3520 arrived...first impressions.

[tuolumne]

Saturday and Monday were spent felling trees, bucking to 12' lengths and chipping. Once I found the adjustment on the chipper to open it up to 1/4" things went much better. It was a lot less work to feed, and a 6" log will disappear pretty quick. Mostly I was chipping the toppings that were less than 4".

This grapple is great. Grabbing one log or a bunch was quick and easy.

I couldn't budge any of the logs in this bunch by hand.

Again, I am very glad I did not get a bigger machine. The 3520 has plenty of lifting power and is very maneuverable in the woods. Most of the property has mild slopes, but a 12 degree slope can quickly put the tractor to 35 degrees when a tire goes over a stump. Once I got used to what was an unstable situation (quickly drop bucket) and what was manageable things went really well. I am very thankful for loaded tires. That chipper is fairly heavy, but a load of logs would still make the back end light. My pucker factor has certainly decreased...the seatbelt helps. I found that running at about 1500 rpms provided good steering speed and power for grapple work, and supplemented with the foot throttle as needed. I found myself constantly using the brakes to steer, especially to bring the front end uphill in a hurry. Am I going to wear anything out? I did get the rear end hung up on a stump near the drawbar support. I quit spinning before it got to bad. I had a grapple full of logs, and by dropping it quick and stopping the back end would lift up. It was hairy but got me out. I'll probably post a project thread with more pictures of the progress as we build our home.

Edit: I should have mentioned...at the end of the day yesterday I put 5 gallons of diesel in the tank and it filled it to the top. That's pretty good for 17 hours of work. I run at about 1500 rpms when doing grapple work, and I run the chipper at about 2200 rpms.

 

[B8FISH]

Nice setup--and great pics!

 

[GreenMtns]

Telescoping Draft Links
Part # LVB25308​

It really makes changing implements easy. I have a set of Pat's but don't use them since I discovered the Telescoping Draft Links. Just pin them wide open, back up almost to the point they would go on and pull the pins and pull the link out to where it will slide over the implement pin. That easy.

Something new to add to your collection.

Mike will be waiting.

Al

 

[debushau]

This is an interesting thread for me. I just picked up a 3520 with a 300CX loader on Saturday and have a fairly similar set of uses as tuolumne.

For this task (clearing some forest) which of the implements do you find the most essential (chipper, grapple, backhoe, all of the them)? What were the considerations that went into picking the 448, Frontier and Salsco (other than the fact that these might have been what the JD dealer had). Besides the backhoe, are there any other ways to remove stumps?

For me, this would be a first tractor so I am thinking of going the same route by just getting the JD dealer to install the equipment.

thanks,
Shane

 

[tuolumne]

...For this task (clearing some forest) which of the implements do you find the most essential (chipper, grapple, backhoe, all of the them)? ...

The chipper would be the most essential. I do not have water available, but even if I did I would not consider a burn of that magnitude. I've used 3 full days chipping so far which would be $800 of rentals + the pickup hastle etc....we only go to the site on Saturdays and every minute counts. I have many days left for sure. I am also glad I spent the money on a 6" chipper (6"x9" opening) since feeding the tree tops is so much easier. If I had a 4" every fork would need to be cut with the chainsaw. Long term I now have a chipper to use every year when harvesting firewood or clearing more land. The backhoe will be essential for popping stumps and digging for the utilities. I only used it for a few hours to take out stumps along the driveway so far. The grapple is not essential, but well worth the expense as a timesaver. It allows quick transport of logs when compared to chaining a log to the bucket or trying to drag them from the drawbar. Consider a grapple with 4 logs from 10" to 16" diameter (1500 lb load) as shown in the picture. It is a 2 minute operation to grab them and run 100 feet to where I'm storing them (big stack). How long would that take to by other methods? How would they be stacked if dragging?

What were the considerations that went into picking the 448, Frontier and Salsco (other than the fact that these might have been what the JD dealer had). Besides the backhoe, are there any other ways to remove stumps?...

447 looks like a toy next to 448. If the 3520 can handle it, I wanted the biggest backhoe available. Salsco is American made (CT I believe) and it is what the dealer had in stock. I have no point of comparison, but it works well. The construction is very heavy. I had it apart last weekend to inspect the blades...they did not look like they had been used yet! The frontier implements are also what the dealer stocked...the front implements were compatible with the JD quick mount. They seem very robust. I would say a large track hoe would do a quicker job for the stumps. I may have the neighbor bulldoze out the majority of them and then used the backhoe to sift them out of the topsoil.

