Understanding Hydraulic Vs Mechanical Grabs

The age old question on whether to go for a Hydraulic or Mechanical Grab…

Here we’ll get into the nitty gritty of each grab to give you a better understanding on which will be more applicable to you.

Mechanical Grab

Mechanical grabs are a great asset to your arsenal, coming increasingly more attractive to operators as they fall in a more affordable price range.

They’re also intricately designed to really be put through their paces, making them perfect for applications in the demolition and recycling industry. The best part? … they don’t need a whole lot of maintenance.

After all, operators ultimately want an attachment that saves them the stress and gives them the piece of mind that they can be thrown into the roughest of environments without the worry of damaging; right?

The reason for this is that you don’t need to be wary of those pesky hydraulic hoses.

The mechanical grab has a welded-on base plate to the stick, locking her in place nice and secure with the fixed arm.

A down side of this is, however, is having to physically get out of the cab to switch out attachments by manually knocking out the pins holding that fixed arm in.

This welded design restricts the range of motion making it difficult to take on jobs that require precise movements like; loading up trucks, placing rocks or sifting through waste.

Hydraulic Grab

The hydraulic grab excels in many fields, due to the precision and quick detachability that it provides.

This grab allows you to get jobs done at a substantially faster rate than the mechanical grab as you are able to have a much wider range of movement, because the thumb is easily manipulated.

The reason for this is because there is no modifying involved and it’s not connected to the stick. It only requires the hoses to be plugged in, pins greased and away you go.

You’ll also find that you can switch out this attachment with ease, even being able to connect up other hydraulic attachments; provided they have the same size couplers.

The hydraulic grab is generally more expensive, but you pay for the piece of mind knowing that they’re able to get jobs done a lot faster and more efficiently.

As you know, cost savings alone on fuel and operator time can count for a lot.

You’ll get the most out of Hydraulic grabs when doing demo work, handling logs, rocks and waste material; that requires that extra level of care and precision.

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Overview

Both are great attachments benefitting you in various ways. For a more detailed breakdown on the two and to find out which one would be most beneficial to your specific applications and needs, speak with one of our experts!

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