Grappling fun - A Picture Thread....

[SLHawkins]

Re: Loading Firewood with Grapple

ThreePoint,
Yeah, it did a whole lot better than I expected it to. I actually used it for the initial spreading of the piles I made straight out of the dump truck, but I didn't get any video of that.

Hawk

 

[Piston]

One of the things I really like about my grapple, is the way the bottom part of the grapple is designed. With that large square piece of tubing positioned the way it is, it works wonders for back dragging material into a smooth and leveled surface.

I use mine every time I push a tree over (many many times) and pull up the rootball. After making a mess of the ground by uprooting the tree, I loosen up more soil around the "hole" and start using the "back and fill" technique with the bottom portion of the grapple.

It's one of the uses that many people don't think of, and I sort stumbled on it by accident, but definitely a bonus advantage.

Thanks for posting the vids Hawk! By the way, how often would you say you put your bucket on your front end loader since having the grapple? I'm probably at about 3 times per year, and often short lived at that.

 

[Piston]

Re: Loading Firewood with Grapple

A good tip regarding grading with the grapple, is if your in pretty hard dirt, or find the FEL getting knocked around a bit from trying to smooth out larger/harder spots, pick up a good sized rock/boulder and leave it in the grapple, the extra weight helps just the same as it does when using rear implements to grade. :thumbsup:

Also, by feathering the curl circuit, you can pick up extra material, drop excess material, or keep it really level. Works real well, give it a try if you haven't.


It's hard to tell in this photo, that there were 4 or 5 trees and stumps there, as well as a "not so level" surface, but this is what it looked like after grading it with nothing more than grapple. Although, I do have to admit, these stumps were ground, not dug out, so I didn't have the giant "holes" to deal with, but there was still a bit of a mess to sort out.


(The one large "hump" off to the right, is a giant boulder, so I couldn't do much about that without dynamite)



Edit: Being that this is a "grapple" thread, I should probably post a picture of the grapple being used. Not sure if I posted this earlier or not, but here is a shot of my dad taking away some of the brush from one of the trees we cut down prior to the above photo being taken.

 

[SLHawkins]

Piston,
When I first bought the grapple, it was on the tractor about 60% of the time and the GP bucket about 35%. Last week, however, was the first time I have used it in a little over a year. Now that I am retired from the military and able to spend more time on the farm operations and my business, I will be using it a lot more. I have a couple of horse stables that I haul manure from. So, I'll probably be around 60/35 again.

Hawk

 

[Piston]

Hey Hawk,
I like your cell phone mount on the tractor. :thumbsup:

Also, I like how you changed up the views with the camera.

 

[SLHawkins]

Hey Hawk,
I like your cell phone mount on the tractor. :thumbsup:

Also, I like how you changed up the views with the camera.

Thanks Piston,

The phone is from RAM Mounts. They have all types - http://www.rammount.com/.

The camera mounted in the bucket and on the vehicles is a GoPro Hero.

Hawk

 

[TomSeller]

I always travel in reverse with loads like that, it solves two problems, being able to see where you are going and dropping stuff and running over it.

And the "tails" of the load don't get under the tires and pull the load out of the grapple, very common with brush and debris.

 

[TomSeller]

Or compact telehandlers, where the seat is low and off to the side.

I gotta get a telehandler.

 

[Xfaxman]

I always travel in reverse with loads like that, it solves two problems, being able to see where you are going and dropping stuff and running over it.

And the "tails" of the load don't get under the tires and pull the load out of the grapple, very common with brush and debris.

Don't have to worry about the "tails" of the load getting under the tires, just extend the boom to keep it away from the tires.

I gotta get a telehandler.

Just make sure it is a Compact Telehandler with a SSQA, there are several brands available now.

 

[TomSeller]

just extend the boom to keep it away from the tires.

Easy for you to say LOL

My barn is 45' not including the cupolas. It would be nice to get up to the top with it.

 

[Xfaxman]

Easy for you to say LOL

My barn is 45' not including the cupolas. It would be nice to get up to the top with it.

