Thoughts on adding a grapple to pallet forks to move some brush piles?

Cord · Jun 12, 2013

I have a huge pile of brush that needs to be burned. The pile is too big and too close to the barn to burn where it lies. The pile is roughly 100' square and piled up 30' high. We were using a 60' forklift to create the pile and got a bit carried away. The pile started off as just cuttings, but then we got more efficient and started throwing whole trees on it. I know there is at least one tree thats 30" in diameter on the pile. Anyways, I have a Gehl 6635 skidsteer and need to dig into the pile, tear a chunk out and then drag the brush over to a smaller pile where it will be burned. A brush grapple would work great, but I'm very very house poor right now and can't afford one. I was hoping to find a rock rake to add a grapple to as I need to sift out a bunch of rocks as well as move the brush. I'm having a tough time finding a used rock rake for a price I can afford. The best I can find is a well used Houle that needs a bunch of repairs for $800.

I also need to move pallets of stuff so I was thinking of buying some pallet forks. There are a couple of good used pallet forks on CL for less than $300. What are your thoughts on adding a thumb or grapple to the pallet forks? The forks will probably penetrate the pile of brush better than a brush grapple would. I can certainly see how they would also be not as effective at picking up small piles of brush. The small stuff would need to have at least one larger item for support to make the attachment work. A board search didn't turn up many instances of people putting a grapple on pallet forks so I'm wondering if maybe this is a bad idea. I'll be looking to use a off the shelf grapple to make this work. I really like the design of "The Thumb" with the different lengths available and their larger pins. Getting it to fit on the pallet forks may take some doing though. I've seen some slide on thumbs which would be appealing as the forks could be quickly converted back.

Thoughts, pics and links would be greatly appreciated!

Cord · Jun 12, 2013

Nobody?

bikerdib · Jun 12, 2013

I fabricated my own fork carrier (used to be a iron worker/fabricator) and then bought 3 fork tines off ebay. By putting 3 tines it is much better at carrying small odd length stuff. I am now trying to design a grapple that will be adjustable to work on both the 48 inch fork carrier and my 60 inch bucket. There are some grapples made for forklifts such as: Tractor Fork And Forklift Mount Brush Grapple. I seem to recall a forklift grapple for around $600 but I don't recall where. Maybe with some searches you could find a budget priced grapple.

bikerdib · Jun 12, 2013

Redline Manufacturing :: Slide-on Log/Rock Grapple

triptester · Jun 12, 2013

Here is where I got the idea to make one.

Paumco Products; Fork Grapple, Pallet Fork Grapple

I made a small grapple that slides onto forks that has work well for building brush piles, not sure how it would work for tearing them apart.

Cord · Jun 13, 2013

This is the one I was considering: Precision Manufacturing :: Tree & Brush Removal Equipment

bikerdib · Jun 15, 2013

triptester said:
Here is where I got the idea to make one.

Paumco Products; Fork Grapple, Pallet Fork Grapple

I made a small grapple that slides onto forks that has work well for building brush piles, not sure how it would work for tearing them apart.

I like it, like I said I was thinking about making one that would work on both the bucket and the forks but come to think of it, I'l probably never use it on the bucket. It looks like that is a one way ram, how do you work with that?