Brush Grabber

[GARBLUES]

Has anyone tried a Brush Grabber ? It looks like a Skidding Tong but has Grabbing Teeth on it. It doesn't weigh that much and I'm wondering if it's really strong enough to pull brush.

 

[Compact1]

GARBLUES,

Are you talking about the Brush Grubber by BAC Industries? If so, here's a link so everyone can look at the product: BAC Industries Heavy-Duty Brush Grubber Model# BG-08 | Brush Cutters | Northern Tool + Equipment

 

[mattcage]

I have one of those. Use it with my pickmeup to pull out small stuff. It works awesome. I thought it would be awesome, bought it and put it to use. The only thing is you may need a mallet to hit the back end of it to force the jaws open if they bite into the tree too much. Truck and traction seem to be the limitation on it.

Definitely get the heavy duty one. It is rather "heavy duty"; heavy in the box.

 

[IslandTractor]

I've seen these advertized before but I don't quite get why they would be any more useful than a piece of chain or nylon tow strap. You still need to get off the tractor to put them on a small tree or bush and therefore it would be the same as just wrapping a chain or strap around the tree. Where is the 1) time savings and 2) increased power/leverage etc?

The other point I've wondered is how this device would be any better than just knocking the small tree over with your FEL and then "pushing" out the roots with your bucket. I do that all the time with trees that are small enough to push over and I rather doubt this pullling clamp at the base of a small tree would provide any mechanical advantage over an FEL at six feet above the ground.

Am I missing something?

 

[dex3361]

I have the HD brush grabber and it is heavey duty and it enables you to more quickly hook up and disconnect the chain or strap to pull the brush or the small stump that a chain may slip off of.

 

[IslandTractor]

I have the HD brush grabber and it is heavey duty and it enables you to more quickly hook up and disconnect the chain or strap to pull the brush or the small stump that a chain may slip off of.

It doesn't take me more than about ten seconds to wrap a chain two or three times around a small tree trunk and hook to itself. I'd imagine a nylon strap would also be pretty quick to attach. I appreciate that the brush grabber clamps hard but if a tree is so small that it bends and allow the chain to slide off then I would imagine that same tree is small enough to just knock over with the FEL. I am still unconvinced.

 

[J_J]

Has anyone tried a Brush Grabber ? It looks like a Skidding Tong but has Grabbing Teeth on it. It doesn't weigh that much and I'm wondering if it's really strong enough to pull brush.

I have seen it in operation, but I would rather use this or that..

 

[IslandTractor]

I have seen it in operation, but I would rather use this or that..

Now that would save some time but costs $$$$ and would only be effective with a powerful loader. Love to have one though.

 

[dex3361]

It doesn't take me more than about ten seconds to wrap a chain two or three times around a small tree trunk and hook to itself. I'd imagine a nylon strap would also be pretty quick to attach. I appreciate that the brush grabber clamps hard but if a tree is so small that it bends and allow the chain to slide off then I would imagine that same tree is small enough to just knock over with the FEL. I am still unconvinced.

May not work for your application. I remove Multiflora Rose and it is a pain to get all the way around it with the chain, its hard enough to get in with the brush grabber.

 

[Solo]

I have one of the HD Brush Grubbers. I like it. Like someone else mentioned weight of the pulling vehicle is a limiting factor.

Solo

 

[Skyco]

Several things make it better than just pushing over with an FEL. I find that using it to lift while applying horizontal motion, both forward and backwards makes for a much cleaner removal. Then when you have the tree out you carry it to wherever you are gonna put it. I use mine on a short chain dangling off the FEL on my center mounted receiver/hook that I made.

Now if you don't have a means to lift it and can only pull horizontally then I agree it may be no better than a wrapped chain. The swivel teeth make it practical to lift and pull, I tried a pallet grabber first and without the teeth swiveling it would come off when changing pull direction from horizontal to vertical rocking a tree out.

YMMV IMHO etc..bottom line I'm very pleased with mine and would buy it again.

 

[GARBLUES]

Yes that's the attachment I'm talking about. Why is vehicle weight a factor ? I can understand pulling power. I don't have a FEL so that's why I'm thinking about the Grubber

 

[amigauser]

Yes that's the attachment I'm talking about. Why is vehicle weight a factor ? I can understand pulling power. I don't have a FEL so that's why I'm thinking about the Grubber

Heavier generally means better traction and more applied power. My previous tractor a B3030 weighed around 1000 lbs less than my current GL3240. I find that I can pull or push more weight with the GL3240 without spinning.

 

[J_J]

Here is a tree grubber that one of the guys built. Simple to build. 6 in channel welded to a cross bar. The owner might chime in and tell you if it works as planned. It would depend on the lifting weight.of your tractor. How I would this would be to lower it to the ground about 12 in from tree, and as you reverse, the grubber will go deeper and grab at the root area, and just keep pushing. You might not even have to lift. Just grub it.

Some hydraulic top link control would make it work really well.

 

[pitt_md]

It doesn't take me more than about ten seconds to wrap a chain two or three times around a small tree trunk and hook to itself. I'd imagine a nylon strap would also be pretty quick to attach. I appreciate that the brush grabber clamps hard but if a tree is so small that it bends and allow the chain to slide off then I would imagine that same tree is small enough to just knock over with the FEL. I am still unconvinced.

knocking the trees/brush over with the FEL works good. The only thing I can think of would be if the tree was in an area that you didn't want to tear up.

 

[J_J]

I don't believe that the original poster has a FEL.

 

[IslandTractor]

I don't believe that the original poster has a FEL.

Understood. That still leaves me wondering what the grabber does that a length of chain or polyester tow strap cannot do. Even for something with a multistemmed base like multiflora rose would seem to be easily wrapped with one or the other (several wraps by walking around the bush) and then just using the tractor to pull the chain/strap tight and then out of the ground. I've done that and it works (though I would most often use a grapple to push over and dig out). In any case it seems people who own the grabber like it.

 

[AKfish]

May not work for your application. I remove Multiflora Rose and it is a pain to get all the way around it with the chain, its hard enough to get in with the brush grabber.

There ya go! That makes sense... nasty brambles that are a PITA to crawl into and hook up a strap or chain - just snap those jaws on it and go.

Definitely like that SS attachment! But $90 vs $900..?

AKfish

 

[J_J]

Here is another simple one you could make to replace the bucket.

 

[qni51]

The biggest brush grabber that Northern carries is only medium size to the large one that BAC makes which sells for about $130 plus shipping direct.
That one is a monster.