Not another grapple thread!?!?

[Raincoast]

Thanks Xfaxman... I did take a look at that grapple. Its a bit heavier than I wanted & pretty pricey with all the shipping & customs charges included.
I was on Vancouver Island for other business yesterday & stopped in to see my Kioti dealer. Drove away with a 4' Martach in the back of the truck & a boxful of hydraulic components. It is a bit heavy too, but I got a decent price because it was mis ordered for another customer. The grapple on their website is WAY different than the one I bought. Much better design than the pictures . Decision made! Now I can stop obsessing about which grapple to buy & go have some fun.
Thanks to everyone for their input (And safety reminders)
Cheers. Dan

 

[txdon]

Pics?

 

[Raincoast]

Yeah... Pics will come when I figger out how to post 'em. Still have to get the new remote hooked up & get the necessary hoses & fittings. I popped off the bucket & attached the grapple this morning... Looks like it will do the job without breaking a sweat. Very sturdy piece of equipment! Nice tight fit on the SSQA.
Feel like crap right now after 1 1/2 hours in the dentists chair. It's gonna have to wait 'till tomorrow before I start on the hyd. installation.
Cheers y'all.
Dan

 

[woodchipper]

Congratulations Dan1 Your unit will give you hours of joy!! Well buit, and designed as well.
Be sure to bring out the action pics when you get the chance please!

 

[Xfaxman]

Yeah... Pics will come when I figger out how to post 'em. Still have to get the new remote hooked up & get the necessary hoses & fittings. I popped off the bucket & attached the grapple this morning... Looks like it will do the job without breaking a sweat. Very sturdy piece of equipment! Nice tight fit on the SSQA.
Feel like crap right now after 1 1/2 hours in the dentists chair. It's gonna have to wait 'till tomorrow before I start on the hyd. installation.
Cheers y'all.
Dan

Hope you are feeling better.

Posting pictures: http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/photos/107314-photo-posting-how-3.html#post3967120

 

[TomSeller]

Yeah... Pics will come when I figger out how to post 'em. Still have to get the new remote hooked up & get the necessary hoses & fittings. I popped off the bucket & attached the grapple this morning... Looks like it will do the job without breaking a sweat. Very sturdy piece of equipment! Nice tight fit on the SSQA.
Feel like crap right now after 1 1/2 hours in the dentists chair. It's gonna have to wait 'till tomorrow before I start on the hyd. installation.
Cheers y'all.
Dan

Heal up and get those pictures coming. Seriously, take care. Anxiously waiting. I used to take clients salmon fishing in your area. Beautiful. God's country.

 

[Raincoast]

I'm baaaack.
Finally got all the bits & pieces together today & gave the new grapple a trial run, just as it was getting too dark to see. I picked up a few small stumps & dropped 'em on the fire pile (not burning) & it worked great. With the fairly long bottom tines, I had no trouble hanging on to the stumps. I did seriously crush a couple of them... Not a tool for transporting eggs.
Tomorrow, I plan to pick up a couple of old buried cedars & split them into fence posts. The logs are deeply buried under dirt & salmonberry bushes. Should be fun, climbing a new learning curve.
I'll take some pics & post them.
I still have to clean up the routing & put some anti chafe tubing on the hoses, but everything went together very smoothly. One day, I may put in an electric valve, but for now I'm happy reaching down to push the second remote lever to open / close the grapple.
Thanks for posting the picture loading instructions, X-man. I'm not good at that stuff, but will give it a whirl.
Tom...yes, this area does feel like God's country. (Especially when it stops raining). We are thankful every day to have such a beautiful & peaceful place to live.
Cheers Y'all. Dan

 

[smitesmash]

Good luck with your new grapple.

I remember last summer when I was obsessively researching different grapple stles and manufacturers. Finally went with "the rake shop".
As I'm nearby, but a bit south of you id expect to have similar plants and soil types, although I'm on the edge of the terminal moraine, which means I have more silt, and less erratic stones.

Although I have not run into any too big (yet)

 

[k0ua]

Hi Raincoast, congratulations on getting your grapple up and going. You will really enjoy having it. Here is what I did to extend the rear remote level to make it easier to operate the grapple lid and keep your hand on the main joystick. It just makes the operation a bit smoother and faster.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...on-control-valve-lever.html?highlight=grapple

 

[woodchipper]

Congrats Dan on your new toy! Very usefull it will be. Procuring you with so many coming hours of play!
It takes a while to getting used to your new coordination. Your brain transmits new commands to your hand...feeling a little strange in the begining :confused2: :dance1: