Garden Tractor class Grapple for John Deere Quick Hitch

[Jere39]

Jere39 submitted a new Showcase Item:

Garden Tractor class Grapple for John Deere Quick Hitch

I operate a very small, one man and one dog firewood operation as more of a hobby that keeps me outside enjoying the woods all winter long. As a one-man team, I take mechanical advantage whenever I can. So, a couple months ago when I first saw a couple pictures and video of a Grapple designed specifically for mounting on the Quick Hitch of the current X series of John Deere GT, I was intrigued.
I exchanged email with the lead innovator behind this attachment, and had one shipped in early February. Prime logging time, but also prime snow plowing time, and both require the JD Quick Hitch.
I was assured the switch over was quick and easy, and the Winter snows were few and far between this year, so I have given the GT Grapple a real workout, and now it is time for a review. In a few words:
It has surpassed my expectations, it is a labor, time, and back saving enhancement to my tool set.
Packaging was surprisingly compact, weight was under 50 pounds, packing was entirely adequate to keep everything from rattling around, and shipping was quick and efficient.

The installation instructions are precise, brief, and easy to follow. In spite of that, I allowed myself a couple minutes of confusion, but Marcus at Innovative Tractor Attachment steered me straight with a couple emails and a follow-up phone call. Excellent Customer Service.
The secret of the clever design is a simple repositioning of the here-to-fore angling cylinder on top of the Quick Hitch to handle grapple jaw open and close. Assuming the Quick Hitch is installed, and in my case configured for Snow Plow duty, I first removed the snow blade from the hitch. Then just pull the cotter pins that hold the lower cylinder in place and drop it clear.

As mentioned, the Grapple itself is less than 50 pounds, certainly lighter than the Quick Hitch and cylinders, so it is easy to mount to the hitch, lift the top over bar, ensure the spring pins at the bottom of the hitch are retracted and pivot the grapple down, release the pins and you are hitched.
The Grapple ships with R-Spring clips to make snapping the cylinder ends in place easier first time and every future time. Much easier than jiggling pliers and drift pin to remove cotter pins....

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