Tractors and wood! Show your pics

[John_Mc]

Run a few wraps of electrical tape around the end before cutting. It helps cut down on the fraying.

 

[rdl]

That yellow lid almost looks like a mirage, I can not see the support.

No kidding... I'm still confused.

I didn't even notice the "floating" grapple...I was busy wondering where you got an all-grey Kubota L5740.

Here is a video of the grapple which includes that log in the photo, sorry about the confusion. i was just trying to show off my photography skills

CFP Cotech - YouTube

 

[lpigott]

Got my new Titan splitter yesterday.
All I had to do was put the proper ends on the hoses and it was ready to go.
Bucked up some wood tough oak to test it.
It works great and will be very versatile.

 

[goeduck]

Here is a video of the grapple which includes that log in the photo, sorry about the confusion. i was just trying to show off my photography skills

CFP Cotech - YouTube

Very interesting. Sawyer Rob has been pitching the advantages of a fork grapple for some time. Sure makes for less equipment.

 

[dragoneggs]

Very interesting. Sawyer Rob has been pitching the advantages of a fork grapple for some time. Sure makes for less equipment.

That is cool. I could see a SCUT version in my future Whether I buy or DIY. Add on to my fork set up would be sweet rather than investing in a a grapple.

 

[square1]

My cable is 8mm, seems so if I get a cable cutter big enough for 3/8 that would do it, anyone use one of these types of wire rope cutters>>> Heavy Duty Wire Rope Cutter 24" New in box SFD 7616531465 | eBay I like to have a good way to cut cable down in the woods, usually when I break my cable I have about 6' of fryed cable to try to whin back up so I can get the sliders back on, got to be carefull when looking at these cutters cause some are only made for alluminum and copper not steel wire rope.

A Google search didn't turn anything up on what I thought was a well known technique for cutting cable. The butt of the chisel must rest on something solid of course.

 

[Gordon Gould]

That's a good video on the forks/grapple combo. I can see how useful the grapple addition is. Not for me though. You need a steadier hand than I have trying to grapple with forks. They are so long you just touch the curl/dump control and I am either down in the dirt or way to high with the tips which most of the time you can't see because they are buried in the brush. The other thing I have a problem with is logs. You have to roll them off. You can't place them. Rolling off is great for feeding a mill but it is tough loading a truck or trailer because it is better to place them carefully when loading when building a load.

gg

 

[Bocephous]

Got my new Titan splitter yesterday.View attachment 546086View attachment 546087View attachment 546088
All I had to do was put the proper ends on the hoses and it was ready to go.
Bucked up some wood tough oak to test it.View attachment 546089
It works great and will be very versatile.
View attachment 546090

What is the cycle time on it? Any chance of a video of it at work?

 

[Sawyer Rob]

That's a good video on the forks/grapple combo. I can see how useful the grapple addition is. Not for me though. You need a steadier hand than I have trying to grapple with forks. They are so long you just touch the curl/dump control and I am either down in the dirt or way to high with the tips which most of the time you can't see because they are buried in the brush.

Once you get use to them, you can "feel" exactly what they are doing, you don't need to see what they are doing under the brush. Because they are long, they want to glide on top of the ground, unless you point the tips in the dirt

The other thing I have a problem with is logs. You have to roll them off. You can't place them. Rolling off is great for feeding a mill but it is tough loading a truck or trailer because it is better to place them carefully when loading when building a load.
gg

Not true at all...

I pick up logs for many reasons,

and set them exactly where I want them, no rolling at all,

Even on a truck, trailer or loaded wagon,

I can even pick logs out of a pile to sort them, and the long forks have the added advantage of moving unwanted logs in the pile out of the way... You can pull one log back with the grapple and hold it back while you keep sorting with the rest of the forks that are sticking out.

There are just so many more uses that they WILL do, that a dedicated grapple won't do...

SR

 

[MossRoad]

That's a good video on the forks/grapple combo. I can see how useful the grapple addition is. Not for me though. You need a steadier hand than I have trying to grapple with forks. They are so long you just touch the curl/dump control and I am either down in the dirt or way to high with the tips which most of the time you can't see because they are buried in the brush. The other thing I have a problem with is logs. You have to roll them off. You can't place them. Rolling off is great for feeding a mill but it is tough loading a truck or trailer because it is better to place them carefully when loading when building a load.

gg

I think the whole point of the grapple finger on forks is so that you can grip stuff, like logs, and it won't roll off the forks uncontrolled.

As for the touchyness of the loader controls, maybe you could benefit from some restrictors in the lines to slow down the speed of the cylinders, to make your machine not so sensitive to joystick movement.

I know my machine has some very touchy hydraulics, and I can fling things like landscape timbers 8' out from the machine with the forks if I'm not careful.

 

[PhysAssist]

A Google search didn't turn anything up on what I thought was a well known technique for cutting cable. The butt of the chisel must rest on something solid of course.

