Equipment Attachments

Grapple Rake Attachment Fits Toro Dingo Mini Loader

Sept. 28, 2010

Less is more for the Dingo compact utility loader. As such, by ensuring the Toro's mini loader carries a smaller grapple rake correctly sized to the carrier, the Dingo can be more productive for landscaping and demolition contractors.

"The heavier the attachment, the less you're going to be able to lift," says Greg Lawrence, Toro marketing product manager for the Dingo line. "That's one of the advantages with having the narrower grapple. You can't necessarily pick up less; you actually can probably pick up more, because there's not as much material out there on the attachment itself."

Toro recently introduced a company-branded grapple rake attachment for Dingo tracked and wheeled loaders which, with a weight of 265 pounds, is better suited to a compact loader than the larger aftermarket skid-steer attachments that were starting to find their way onto the front of the Toro compacts, says Lawrence. The hydraulic attachment's weight is less than 20 percent of the Dingo's tipping capacity.

"We ensure the attachment is designed for the machine," says Lawrence. "That way, you're getting the optimized lift capacity and taking full advantage of the features of the product."

Branded as Toro Model 22521, the double-cylinder grapple rake attachment allows contractors to dig out, pick up and remove trees, bushes, roots, rocks and debris that are located in tight quarters, yet are too heavy for hand labor. For additional site cleanup, it will till and comb the surface without picking up topsoil.

At a width of 34.5 inches, the attachment maintains a width narrow enough for the Dingo to fit through standard doors for indoor applications, also.

With the top tines spaced 7 inches apart, or three-quarters of an inch more than the bottom tines are spaced, the tines intertwine to tightly hold the smallest of loads. The tines are constructed of heavy-duty AR400 steel, which is important despite the compact size of the carrier, says Lawrence.

"The machine may appear in size to be small, but it's amazing what it will do," he says, "and people are always and continually pushing the product to its limit, by picking up thousands of pounds with it or putting it in really difficult, harsh conditions."

The grapple rake has a clamping force from tip to tip of 3,000 foot-pounds. It is one of more than 35 attachments for Toro's Dingo diesel- and gas-powered compact utility loaders.