Digger grapples?

[sandy2210]

I've just had a patch of Rhodie we couldn't access with the Mulcher and needed a solution to get things moving quickly with the guys I have available.

 

The answer was in the form of a friends Takeuchi TB016 that I regularly hire and getting it equipped with a thumb.

 

Having searched about, we collected this from Digbits for £275 plus VAT and it's been simply brilliant.

 

Well built and easily fitted it's transformed the machine and the owner was pretty upset he'd not gone one the day he bought the digger!

 

The only thing is the lack of adjustment in the stay rod, and we're going to switch this out for a converted tractor top link that will allow the thumb to be positioned more accurately to suit different buckets.

 

A nice hydraulic setup would be really nice, but for the money this has paid for itself in a week.

Eddie.

 

I agree only fitted the ram as I had it lying about. the thumb is same one as mine

[LGP Eddie]

The ram is certainly the ideal way to improve the job and if the Takeuchi had two way auxiliary we'd be doing the same thing.

To be honest I've never looked to see if it has a two way setup as standard, but if it does then perhaps we'll look for a ram instead of tractor top link.

 

For the money brilliant value and all credit to Digbits who had them on the shelf.

 

Eddie.

[doobin]

In my opinion if a machine is doing timber handling for more than five minutes at a time then a thumb is a waste of money. A proper grapple for a 1.5 ton can be had for £450 with the VAT and will transform the job. You can't pinch out saplings, clear scrub etc with a thumb either. All this talk of having to adjust the thumb for different buckets, remove quickhitch etc. It's a compromise. Great for the odd stone or log. But for timber handling all day, no. The grapples have a pivot arrangement whereby both halves of the grab close at once.

 

Don't get me wrong, they have a place and I'm fitting a hydraulic retractable one to my machine for use with the bucket on digging jobs 'just in case'. But if there's anything more than the odd rock to move then the grapple will be going on.

[TimberCutterDartmoor]

In my opinion if a machine is doing timber handling for more than five minutes at a time then a thumb is a waste of money. A proper grapple for a 1.5 ton can be had for £450 with the VAT and will transform the job. You can't pinch out saplings, clear scrub etc with a thumb either. All this talk of having to adjust the thumb for different buckets, remove quickhitch etc. It's a compromise. Great for the odd stone or log. But for timber handling all day, no. The grapples have a pivot arrangement whereby both halves of the grab close at once.

 

Don't get me wrong, they have a place and I'm fitting a hydraulic retractable one to my machine for use with the bucket on digging jobs 'just in case'. But if there's anything more than the odd rock to move then the grapple will be going on.

 

Quite agree; tried moving masses of laurel timber with a thumb - waste of time.

[baz]

All the grapples I have seen for under £1,000 are lower thumb or jaw linked onto a welded bracket on the digger arm. So, if you can let me know where the proper grapple for £450 can be had I'd appreciate it.

[doobin]

All the grapples I have seen for under £1,000 are lower thumb or jaw linked onto a welded bracket on the digger arm. So, if you can let me know where the proper grapple for £450 can be had I'd appreciate it.

 

excavator grapple | eBay

 

Is that what you want? It's what's known as a digger grapple anyway, they all link to the jib and use the crowd ram to actuate.

 

If you want a rotating grapple, try searching for a selector grab.

 

If you want a non rotating grapple that opens and closes via the auxillary hydraulics, I've never seen one and can't see what it would do that the grapple linked to the jib wouldn't.

[Justme]

I have that one on a 3750kg digger.

 

Worth its weight in gold.

[baz]

Purchased a grapple for my 2.5t digger and tried it out for the first time at the weekend moving logs from the pile onto the telehandler forks to move indoors ready for processing. It made life a whole lot less strenuous and not a hint of a possibility for bruised fingers.

 

I think it could prove to be a good investment for £600.

[Le Sanglier]

Finally. Fitted mine, had a play and you know when you're going to love it. Big ash takedown next week, this will save a lot of backache!

[richy_B]

Found this is an interesting thread as I am looking for an excavator with a grab. From my time in the USA, where 'thumbs' seem to be standard issue I know they are useful additions. For my particular applications, where I intend to use the excavator 99% of the time to handle logs I am planning on spending the extra and getting a grab and rotor. Something I am wondering about it how it all gets plumbed in? I assume you need two extra lines, one for the rotor movement, one for the grab closure. Of the excavators I've looked at they only seem to offer a single additional line. What's the best way of achieving this? or are there are particular machines that offer a particular advantage? I'm looking at the 5-7t range. Any thoughts?