Powerhand

Who Powerhand is

Powerhand is a Scottish attachment manufacturer whose forestry range covers excavator grapples, grapple saws and the Terragrip clearing grapple. The EX designation runs through both the grapple and saw ranges, and how those families relate is the first thing to get straight: the same EX number means the same grapple volume and opening, but a very different attachment mass.

Grapples and grapple saws: the same grip, two different tools

The forestry grapple range spans four sizes. The EX25 is 400 kg with a rotator, 0.25 m² of capacity and a 1,641 mm opening for 8 to 12 tonne excavators. The EX28 at 617 kg with rotator and 0.28 m² covers an unusually broad 12 to 25 tonne band. The EX36 steps up to 0.36 m² and a 1,928 mm opening on 16 to 25 tonne carriers, and the EX40 reaches 1,091 kg with rotator, 0.40 m² and a 2,137 mm opening on 20 to 30 tonne machines.

The grapple saws share those grapple capacities and openings but add a bar, chain, saw motor and saw rotator, and the mass difference is the number that decides the purchase. An EX28 grapple is 617 kg; the EX28 grapple saw is 986 kg for the same 0.28 m² of grip. The EX25 grapple saw is 651 kg with a 900 mm bar and 600 mm cut, and the EX36 grapple saw is 1,176 kg with a 1,000 mm bar and 650 mm cut. Every one of those figures has to come off the carrier’s lift chart before it comes off a brochure, which is what the lift chart guide is for.

Three saw architectures, not one range

The saws are not a single family with a size ladder. The EX25, EX28 and EX36 are rigid forestry grapple saws: the head is fixed to the stick, the operator positions it with boom geometry and the Indexator saw rotator handles orientation. That is the simpler architecture, and on volume work where the same cut is repeated hundreds of times there is less to position and less to maintain.

The EX40 grapple saw is not offered in the rigid range at all. It exists only in tiltrotator and tree-care (worm-drive) configurations, at approximately 1,180 kg in tiltrotator form with a 700 mm cut. At that size the work is usually sectional dismantling near infrastructure, where the ability to present the head at an arbitrary angle is the point, and a rigid head of that mass would spend more of its cycle repositioning the boom. Buyers comparing the four EX sizes should read the EX25 versus EX28 versus EX36 versus EX40 comparison before fixing on a number.

Alongside both ranges sits the Terragrip, which is not a grapple in the conventional sense. One leg is fixed and works as a root ripper and rake; a single hydraulic leg does the gripping, with around 1,540 mm of opening on 14 to 25 tonne machines. It is a ground-clearing hybrid for operators who want to rip roots, rake, gather brash and clear in one attachment rather than change tools between operations.

Where the Powerhand range sits in the clearing chain

1. Fell or dismantle
2. EX grapple saw sections the stem
3. EX grapple stacks or feeds the chipper
4. Terragrip rips roots and rakes the ground

The design philosophy in the published features

Three published details explain how these attachments are meant to behave under load.

The tines are published as solid Hardox, 50 mm section on the EX28, EX36 and EX40 and a smaller section on the EX25. A solid section has no box structure to open up when a tine is loaded off-axis, which is routine in clearing, and wear-resistant plate in a tine is about taking repeated point loading without permanent deformation. A bent tine is what ends a grapple’s useful geometry.

The tines are angled inward, with underside gripping structures on the headstock. That geometry closes the grapple toward a defined centre rather than merely pinching, so a round stem is driven into the throat instead of being squeezed out of it, and the headstock structures give the load something to bear against from above. The practical consequence is that the head can hold a bundle of irregular brash rather than only a single clean log.

Indexator rotators are specified on the saw range. The rotator is the highest-duty rotating joint on the attachment, and specifying a named rotator manufacturer means seals, bearings and service information are available through that manufacturer’s channel as well as the head maker’s.

The forestry grabs guide and grapple saws guide cover the categories in full, and the forestry grapple versus sorting grab comparison explains why a forestry tine profile does not do a demolition sorting job.

Buying Powerhand in Australia

Powerhand is distributed in Australia by Machinery Specialist from South Windsor in New South Wales. Three things are worth settling with the distributor before an order.

Mass and lift are the first. A grapple saw holds a substantial piece of timber, at radius, often above ground level and often near something that must not be hit. Attachment mass, rotator, bracket and hitch all come off the carrier’s capacity before the timber does, and that arithmetic belongs against the real lift chart at the working radius, not a tonne class.

Hydraulic configuration is the second. Saw motors come in multiple displacements, and the EX28 and EX36 saws offer 0.404 inch or 3/4 inch chain pitch. The right combination depends on the carrier’s available flow and the work, which is a specification conversation rather than a catalogue tick.

Parts are the third. Bars, chains, sprockets, tines and rotator seals are consumables on this range, and where they come from should be established before the first job rather than after it.

Getting a current data sheet

Ask for the factory data sheet for the exact model and architecture quoted, rigid, tiltrotator or tree-care, with rotator, saw motor, bar and chain specified, because mass and geometry change materially between configurations. Where a figure on this site differs from that sheet, the sheet governs.

Ask the distributor for

• The current factory data sheet for the exact model and architecture quoted (rigid, tiltrotator or tree-care)
• Complete attachment mass as configured, including rotator, bracket, hitch and saw assembly
• A written lift assessment against your excavator at the radius and height you actually work at
• Saw motor displacement and chain pitch recommended for your carrier's available flow and your typical cut
• Flow and pressure requirements for the grapple, the rotator and the saw circuit separately
• Bar, chain, sprocket, tine and rotator seal pricing, with Australian parts availability
• Whether the rigid or tiltrotator architecture suits your work, with the cycle-time reasoning explained
• A demonstration handling and cutting representative Australian hardwood, including bundle handling if you feed a chipper

Frequently asked questions