, but I'll get the price today on it.
By the way, Jenkins Iron and Steel has a grapple
Jenkins Iron & Steel Super Duty Split Brush Grapple (jenkinsironandsteel.com) with a clamshell type lid, but is SPLIT like other dual lids--but clamshell style. Had not seen that before. It's heavy, though, 1600lbs. Their smallest is 76".
On Homestead Implements, I actually kind of liked them. Now they're using 450Hardox and looks pretty stout. The only two drawbacks I saw were that the bottom tines/teeth didn't extend a little further, so not aggressive enough for me, at least by appearances. My understanding is that the hinge is a bolt and no zerk I guess. Might be just the right thing. I don't know. It's pretty close to what I wanted except for those couple of things. I kept coming back to the Homestead and they had a shorter wait time. I think LandPride may be just the thing b/c it's looks incredibly strong and is sitting on a pallet about 25 minutes drive from home.