Opinions please on this grapple attachment

[m5040]

Could you just brush hog the Mountain Laurel?

Just curious... I have never worked with it.

All the best,

Peter

It grows on average 4' to 8' high and it is harder then oak. I have gone from the top down since the PT can lift the mower up but it is time consuming and dangerous on side hills which I have a lot. If you try and push it over with a rough cut mower, most of the time because it is so hard and doesn't bend, the root ball ends up pushing up on one side. It will grow back if you don't remove the root ball. I have been using a cheap Titan tree puller to remove the whole thing at one time and stacking it, then using grapple bucket to load small dump tractor.

 

[m5040]

I would gladly throw away my single lid grapple for one of these. Impossible to get long stuff out of a forest or move it down a road or trail.

Right, it is hard to go down the trails with it cross wise, need to keep the length to 8 or 10 feet, even less. So the rotating grapple has its advantages for sure. But it is a big chunk of change. I am leaning to not getting it now, but who knows...

 

[oosik]

My only "brush" is Buck brush. Nothing like your Mountain Laurel. Buck brush grows to a very max of three feet high and will have a stem diameter of 1". Easily ripped out, shook to remove most of the root bound dirt and then piled for winter burning. I could also chip but it would take forever and I won't run dirt thru the chipper. It could be cut with a bush hog but it will grow back if the roots aren't removed.

I finally watched the video. I can see why the guy likes the grapple. The de-limbing operation is interesting also.

 

[m5040]

I am amazed on how good the operators get when you spend all day in the machines, like a part of your own body.

 

[MossRoad]

Moss - you make a compelling point. It could be hard to justify, considering the price difference. Plus your setup would be a whole lot less weight to deal with.
I have no knowledge of logging as you guys do. I always thought you just wrapped a chain around a log and pulled.

Undergrowth and the multitude of small trees certainly add to the "adventure" of your operations, Moss.

I don't consider my operation logging. :laughing: It's firewood gathering. But the principle is similar. If I had a bigger machine, I could retrieve bigger trees. I drop 50-60 trees, limbing each one after I drop them, and cutting them into lengths I think my machine can pull. Then I drive into the pile of pickup sticks right over the branches and pull out the pieces I want to keep. I'm fortunate that I don't have to pick up any of the branches, and just leave them lay to rot. If I had to pick the branches up, I'd use a grapple. Sometimes I do move some branches out of the way, like near my paths, but then I just use my forks with a backstop and push them out of the way to the sides of the trails. Never a need to pull the branches any distance. Leave em lay to replenish the soil.

 

[oosik]

We burned pine the first ten years we were here. I learned, real soon, that dragging logs for firewood meant an extra time or two sharpening the chain saw. Mt St Helen's volcanic ash is still a major soil type here. I cut-to-length & split right where the tree fell. De-barking the pine trees was a big help also.

I've had my grapple on the M6040 for four years and still not as fluid as I would like to be. I get the job done but some of my multi-function movements can still be a tad bit spastic.

 

[m5040]

I originally bought the tree puller attachment for my M6040, but it is hard not seeing over the hood. I was always guessing where the attachment ended up in relation to the tree, clamp and lift, oops nothing, backup and try again. The puller works much easier on the Power trac since I can see everything, almost seems like cheating. I do miss the radio and heated cab during the winter. If I didn't find the Power Trac, I might have installed the puller on the 3 pt hitch so I could see what I was doing, but it doesn't have much range of motion.

 

[SpringHollow]

A rotating grapple would be very nice to have but the price makes it difficult to justify. I have used Moss' setup even before getting a PT. It works but there are lots of times where it would be nice to turn the log without damaging trees etc.

 

[MossRoad]

Long trees can be an issue. I think if I had a winch, I'd have the same constraints on length that I have with the tongs as far as rubbing up against trees that I don't want to damage.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I might just put one of these on my want list. I wonder what to look out for when buying a used one. Especially if it's just sitting there, not connected to anything to try it.