Tree Hugger as poor man's boulder mover

[PTWannaHave]

Hello all,

I was wondering if anyone had purchased the PT Tree Hugger, but was using it for a completely different purpose. In my case, I would consider using it as a poor man's rock grapple (alternative to EZ Spot UR - Rock and Tree Hand is the ideal multi-purpose attachment.), to build a dry stone fence.

Attached pics show the project 1/3-1/2 completed, done by hiring a local with a backhoe. What's left to do would be adding more height with smaller boulders than what you see, but large rocks nonetheless.

I was thinking that the tree hugger would be a better choice of implement than forks for that job, and would be a reasonable compromise in price & capability between forks and a genuine rotating rock grapple.

Bye for now,

 

[Craig Clayton]

Very nice. Now on to Stonehedge.
Craig Clayton

 

[Dirt Farmer]

Hello PTWannahave,

I would love to have that attachment for a similar purpose. My property is loaded with rocks and boulders. How much does that attachment cost$$$$.
Nice fence line!

 

[PTWannaHave]

Hello Dirt Farmer,

The PT Tree Hugger is $1800 for a PT-1430. I'm not sure of the price of the EZ Spot UR, but I recall seeing an old post with a price of several thousands. I would suspect $4.5K and up...

 

[KentT]

I wasn't moving rocks of the size in your first pic, especially, but I liked the way I could handle 200-400 lb rocks using the minihoe with thumb. It's 4' long, so you lose some lift capability if you have it curled and pointing straight ahead, but it will lift to full capacity directly underneath the QA point...

I love the "hoe" as far as being a versatile implement for general property maintenance and landscaping... it's my second-most used attachment, after the grapple bucket. The grapple bucket stays on the machine, and I use it for all kinds of things.

Note that I have an aftermarket thumb welded onto my minihoe, not the PT bolt-on one...

 

[Carpenter]

From the title of this thread, I thought I was going to be reading about an incredibly strong environmentalist.

 

[Gravy]

I have found the $800 utility grapple to be very effective at moving boulders as well as lots of other stuff. I suspect the $1800 tree hugger would be less versatile.

 

[Clumber]

See alternatives on the "New" menu tab on the PT home page: NEW.

Some of the large stones in your photos may weight more than the 1200 lb lift capacity of the PT1430... You may need a larger lift capacity for some of the stones. These attachments have many other uses as well.

 

[PTWannaHave]

I have found the $800 utility grapple to be very effective at moving boulders as well as lots of other stuff. I suspect the $1800 tree hugger would be less versatile.

Good point, thx. Does the utility grapple tilt a complete 90 degrees down? If so, you could open the mouth and grab a boulder from the top, and deposit the boulder where desired?

My train of thought with the Tree Hugger was to come with the tool open, close the jaws underneath both sides of the boulder until the boulder cannot fall through, lift and deposit the boulder at its new location in the reverse order.

However, if the utility grapple will work just as well, it would be a $500 savings for a PT-1430, not to mention that the utility grapple is most likely more useful as you point out! (The utility grapple for a 1430 is listed at $1300.)

 

[Gravy]

It won't do 90*, but it can pick most up from the top.