Powerhand EX36 grapple saw

Eleven hundred and seventy-six kilograms, before any timber

The EX36 is the largest rigid forestry excavator grapple saw Powerhand builds, above the EX28 and EX25. There is no rigid EX40, so for a buyer who wants a rigid head on a 16 to 25 tonne carrier this is the top of the ladder; the EX40 grapple saw exists only in tiltrotator and tree-care form.

Being at the top of the ladder has a price and it is 1,176 kg. That is 190 kg more than the EX28, 525 kg more than the EX25, and 339 kg more than the EX36 forestry grapple with rotator, which shares this head’s 0.36 m² capacity and 1,928 mm opening without the saw. On a 16 tonne carrier, more than a tonne of attachment hanging off the stick reshapes the job in ways that are worth understanding before the order rather than after. The grapple saw buying guide explains the three architectures and the EX25 vs EX28 vs EX36 vs EX40 comparison puts the family side by side.

What the mass changes

Three things, in order of how often they catch people out.

First, the timber allowance. Capacity ratings describe the saw and the jaw; the payload at reach is what is left after 1,176 kg plus rotator and coupler comes off the chart figure. At the bottom of the band that residue is small enough that the 650 mm rated cut is largely theoretical in dense hardwood, and the head is being bought for its jaw rather than its saw. At 22 tonnes and up the residue is comfortable. That is the specific consequence of this model’s mass: the 16 to 25 tonne band behaves like two different machines. Put your own chart through the lift capacity calculator with the lift chart and attachment mass guide, and allow for Australian hardwood being at the heavy end of any density assumption.

Second, stability and duty on the carrier. A tonne-plus head at full reach loads the boom, the stick and the slew bearing continuously, not just during the cut, and it does so while the operator is holding a severed section steady. Over-centre work, soft ground and side slopes all become narrower margins than they are with a 651 kg head. Undercarriage and track width on the specific carrier matter more here than the tonne class printed on the machine.

Third, transport. Over a tonne of attachment is a separate item on the float, needing an engineered stand, identified lifting points and protection for the bar and hoses. Factor it into the mobilisation cost for short jobs, because it is the sort of overhead that turns a profitable day rate into a marginal one. The transport and mobilisation guide covers the arrangements.

What the extra mass buys

It is not bought for nothing. The bar lengthens to 1,000 mm and the maximum cut to 650 mm, the largest in the rigid range. The jaw opens to 1,928 mm, nearly 300 mm more than the EX28, which is what lets the head wrap a large standing trunk or a bundle of windblown stems rather than taking them singly, and the grapple capacity rises to 0.36 m² for the gathering and feeding part of the cycle.

As on every head in the range, bar length and cut are different figures, and 650 mm in green eucalypt is a heavy load on chain, motor and carrier alike, so treat it as the ceiling rather than the plan. Confirm whether the 1,176 kg already includes the Indexator saw rotator and the coupler in your ordered build.

Typical work

The EX36 suits subdivision and civil clearing where standing and leaning timber has to be sectioned and sorted, storm damage and dangerous trees where windblown stems are under tension and must be gripped before cutting, biomass and chipper operations where the head cross-cuts over-length material and then feeds a large chipper, and plantation thinning and re-establishment and mining and pipeline corridors work at scale.

The common thread is a job big enough to absorb the head’s overheads. A machine that sets up once and works all week justifies a tonne of attachment. A machine moving between short urban jobs does not, and the mobilisation arithmetic will show it.

Alternatives

On a 16 to 18 tonne carrier the EX28 gives up only 50 mm of cut and saves 190 kg on the boom, which is usually the better trade at that end. If the requirement is controlled dismantling where the head must be held at a chosen angle rather than clearance cutting, a tiltrotator build of this head, or the EX40 in tree-care worm-drive form, is the direction, at the cost of more weight and hydraulic complexity. For repetitive small-stem felling a tree shear is faster and cheaper to run.

Specifying and supporting the head

The figures here describe the rigid excavator EX36, and the architecture must be written on every quotation for the reasons set out on the EX25 page. Saw motor displacement and chain pitch are chosen the same way they are on the EX28, against measured auxiliary flow rather than the largest option listed, and the hydraulic matching guide covers the trade-offs. The one thing this head makes less forgiving is an under-flowed motor: a 1,000 mm bar working a 650 mm hardwood cut is where a slow chain stops being slow and becomes a stall.

Consumables follow the pitch as they do across the range, and pins, bushes, cylinder seals and rotator seals need pricing on the grapple side. A transport stand is not optional at this mass. Machinery Specialist is the Australian distributor; the wear parts guide gives a pricing checklist.

Confirm before ordering

• 1,176 kg deducted from the chart at your real working radius, and the result tested at the 16 tonne end of the band
• Whether the Indexator rotator and coupler sit inside that 1,176 kg or on top of it
• Carrier undercarriage, track width and counterweight considered for over-centre and side-slope work
• Float and mobilisation cost of a tonne-plus attachment built into the rate for short jobs
• Engineered transport stand, lifting points and bar protection quoted
• Saw motor displacement matched to measured auxiliary flow, with stall risk on 650 mm cuts discussed
• Chain pitch chosen with bar, sprocket and chain priced for that pitch
• Australian parts location and lead time for chains, bars and seals

Frequently asked questions