Gareth's Tree
New member
- Location
- Ashtabula
I recently picked up a Gehl 540 to compliment my Giant 254. On my small loaders I have always run branch manager grapples. However, that was mostly because they came with those grapples when I bought them.
On my new loader I'm wondering if anyone has an opinion between a Ryan's grapple, a Branch manager, or maybe someone else, such as Hudson, Valby etc??
My observations include -
The Branch Manager is most expensive at $8,000, But I know they make a quality product.
Ryan's grapple at $6,300 is more affordable but is very heavy, coming in at 900 lb. **Edit when I was on the phone with them they said it was 900 lb, when I look on their website it says 750 lb??** (This was for the 4852 - 52' opening grapple)
The Hudson grapple is the cheapest at $5,500, but I don't know much about them, and I'm not sure if they are built for commercial use?
I believe I have narrowed it down to these three as my top three, and I guess I'm leaning toward the Hudson for the price point, and it seems like it will do what I want. However, I'm open to other suggestions and definitely want to hear about anybody's experience.
This will be my backup loader as my main loader that goes on every job is a Giant 254T (that I do run a branch manager mini grapple on). So this loader will only go out on big jobs, or if the other loader is down.
On my new loader I'm wondering if anyone has an opinion between a Ryan's grapple, a Branch manager, or maybe someone else, such as Hudson, Valby etc??
My observations include -
The Branch Manager is most expensive at $8,000, But I know they make a quality product.
Ryan's grapple at $6,300 is more affordable but is very heavy, coming in at 900 lb. **Edit when I was on the phone with them they said it was 900 lb, when I look on their website it says 750 lb??** (This was for the 4852 - 52' opening grapple)
The Hudson grapple is the cheapest at $5,500, but I don't know much about them, and I'm not sure if they are built for commercial use?
I believe I have narrowed it down to these three as my top three, and I guess I'm leaning toward the Hudson for the price point, and it seems like it will do what I want. However, I'm open to other suggestions and definitely want to hear about anybody's experience.
This will be my backup loader as my main loader that goes on every job is a Giant 254T (that I do run a branch manager mini grapple on). So this loader will only go out on big jobs, or if the other loader is down.
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