In general terms for the type of clearing I've been doing (decent slopes) I would say loaded rear tires are essential. If not, consider adding some additional weights to the chipper as ballast for the loader or grapple work. The backhoe is extremely simple to get on and off. The 3PH chipper is a little more awkward and quicker with two people. I-match makes little sense for me since most of my switching will be from the backhoe to some 3-point accessory and the i-match would just be an extra step. Did you order yet? 3rd function is necessary for grapple whether frontier or aftermarket bolt on style. I love the power reverser transmission.

 

[debushau]

Thanks for the great info.

I spoke with the dealer today and he recommended that 447 for the 3520 but maybe I should compare. The 447 was $6k or so.

I don't have third function on the loader that that's an add-on but they can get the Frontier 60" debris grapple which seems to be the model you used.

As for chippers, locally I can get the Wallenstein BX62 but there is also a Salsco dealer that I have put a call into. Others have used the Jinma on this forum which would also be a mail order possibility.

I am thinking about loading the rear tires. I ordered one set of wheel weights but at $100 for every 55lb, I am not so sure whether I want to buy more. The dealer used anti-freeze to load the tires which I did not like. I would rather find someone that uses Rim Guard or some other benign product.

The 3520 has ehydro and I bought it used (35 hours) from another dealer that's too far away so that's why I am equipping it after the fact.

Shane

 

[boatermark]

I got a Salsco 6" chipper without hydraulic feed. I could only use it for 30 minutes and it beat me up pretty good. The bare logs (and I did some up to 5") went through pretty good, but tree tops would get hung up and need a lot of pushing. The vibrations are what did me in.

Tuolumne...you may have figured this out already, but I found the best thing to do to avoid excessive vibrations are to hold onto the smallest twigs in the branch being chipped. With this in mind I try to keep as many small branches on the larger branches as possible when limbing trees. This gives me plenty of little branches to hold on to. They seem to remove you from vibration better. A 4" branch without anything little to hold on to is miserable...

 

[tuolumne]

Shane - If you fill in your profile to show your location others will be better able to make recommendations for you. Perhaps someone knows of a dealer nearby that will provide the Rimguard. I have the larger available R4 tires and I think they took something like 600 lbs each. If you have the smaller R4's or R1 tires the weight will be somewhat less. Wheel weights will get very expensive to do the same. I did look at the BX62 chipper at another dealer and was impressed. I have never used one. I believe it was more expensive than the Salsco, and the dealer I chose had the Salsco in stock. The 448 hoe is by no means too big for your tractor You should be able to find a 448 hoe for a little over 7k including mounting frame and installation. I would consider this $1000 very well spent. You're putting together a fairly expensive package here, so your dealer will likely provide some discount. I had wanted to install the ATI aftermarket grapple on my bucket and the dealer wouldn't do it. In retrospect, I am quite glad I got a dedicated unit. The geometry allows easier pickup and more logs. You might also consider a tine style grapple that can be used for brush etc. Mine works fine for brush, but it also will pick up some dirt and debris at the same time with the closed lower pan.

 

[tuolumne]

Tuolumne...you may have figured this out already, but I found the best thing to do to avoid excessive vibrations are to hold onto the smallest twigs in the branch being chipped. With this in mind I try to keep as many small branches on the larger branches as possible when limbing trees. This gives me plenty of little branches to hold on to. They seem to remove you from vibration better. A 4" branch without anything little to hold on to is miserable...

Thanks. I found my trouble was the throat opening on the chipper. Once I adjusted the blades to take a 1/4" bite instead of a 1/16" bite everything has been fine. I had to work too hard to force the wood through with that small opening. I find a 4" log will go through itself with gravity, and the branches take a little more manipulation. I agree that grabbing the smallest branches greatly helps with the vibration. Those big ones can shake you good if you forget to let go! One thumped the side of my helmet pretty good too.

 

[debushau]

Unfortunately no Rim Guard dealer anywhere nearby.

I might visit the JD dealer with a shopping list and see what they can do. In my experience, dealers around here are not much interested in cutting deals (demand is strong?). There's also a NH dealer nearby that stocks ATI and Bushog - I might also take a look at the equivalent bh, grapple, etc. package that he could put together. After the splurge on the 3520, I might have to negotiate with the spouse for these implements.