I suck at using a grapple

[oosik]

I did not have a grapple when we burned firewood - unfortunately. But I use my grapple extensively to pick a big rock out of a row of rocks - works great.

Short story - homesteader on adjoining property had four sons. One of their MAJOR jobs was to clear the rocks out of selected fields. I can imagine a rock sled pulled by mules. Anyhow there are miles and miles of "rock walls/fences" on the adjoining property to the north. I have permission to pick rocks off these walls - as long as I don't make a mess. For some strange reason - my meadows are basically rock free. Maybe the neighbors sons wandered - ???

Anyhow - if I ever need a rock(s) - talking about a rock half the size of your average office desk - I can get one there. Its a long trip - so I will go with my farm wagon - it can carry many at the same time(rated at 20,000#). I know this may sound strange to a lot of you - kind of like bringing ice to the Eskimos - but the only large rock I have, and its just one, is the size of my tractor and in one of my far fields.

This trailer is fantastic for large rock and big chunks of pine trunk. I built it up from brand new Horst running gear in 2012.


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The trip to some of these walls is anywhere from one to three miles - one way. Fortunately, it is across open fields and involves no travel on any type of road system.

 

[plowhog]

I traveled to Scotland many years ago. I was astouned at the number of rock walls. All hand built, setting one rock at a time, after you found that rock a distance away and brought it to the well. Miles of such walls-- fencing property, cross-fencing, and so on. The hours/months/years/decades and more to build all that was impressive.

 

[oosik]

PLOWHOG - a word of encouragement. I've had my grapple since 4/2014 - - four and a half years. I've gotten better with use - you will also.

Like me, you will find ways to be more efficient with your grapple. I will NEVER be as good as that person who uses a grapple every day in his work - I just need to be good enough to do what I want to do and be safe doing it. I'm retired - time is a luxury that I have.

 

[jjp8182]

Since it seems I have a slightly different type of grapple (66" single lid EA Wicked Grapple), I'm having to think through how to translate how what I do would translate into other types of grapples -- so if it doesn't make sense let me know what isn't clear and I'll make another attempt.

Anyway, what I do when cleaning up limbs/trees/debris is to drive into the brush with the front bottom lip on (or just above) the ground, and the grapple tilted forward such that the bottom inside of the grapple (which will be making contact with the material) makes an angle between 15 and 35-ish degrees with the ground. This is to allows the grapple to catch and roll the material into a pile, at which point I either put the FEL arms into a float position or lift the arms (to keep from lifting the front of the tractor) as I tilt the grapple even further forward to a point where the lid hinge will be directly above (or very close to directly above) the point where the lid/lips will be close. Then it's just a simple matter of closing the grapple and hauling the material off like normal.

So essentially once I've gotten a pile, I'm just using the ground to provide back pressure on the load to keep it from squirting out as it's squeezed by the closing grapple jaws.

While I'm not an expert with a grapple, I can routinely get large/overflowing loads of most kinds of material (tree trunks, branches, limbs, windrows of weeds/vegetation, etc) through use of this method (at least with my grapple/tractor combination) ..... and on really good days I can also use this technique to gather up single branches as small as 1/2" to 3/4" in diameter that may have strayed from a larger loose pile which makes final clean up a lot easier/faster.

 

[EddieWalker]

what does your grapple look like? I went with one that has two arms that close down on what I'm picking up because it's never even. Each arm closes as far as it can and puts maximum pressure on what it's holding. Rarely does anything all out. When it does, it's almost always because I have branches hanging down to the ground and I catch them on something. Usually one of my front tires.

 

[Coyote machine]

I have a Igland brand Log Grapple, the GR-20. I't amazing, and I pick up whole trees with it, limbed or not. It's sometimes a precarious balance with a 40' long tree, but when my subframe 1000+# hoe is on the back end with loaded tires, I can maneuver carefully to get trees to my landing.
Think I've had it for about 8 years or thereabout, and it never lets me down. Its got two feet on the bottom jaw and an upper jaw that is two sides connected in the middle to enable pulling things toward the grapple.
Its light, 350#s and allows me in close. It will pickup big rocks and most anything I can grab with it.
It takes caution to work in tight spaces in the woods if a cut tree hangs in another, I can't allow the tree I'm pulling on to get unhung and then twist the FEL/grapple and flip the tractor on it's side.

Otherwise its one of my favorite tools! It rocks!:thumbsup:

To the OP, take it slow and think ahead. If piling branches to collect later face all butt ends the same way and pile up so you can approach them parallel to your jaws.
With use it becomes easier.

 

[ericm979]

I have a dual lid grapple too. I thought it would work better than a single lid for firewood rounds. Maybe it does but it's still not a lot more effective than using the loader bucket.

I've already punctured a front tire- I got a little too close to a fallen down cabin and ran over a board with a nail in it that was hidden in the leaves. When I remove the old cabin this winter I'll be pulling it apart by hand and stacking the boards into the grapple or atv trailer.

 

[goeduck]

Plowhog, your post says clamshell. What type of grapple do you have? Rake?

 

[atsah]

I traveled to Scotland many years ago. I was astouned at the number of rock walls. All hand built, setting one rock at a time, after you found that rock a distance away and brought it to the well. Miles of such walls-- fencing property, cross-fencing, and so on. The hours/months/years/decades and more to build all that was impressive.

You don't have to go to Scotland to see miles of rock walls placed one at a time, Massachusetts is loaded with them..

 

[oosik]

Coyote Machine-post #16 - makes an excellent point. If you have a grapple and you are collecting limbs - into a pile - pile them all one way - they will be a whole lot easier to grab with your grapple.

I don't have limbs - I have small pine trees - 1" to 6" on the butt. I will thin as many as a dozen or more stands during my annual spring thinning project. Some years I want to chip all the little thinned trees - normally 850 to 950 - in one single spot. So I will drag out 60 to 80 small trees from one thinned stand and pile them in three or four piles - ALL BUTTS POINTED IN THE SAME DIRECTIONS.

It makes a significant difference in being able to pluck them when stacked this way. Limbs, small trees, brush, trash lumber are tough to grab with a rock & root grapple, like mine. So every little bit helps.

The slope on the bottom tines of my rock & root grapple tends to push loose material away. I've learned how to overcome this - I will use either the top or bottom jaw to collect the material into a pile and then raise up over this pile - open the jaws wide - come straight down on the pile and close the jaws. It tends to gather dirt also - so after you have the material firmly gripped - shake the jaws to make the dirt fall out.

This grappling process uses the ground to help hold the loose material while you grapple it up. If I try to slide under a pile with the bottom jaw - I will likely end up pushing the pile all over the place.