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
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