Well that would require a fullsize telehandler and all they have is forks, so you lose the versatility of a compact telehandler.

This would be cheaper and get you up there.

2003 Genie S40 40

You could even use a manual grapple on it.

 

[TomSeller]

Well that would require a fullsize telehandler and all they have is forks, so you lose the versatility of a compact telehandler.

So the larger telehandlers don't have the curl functions?

 

[Xfaxman]

So the larger telehandlers don't have the curl functions?

They have curl.

They don't have a Skid Steer Quick Attach and may not have hydraulics on the boom to run a brush hog, snow blower, tree puller, tree shear, back hoe, harley rake, grapple and all the other hydraulic skid steer attachments that a compact telehandler can operate.

 

[dragoneggs]

I've thought about doing that with my grapple. Trouble is 1) trying to protect the camera and still have it get a view of the tine tips and 2) the small monitors that come with the rear view camera kits really need to be pretty close to your face in order to see detail. That would mean rigging a swing away arm or something like that and increases the complexity of the project. Bottom line for me was that I wasn't willing to put in the time and effort and bucks to set something up without a good sense that it would really be useful. I've managed (with an open back grapple) to do just fine without even though there are definitely times when I'd like to know the exact position of a tine.

Maybe the view from the top of your ROPS. Love the idea of an aux cam view. Technology has it's place here.

 

[IslandTractor]

Maybe the view from the top of your ROPS. Love the idea of an aux cam view. Technology has it's place here.

A camera mounted on top of my ROPS would survive about one day before being scraped off by a tree limb. It also would need to be telephoto to give useful detail of the action near my grapple tines.

I think the most useful set up (dreaming here) would be a series of strategically placed tiny armored HD wireless cameras aimed at the front and back with a wireless link to Google glasses that would automatically select the most relevant camera view for the task at hand. Just biding my time until I can order that set up from Amazon. A boy can dream right?

 

[Danny C]

I had one of these multi-purpose buckets on my '04 Cat 420D backhoe. It was awesome. WOuld like to get another one for my tractor. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhIstG8l5TY

 

[IslandTractor]

I had one of these multi-purpose buckets on my '04 Cat 420D backhoe. It was awesome. WOuld like to get another one for my tractor. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhIstG8l5TY

I have a 4n1 bucket for my tractor. It really doesn't get used much. The load capacity is less than with a standard bucket. The "grapple" feature is very limited compared to a true open bottom grapple. The dozer function is nice but CUTs shouldn't really do heavy dozer work so in practice it isn't much different than backdragging with a standard bucket to level soil. I would MUCH prefer to have both a standard bucket and a grapple than a single 4n1 but if you are trailering to a job site and cannot take two implements, a 4n1 can certainly be very handy. They cost considerably more than a grapple though so for most CUT owners a grapple is a far better purchase. A contractor who really needs the all in one Swiss Army knife capability of the 4n1 might be the exception.

 

[dragoneggs]

A camera mounted on top of my ROPS would survive about one day before being scraped off by a tree limb. It also would need to be telephoto to give useful detail of the action near my grapple tines. I think the most useful set up (dreaming here) would be a series of strategically placed tiny armored HD wireless cameras aimed at the front and back with a wireless link to Google glasses that would automatically select the most relevant camera view for the task at hand. Just biding my time until I can order that set up from Amazon. A boy can dream right?

I was thinking on top cross member but on the underside and shielded. Obviously you don't want it to stick out like a sore thumb.

 

[IslandTractor]

I was thinking on top cross member but on the underside and shielded. Obviously you don't want it to stick out like a sore thumb.

Trouble with that location is that the view/perspective is about the same as the operator gets with his own eyes. The desired view would be closer to the FEL bucket/grapple and not blocked by the FEL QA mount.

 

[dragoneggs]

Trouble with that location is that the view/perspective is about the same as the operator gets with his own eyes. The desired view would be closer to the FEL bucket/grapple and not blocked by the FEL QA mount.

Okay. I thought it might be high enough. Never mind.