Grubbing Tongs

[MChalkley]

Does anyone have any info or experience with a gadget known as grubbing tongs. I think Cumberland General Store has them, but I loaned my catalog to someone and don't remember who. I can't remember how much they cost, either, but if I recall correctly, they are designed to grab brush and small trees up to 6 inches or so in diameter so you can pull the smaller stuff out of the ground or just drag the larger stuff. I know a choker chain is better for dragging, but I was wondering if anyone has used one of these to pull small trees out of the ground.

 

[Kevin_mc]

Mark,
I've used something similar to grubbing tongs to pull material off a truck I couldn't get a forklift up into and they work real well on round material or wood that they can bite into. I saw the ones in the Cumberland catalog on page 172. One is for trees 1-1/2" to 8" in diameter part number 8476, $100.20 each. The other is for 1-1/2" to 5" diameter trees part number 8475, $91.25 each. Hope you find your catalog.
Kevin

 

[MChalkley]

Kevin, thanks for the info! I haven't found the catalog - I think I'll just have to go buy another one. I think I will call Cumberland and order the larger tongs; maybe they'll throw in a catalog for free. Thanks for looking it up. What did you use? Were they pallet tongs or something else?

Mark

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I just called Cumberland on their toll free number, and they are sending me a xerox picture with the info on their tongs. They didn't volunteer to send a free catalog. They have an online website that lists all of their products, but not all have pictures, or descriptions. The catalog costs $4.00

 

[Thomas]

Hello Kevin.
I'm very interested in the grubbing tong idea for I have a tree farm.
You mention you saw it in Cumberland catalog,how does one go about getting a Cumbeland catalog etc...
Thank you.

 

[Kevin_mc]

Mark,
They could have been called pallet tongs, we had a pet name for them (you understand I won't use it on this board though). They were designed very similar to the grubbing tongs. Where the wire is on the grubbing tongs this was replaced with an 8"-10" piece of 3/8" chain. Also, at the end of each tong there was a 1"X 3" inch serated steel head that would grip very tightly on whatever you were pulling. After the tongs were hooked to the piece I wanted to move then I would hook a chain from my tow-moter to the chain on the tongs and pull the piece to the back of the truck where I could get the forks under it. They were real champs for certain situations.

Kevin

 

[MChalkley]

Kevin, check out http://www.cumberlandgeneral.com. There's a number there you can call. A lot of big bookstores carry them in the magazine section, too.

 

[Kevin_mc]

Thomas,
I found out about the Cumberland General Store from someone on this board last year. A couple of months ago I received one of the little packs of coupons in the mail with all type of catalogs to send for and one of them was for Cumberland General Store. Only problem was they wanted $4.00 and I wont pay for a catalog, so I put the card in a stack of bills at home and the wife thought it was something she wanted and sent for it. It's one of those catalogs that you may only want to get every 5 years and just use it for a reference (sort of like the Grainger and McMaster-Carr encyclopedias)

Cumberland has a web page WWW.cumberlandgeneral.com. You can get your $4.00 back in the form of coupons to use with your orders.

I've been considering a tool called a root jack that pulls up small trees as I am clearing some areas in the woods for planting ginseng Fall 2000. I realize all jobs should be planned around the tractor but my ginseng crop is going to start small so much of the work I am doing by hand in a confined area where the tractor wont fit. I've found the root jack in the catalog from Peaceful Valley Farm Supply, www.groworganic.com. It sells for $95.?? in the 1999 catalog.

Kevin

 

[MChalkley]

Would you mind posting any additional details when you get them?

 

[MChalkley]

Um, yes, I think I've heard them referred to by that name. I've seen them in use, too. They look like they would be very handy, but they don't look quite the same as the "grubbing" tongs I've seen in catalogs.