All your welding tips and advice paid off

[IslandTractor]

wow, that is really impressive. I'm curious about the size of the hooks you used. They are larger than the ones the dealer welded
onto my FEL, which is a size larger than yours. I was told that's the right size for 3/8 chain. I looked at the small hooks rather skeptically, particularly when my one nice piece of chain won't fit in the smaller hooks.

As far as the bucket shackle, which I really like, are you pulling anything really heavy with that? Or just lifting?
I'm clearing downed trees out of the woods and due to inexperience am not sure when the drawbar must be used, or if I can pull
backwards using the FEL. And a nifty shackle like yours.

You can pull backwards with the FEL but you probably don't want to do that for more than a few tractor lengths. It is useful in brush to be able to use the FEL to raise the end of logs up off the ground and pull them into a clearing but for longer distances it is best to use the drawbar and ideally a logging winch. Alternatively, cut the tree into smaller logs where you fell it and use a grapple to move them.

 

[Teikas Dad]

wow, that is really impressive. I'm curious about the size of the hooks you used. They are larger than the ones the dealer welded
onto my FEL, which is a size larger than yours. I was told that's the right size for 3/8 chain. I looked at the small hooks rather skeptically, particularly when my one nice piece of chain won't fit in the smaller hooks.

As far as the bucket shackle, which I really like, are you pulling anything really heavy with that? Or just lifting?
I'm clearing downed trees out of the woods and due to inexperience am not sure when the drawbar must be used, or if I can pull
backwards using the FEL. And a nifty shackle like yours.

They are 3/8" hooks that I got from Ken's. I don't plan on lifting anything really heavy with the center shackle, that's intended more for when I'm lifting with nylon straps. Anything heavy (up to 1000 lbs) will be lifted with the chainhooks.