Here's some additional information from the Mississippi Market Bulletin. The "Grappler" does swivel. Still no cost data though.
MSWoodlot
Page 28 MISSISSIPPI MARKET BULLETIN February 1, 2006
Edited By Andy Prosser
A local Make Mine Mississippi company has developed an efficient
means to assist area landowners to transport small diameter timber by
way of a grapple system for small farm tractors. The BPG
Corporation of Columbia, Mississippi, designs and builds innovative
tractor implements for managing timber for independent operators.
This new method reduces labor, waste, damage, and cost with
increased productivity for Mississippi landowners who like to
“do it yourself.” In response to the needs created by the recent hurricanes,
this grappling system has become a perfect fit for cleanup duty
and juvenile pine recovery. BPG's CEO, founder and master
innovator, Sidney K. Burch, was determined to solve the problems
he was encountering for the operator of the smaller farm vehicle in
managing timber handling safely and efficiently in a cost
effective manner. Sidney has decades of farming and business experiences
to provide the understanding of the problems and the people
involved in tree farming. His vision of such drives the
designs, fabrication, and testing of each new grapple. Most notably,
Sidney's prior innovations brought to the market the Burch Plantation
Grappler ™, an efficient, compact hydraulic timber grappler designed
for the smaller tractor or truck vehicle operation usable by the
individual. In the initial designs, the Burch Plantation Grappler ™ was
manufactured for creating and m a i n t a i n i n g clean tree rows on established farms and for the removal of pine plantation
thinnings. To have the lowest costs possible for the individual
agricultural operator, the grappler was designed as simply as possible
with the fewest movable parts. However, the hurricane season of
2005 brought a new challenge to area tree farmers. The conditions of
the tree farms after the storms require a different piece of equipment
needing the capability to swivel. Prior swiveling grapplers typically
had two hydraulic cylinders and four hydraulic lines and were
usually attached to large scale equipment. Such systems are also typically
higher priced and have more maintenance costs than desired by the
smaller tree farmer. Sidney once again has responded by designing a
grappler that maintains the original one cylinder, two-line design but
has a simplified swiveling capability of a less complicated, lower maintenance
design for smaller farm equipment than the prior more
expensive swiveling grappler. So, if you are interested in the
Burch Plantation Grapple ™ for your property or farm, please contact
the BPG Corporation at 601-736-3372.
