pallet forks or grapple for boulders?

   / pallet forks or grapple for boulders? #21  
The trouble with forks is that you will need to get off the tractor to secure each rock and again to unload the forks as you'll need to remove the chain or whatever each time. Benefit of forks is that they are cheaper and have other uses besides brush, logs and rocks.

You certainly don't need a six foot grapple to move rocks. A smaller grapple will do the job just as well and give you greater net lift capacity. You should also be able to carry your standard bucket in the grapple if that is useful. Even lightduty grapples can lift pretty big rocks. I can lift a five or six foot Jersey barrier size slab with my 48 inch light duty grapple.

Using forks and chains to place a single decorative boulder makes a lot of sense. It would be rather time consuming to attempt using that system moving hundreds of rocks to actually build a wall. If a BH thumb is out of the question then just a grapple plus a few big crowbars would be faster. It is possible to be fairly precise with a grapple even though that is not how they are typically used. Certainly forward and backward is easy with the loader dump/curl and moving the tractor a bit. Lateral movements obviously require repositioning the tractor so moving inches laterally can be a hassle and difficult to do accurately.
 

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   / pallet forks or grapple for boulders? #22  
I believe two machines, a tractor with forks, and a BH with grapple, would be more efficient, using two drivers, and a rock setter. First person carries the boulder, second person sets the boulder. third person adjust if necessary, and repeat till finished.
 
   / pallet forks or grapple for boulders?
  • Thread Starter
#23  
Just found a "HD" 72" root grapple for $1,250. Twin cylinders up top, 1/2" tines and a "cutting edge" out front. More details forthcoming. I may jump on it, even though I should be careful with money. Can't find a set of forks in my area under $800, so what's another $450 for a 72" grapple? :laughing:

I gotta make sure it's a decent grapple-might be crap.
 
   / pallet forks or grapple for boulders? #24  
Builder,

Where is east of a *#~*#!%. I have several sets of forks.
 
   / pallet forks or grapple for boulders? #25  
JJ, I think that he is up in the North East.
 
   / pallet forks or grapple for boulders? #26  
I used the forks on my JCB 212. I didn't have a grapple. Some of the boulder were more than the loader could lift and just had to slide them in place on the bottom of the wall.
 
   / pallet forks or grapple for boulders? #27  
on the yellow chains is there some type of forks or is that the red chain wrap around
I made a boulder sling with about $10 in chain. Works great in setting large boulders exactly where needed. Not an original idea, I saw this somewhere on TBN in the projects area. One loop around the bottom (red), three lifting chains (yellow) to forks. Boulder is easily rotated while in the air.
 
   / pallet forks or grapple for boulders? #28  
I painted the loops to eliminate confusion. Yellow lifting, red around boulder. Simple & cheap. 3/8" bolts at the connection points, shake the chains in a paint can & hang to dry.
 

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