Finding more uses for it than originally planned, Rata Equipment’s Power Claw has been a shrewd investment for one Victorian farmer
In Australian agriculture – where farmers often like to see how new machinery performs for their family or neighbours before investing themselves – these real-world experiences and word-of-mouth recommendations hold a lot of weight.
When Victorian farmer Brad Ellis allowed his brother to borrow his Rata Equipment Power Claw, it proved such a winner that he never received it back.
“We had it for 12 months and I let my brother use it on another property,” he says.
“He wouldn’t let me have it back, so we had to order another one!”
Brad farms about 6,000 acres at Goroke in Victoria’s west Wimmera region, which is predominantly used for mixed cropping but also has some sheep.
His experience with the Power Claw – and that of his brother – has mirrored that of Rata customers across the nation, by discovering far more uses for the product than originally intended at the time of purchase.
Primary purpose
Rata’s Power Claw is designed to be a replacement for a four-in-one bucket, with the added bonus of being able to securely grip items such as logs and sticks.
Models are available which can attach to tractors, telehandlers and skid steers – with various sizes ensuring farmers can access something which is perfectly suited to their individual needs.
Rata’s willingness to work with farmers in further customising Power Claws, something which Brad’s story will illustrate, means there is no impediment to any farmers experiencing the product’s benefits.
Brad’s reason for initially purchasing the Power Claw was like many of those buying for the first time, stemming from a desire to clean up his property more efficiently.
“We’ve always had issues with picking up sticks on the cropping side of things,” he says.
“We needed a faster way to clean up the sticks and branches and we did our research on what we could get.
“We wanted a fork that could push and grab and carry, and we thought this Rata product looked fantastic.
“It’s saved a lot of time picking up sticks.”
Brad says cleaning up sticks was one of the jobs which was often neglected before purchasing the Power Claw due to its time-consuming and laborious nature – but not any more.
“We would just sow around them because we couldn’t get all the work done,” he says.
“The sticks were the last thing that got done and we would literally drive around them.
“Now, because you don’t even have to burn them in the paddock any more – you can pick them up and take them away – it’s even quicker again.”
When Brad first purchased the Power Claw about a year ago, it went straight on to his telehandler and spent an estimated 200 hours cleaning up sticks around the property before the crop even went in.
Since then, it has also spent time on his new telehandler which Brad says has opened even more possibilities.
“It just keeps getting used more and more,” he says.
“It’s always been useful, and it’s being coupled to the telehandler which we think is even better again for reach and manoeuvrability.
“We’ve cleaned up fence lines with it and you can pluck all the posts up.
“There are just uses all the time – picking up concrete or stuff you couldn’t lift manually. It can pick up anything you can think of.”
Technical side
In order to complete the types of jobs which Brad describes, the Power Claw needs to be a quality product which is strong and durable enough to handle Australian conditions.
Thanks to numerous carefully considered design features, this is not even a question for the Power Claw.
Its tines are made from AR450 abrasion resistant steel, which provides maximum strength and durability, while the tines are also braced to prevent and splaying and interlocking to ensure excellent grip and clamping force.
It also features powerful hydraulic rams located at the rear of the grapple, along with high quality hosing that is also carefully located to be out of harm’s way and ensures full protection.
All of the unit’s bushes and high tensile and greaseable pins are heavy duty, with the main pivots being 35mm in diameter and supported by extra bushes.
Designed as a true multi-tasker, Rata’s Power Claw is available in three broad models.
The smallest of these is the compact Power Claw, which is 1.35m wide and which Rata says is suited for tractors between 25-45hp and small, stand-on skid steers.
Rata’s mid-range Power Claw is suited to tractors between 45-75hp, skid steers up to 2.5 tonnes, and small loaders.
This is available in two different widths – 1.5m and 1.8m – providing a further layer of versatility.
The standard Power Claw is Rata’s largest and the company says it is ideal for tractors above 75hp and skid steers larger than 2.5 tonnes, along with telehandlers and wheeled loaders.
Rata offers several choices in this category, with widths available between 1.6m and 2.6m as standard.
These range in weight from 439kg up to 659kg, although Rata says the largest of these is best used with tractors over 120hp.
Top experience
While these sizes and models make up the off-the-shelf range available, Rata has also demonstrated a willingness to work with farmers to customise the Power Claw to unique needs.
At a recent field day in Victoria, for example, Rata displayed a custom-made 3.4m wide Power Claw which represents an 80cm width increase above what it usually offers.
Individual customisation is not just limited to size though, as Brad can attest to.
When it came time to get the second Power Claw, he was already well versed in its benefits but saw a couple of ways it could help him even more.
One of these was for no holes to be cut in the centre section, to further protect his loader, while he was interested in having some small stands on the back to help stand the Power Claw up whenever he took it off one machine.
To his pleasant surprise, these requests were met with a very favourable response.
“We wondered if it was possible to customise the fork. We didn’t think they would but we thought we’d ask the question and so we rang up,” Brad says.
“The answer was ‘not a problem’ which was fantastic.
“Next thing we got the email of the new drawings; we made another couple of little changes and then ordered it.
“I highly recommend it, especially if you want it custom-made, custom-sized or with custom-width tines – Rata has been very easy to deal with.”
Rata’s full product range – including the Power Claw – can be viewed online at www.rataequipment.com
