Grapple Which type of grapple is best suited for...

[TSO]

Stop wasting your time with a chainsaw. Get a ripper and take those trees out whole rather than being left with a nasty stump. Checkout the ripper thread from a year or two ago.

Do you mean a stump bucket / root ripper? I don't know if a tractor this size can handle the trees I'm doing. Its hard to see in the pics, but most of the trees I'm doing are 12" & bigger, oak & maple, with tough roots.

 

[IslandTractor]

Do you mean a stump bucket / root ripper? I don't know if a tractor this size can handle the trees I'm doing. Its hard to see in the pics, but most of the trees I'm doing are 12" & bigger, oak & maple, with tough roots.

Not a stump bucket. A BH mounted ripper tooth.

I cannot say for sure about bigger, but I have certainly removed 12" trees via the ripper and push over method. I agree that any bigger than that gets dicy as it would be hard to push them over even after ripping lateral roots. Trees with big tap roots might be tough too. Still, a bigger excavator would make quick work of those and you wouldn't be digging out stumps for the next year or two.

 

[mangus580]

So I put an hour or 2 on the tractor tonight using the grapple. The more I use it, the more disappointed I am with it. It seems 9 times out of 10 when I pick up a pile of stuff with it, almost all of it falls out. 2 different things are causing it, 1 is the lid design, and the other is the tine spacing.

With the lid design, it never actually can pinch anything between the tines. Also, having only 2 upper tines, there is little chance of actually pinching anything.

Even 'scooping' stuff up doesnt seem to go well for me. I seem to dig more dirt than anything with it!

I can see it working just fine with pile of brush, but I am dealing more with deadfall and firewood type chunks.

I also discovered today why it 'clatters' so much when adjusting the roll of the bucket, or up/down (anything really that jerks it in general). The quick attach openings are too large, and I have almost a 1/4" gap between the pin and the 'locking' side of the opening.


I know some of my issues are possibly still adjusting to using it, but I can see some things are not going to resolve with experience.

I wonder if I am asking too much. All I want to do is clean up the area in the pics...

 

[IslandTractor]

So I put an hour or 2 on the tractor tonight using the grapple. The more I use it, the more disappointed I am with it. It seems 9 times out of 10 when I pick up a pile of stuff with it, almost all of it falls out. 2 different things are causing it, 1 is the lid design, and the other is the tine spacing.

With the lid design, it never actually can pinch anything between the tines. Also, having only 2 upper tines, there is little chance of actually pinching anything.

Even 'scooping' stuff up doesnt seem to go well for me. I seem to dig more dirt than anything with it!

I can see it working just fine with pile of brush, but I am dealing more with deadfall and firewood type chunks.

I also discovered today why it 'clatters' so much when adjusting the roll of the bucket, or up/down (anything really that jerks it in general). The quick attach openings are too large, and I have almost a 1/4" gap between the pin and the 'locking' side of the opening.

I know some of my issues are possibly still adjusting to using it, but I can see some things are not going to resolve with experience.

I wonder if I am asking too much. All I want to do is clean up the area in the pics...

<img src="http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=317225"/><img src="http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=317226"/><img src="http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=317227"/>

That is a challenging task. The trees limit maneuverability and you are not dealing with brush or logs but rather various sized fallen branches. Recognizing that you don't have much volume, the upper jaw lid doesn't have much of a role so just leave it full open.. I would just push stuff into a pile and not try to move the pile until it was larger. I would also try just scooping branches into the grapple and curl to keep the load in place until adding to the bigger pile. Once you get a good sized pile, come over the top, crush the pile and in the same manuever, close the upper lid.

 

[mangus580]

That is a challenging task. The trees limit maneuverability and you are not dealing with brush or logs but rather various sized fallen branches. Recognizing that you don't have much volume, the upper jaw lid doesn't have much of a role so just leave it full open.. I would just push stuff into a pile and not try to move the pile until it was larger. I would also try just scooping branches into the grapple and curl to keep the load in place until adding to the bigger pile. Once you get a good sized pile, come over the top, crush the pile and in the same manuever, close the upper lid.

Thanks! That makes me feel a little better

So I AM expecting a bit too much out of it! Maybe I will just put the kids on the project....

 

[mangus580]

I forgot the picture that shows the gap I am referring to....

 

[murphy1244]

I forgot the picture that shows the gap I am referring to....

View attachment 317238

Yours a Wildcat?

 

[IslandTractor]

Thanks! That makes me feel a little better

So I AM expecting a bit too much out of it! Maybe I will just put the kids on the project....

If the kids put stuff in a pile, with branches lined up parallel, it would go a lot faster. Grapples are not very efficient picking up single small branches. I have neighbors who collect brush and branches like yours into piles about 50 ft apart. I wait until the piles look to be about a grapple full and then move them.

I have a special adapter for the FEL that allows me to mount 3PT implements up front. If I didn't have kids to make piles and had a large area, I would probably use a landscape rake on the FEL pointing forward to push stuff like this into a pile and then come back later with a grapple.

 

[mangus580]

If the kids put stuff in a pile, with branches lined up parallel, it would go a lot faster. Grapples are not very efficient picking up single small branches. I have neighbors who collect brush and branches like yours into piles about 50 ft apart. I wait until the piles look to be about a grapple full and then move them.

I have a special adapter for the FEL that allows me to mount 3PT implements up front. If I didn't have kids to make piles and had a large area, I would probably use a landscape rake on the FEL pointing forward to push stuff like this into a pile and then come back later with a grapple.

Both are great ideas..... I will have to consider such an adapter....

 

[TomSeller]

Yours a Wildcat?

No, he has a Titan from PalletForks. I have their forks that fit like his grapple, but they are forks so it is not an issue (not pulling with them). I have their rake grapple and have a good fit. They tightened up their manufacturing a while back, but it looks like they slipped back to their old ways.