View attachment 546134

Watch this: Axes and Beyond - YouTube
Starting at 05:38

 

[Gordon Gould]

I am sure SR and MossRoad can work with long forks like they say but like I said - Not For Me because I have trouble. For grabbing round bales and stacks of lumber they are great but the forks always seem to be in my way and way to cumbersome for use as a grapple. And if I want to grab a log on the end like SR shows I have to grab it 4 times before I get it dead center so it doesn't ride up the forks or s..t out the bottom. I am just not cut out for them.

gg

 

[lpigott]

What is the cycle time on it? Any chance of a video of it at work?

I didn’t time it but plenty fast with the tractor at fast idle. Would be much faster at higher rpm but it’s as fast as I care to be running lower rpms. My tractor has a little over 16 gpm flow so it would be slower and require higher rpms to be higher on lower flow tractors. I’ll try to get a video next time I use it. Getting an 8” PTO chipper and PTO stump grinder delivered today

 

[MossRoad]

I am sure SR and MossRoad can work with long forks like they say but like I said - Not For Me because I have trouble. For grabbing round bales and stacks of lumber they are great but the forks always seem to be in my way and way to cumbersome for use as a grapple. And if I want to grab a log on the end like SR shows I have to grab it 4 times before I get it dead center so it doesn't ride up the forks or s..t out the bottom. I am just not cut out for them.

gg

Don't sell yourself short. I'm sure you could do it with some practice, or maybe someone that's done it before shows you how a few times and bam! All of a sudden it clicks.

I had some issues dropping trees in the direction I wanted them to go. So I watched a bazillion videos, practiced on some really small trees with really small cuts and watched the results. Now I'm pretty good at looking at a tree and figuring out which way I'll be able to fell it and which way I won't.

Now I can usually drop them within a foot or two of where I think they'll go. Like anything else, its just practice and observe results, practice and observe results. You can do it. :thumbsup:

 

[lpigott]

Well the chipper and stump grinder showed up today in the pouring rain. At least I stayed dry unloading them.

 

[BrokenTrack]

I prefer a grapple over forks as well, though I do have a set. They have their place, like piling up tree length wood, but operating my grapple is much faster, keeps the log up out of the dirt, and can reach higher, swing wider, and overall has a lot more dexterity than I can with my forks.

I use my grapple for moving hay bales too, but in combination with my forks it makes for a formidable team. I can sweep a bale up with my forks, then drive by another bale and swing it onto my log trailer, go to the next one and with (1) on the front end loader, and (2) on my trailer, go to the house with 3 bales in short order.

Another method is to use my Grocery-Getter (Ford Explorer) and use my grapple to swing on (2) bales. It is only 2 bales granted, but the Explorer moves a lot faster then my tractor so it makes up for it.

 

[terryknight]

Well the chipper and stump grinder showed up today in the pouring rain. At least I stayed dry unloading them.
View attachment 546188View attachment 546189

let us know how the stump grinder works. i've been wanting one, but instead i save up a lot of stumps and then go rent a stump grinder, pick it up at 5 fri and as long as i have it back mon at 9 and use less than 8 hrs they only charge me one day

 

[PhysAssist]

I prefer a grapple over forks as well, though I do have a set. They have their place, like piling up tree length wood, but operating my grapple is much faster, keeps the log up out of the dirt, and can reach higher, swing wider, and overall has a lot more dexterity than I can with my forks.

I use my grapple for moving hay bales too, but in combination with my forks it makes for a formidable team. I can sweep a bale up with my forks, then drive by another bale and swing it onto my log trailer, go to the next one and with (1) on the front end loader, and (2) on my trailer, go to the house with 3 bales in short order.

Another method is to use my Grocery-Getter (Ford Explorer) and use my grapple to swing on (2) bales. It is only 2 bales granted, but the Explorer moves a lot faster then my tractor so it makes up for it.

Well, your multi-articulated swiveling grapple is in another league altogether- much more like the ones they use to drop wood off of the forestry trucks when we get deliveries of fire wood from our tree surgeon suppliers.

Can I ask about what the price point was on that? [Ball park numbers only]

I'm going to show your pictures to SWMBO, and threaten to go buy one- I'm sure if I'd had that 2 weeks ago when we pulled a bunch of logs off our stockpile, and into the barn for bucking and splitting, I wouldn't have been laid up with neck spasms all the past week.

The debate of pure grapples vs grapples on forks makes me smile- at our place, it's either me [with hookeroon and/or log jack], and/or log tongs chained to the bucket [along with our bucket forks] that do what you all use your grapples for.

But I understand that you all are in production, and we're just doing what little we need for heating our little shack in the woods [and cleaning out said woods].

 

[PhysAssist]

Well the chipper and stump grinder showed up today in the pouring rain. At least I stayed dry unloading them.
View attachment 546188View attachment 546189

Somebody got a good tax return check this year! :thumbsup:

 

[4570Man]

I am sure SR and MossRoad can work with long forks like they say but like I said - Not For Me because I have trouble. For grabbing round bales and stacks of lumber they are great but the forks always seem to be in my way and way to cumbersome for use as a grapple. And if I want to grab a log on the end like SR shows I have to grab it 4 times before I get it dead center so it doesn't ride up the forks or s..t out the bottom. I am just not cut out for them.

gg

On nearly level ground following the tip of the forks along the ground isn't hard. I'd like to see anyone do a good job raking up brush without gouging the ground across un level ground.