Future Tractor Attachments and Modifications

Hello everyone...


As I get closer to retirement, I get further away from my 20s, the decade of life where I probably did more unrecognized damage to my back than any other period of my life.  I want to continue to be active outside and to do so, I plan to optimize my tractor for the job.

I had planned on two major additions to my tractor before I retire--add a flail mower and a grapple.  Last summer I wrestled with getting the hydraulics that were needed for the flail mower, expecting that part to get added in spring ('26).  But given my back condition, I am thinking that my next addition needs to be a grapple for grabbing and lifting piles of brush--and moving brush is always a chore I do every spring and fall--and it is not good for my back!  With that in mind I am pushing the flail mower to the next spring ('27).

With those two attachments, this meant I had a total of:

Loader w/bucket
Grapple
6'Rotary cutter (bush hog)
7' offsett scraper blade
60' grading scraper (for the driveway)
Hydraulic offset flail mower

This is a good set of attachments for my usage and will probably be about all I will need.  I still will probably want a 3pt. tool caddy, but this is a $150 frame plus all the things that I attach to it (basically a lot of wood decking).

In addition I will probably upgrade the lighting substantially, but again, this is a multi-hundred dollar investment, but not rising to a thousand.


All of this brings me to a question for anyone with grapple experience:  What type of grapple is most appropriate.  I figure that I will be grabbing piles of uneven brush about 50% of the time, with the other 50% grabbing long logs.  At the moment I have things boiled down to the following grapples:

https://www.everythingattachments.com/Wicked-Root-Grapple-by-Everything-Attachments-p/eta-wrg-cmp.htm
https://www.everythingattachments.com/Compact-Tractor-Single-Lid-Wicked-Root-Grapple-p/eta-slrg.htm
https://www.everythingattachments.com/55-Inch-Wicked-Root-Rake-Grapple-p/eta-55-wrrg.htm

Right now, my preference is for the grapple listed on the first link which is a double lid on a long-tooth design.  But if anyone can explain why a different grapple is more appropriate, please let me know.

And as a final note, I could see myself acquiring a skidding winch--a three point attachment designed for logging.  It uses the tractor's PTO to power a winch that would pull logs to the tractor from up to about 200'.  Given my back, this might be practical.  Either way, it would be an option in the future and not right now.


Thoughts?


Eric

Ok, yesterday I pulled the trigger on a grapple!  Specifically I bought this one HERE:

https://www.everythingattachments.com/Wicked-Root-Grapple-by-Everything-Attachments-p/eta-wrg-cmp.htm

It definitely was not the cheapest, but to me it looks like the one that fits my needs the best and will hopefully be a lifetime purchase—I want it to outlive me!!

I still need to get a joystick controller mechanism, but since I installed rear hydraulics last summer, I can use one circuit to curl around forward to operate the lids.  And this also means that I don’t have to cut my loader lines!  Basically I will buy the joystick controller mechanism ($300) with associated electrical connections and run the actual line back to my 4th rear hydraulic valve.  That valve will then be routed forward to the grapple lid.

With this purchase, I have two major purchase left.  The first is a flail mower with a hydraulic offset so I can really mow under a row of bushes.

The last is not so much an attachment but an accessory.  I would like to get a hydraulic dump trailer.  Both the flail mower and trailer are around $4009 so not exactly cheap.  But I figure that one per year isn’t so bad and I want to get these before I retire as I will have my full salary.

There are a few other miner modifications here and there, but nothing huge.


Eric has

You have time, but I would suggest looking at a small road legal dump trailer—basically the smallest you can find, ideally big enough the tractor will fit in it AND tow it. You can use a pickup and the tractor at the same time, way faster than hooking up the trailer to move it, then unhook to load it, and repeat and repeat and repeat….  Especially if you need ballast on the 3pt to use the loader.

If you have to use the tractor to move the trailer because of access or whatever, definitely get a Demco ball hitch on the trailer. It is spring loaded so you can just back under it with a trailer spotter, lift the 3pt, and it latches without leaving the seat.

R Scott,

Agreed.  That dump trailer is road legal—but must be licensed as such.  And it certainly would be nice to have when I need to move something bulky.

Eric

I have got a Wallenstein Timber Talon log trailer and it has a grapple and log bunks but can be swapped out to a dump trailer and backhoe too. Since the head pivots all the way around you can use it to bore holes in the ground with an auger. A nice feature about that is, you can reverse it to back the auger out. I have my own pto driven winch to run off the back of the tractor, but you can buy one for the boom of this thing too. Really not much you cannot do with one.

They are expensive, but you can do so much with them.

I live on an island now and do not have much land, but just the same when I moved I dragged my log loader with me. I would never be without it. It picks 800 pounds at full extension which is like having a mobile crane anywhere I go. That save ye ole back, and its cost is much cheaper than back surgery.

Steve,

Oh, I have looked at those trailers and absolutely drooled.  For my purposes, I can’t justify the expense, but if I could, dang, that would make one amazing attachment.

And even though I won’t be getting that Wallenstein, I will try to get as much and as many of those functions as possible.  I guess the feature that I want that will be hardest to duplicate will be the winch.  However, I am wondering if I can rig up a vehicle mounted tow winch to use for pulling logs out of tricky spots.


Still, that’s a nice logging trailer!


Eric

I like my winch. Even with the log loader it really paired well with the winch. I could back into a spot with the trailer at an angle and then run my 150 cable out to a tree I felled and then winch it back to the log loader that I could lift and cut while off the ground.

Steve,

Oh, do I wish I could justify one of those trailers—they really are a pretty deluxe addition to a tractor arsenal.

I don’t think my wife would be thrilled with me buying one, but yes, I am officially drooling over your log trailer.


Now if moving logs were one of my more prominent activities, then I would make a strong case for one of those trailers.


Eric