Grapple Which type of grapple is best suited for...

[TSO]

Stop wasting your time with a chainsaw. Get a ripper and take those trees out whole rather than being left with a nasty stump. Checkout the ripper thread from a year or two ago.

Do you mean a stump bucket / root ripper? I don't know if a tractor this size can handle the trees I'm doing. Its hard to see in the pics, but most of the trees I'm doing are 12" & bigger, oak & maple, with tough roots.

 

[IslandTractor]

Do you mean a stump bucket / root ripper? I don't know if a tractor this size can handle the trees I'm doing. Its hard to see in the pics, but most of the trees I'm doing are 12" & bigger, oak & maple, with tough roots.

Not a stump bucket. A BH mounted ripper tooth.

I cannot say for sure about bigger, but I have certainly removed 12" trees via the ripper and push over method. I agree that any bigger than that gets dicy as it would be hard to push them over even after ripping lateral roots. Trees with big tap roots might be tough too. Still, a bigger excavator would make quick work of those and you wouldn't be digging out stumps for the next year or two.

 

[mangus580]

So I put an hour or 2 on the tractor tonight using the grapple. The more I use it, the more disappointed I am with it. It seems 9 times out of 10 when I pick up a pile of stuff with it, almost all of it falls out. 2 different things are causing it, 1 is the lid design, and the other is the tine spacing.

With the lid design, it never actually can pinch anything between the tines. Also, having only 2 upper tines, there is little chance of actually pinching anything.

Even 'scooping' stuff up doesnt seem to go well for me. I seem to dig more dirt than anything with it!

I can see it working just fine with pile of brush, but I am dealing more with deadfall and firewood type chunks.

I also discovered today why it 'clatters' so much when adjusting the roll of the bucket, or up/down (anything really that jerks it in general). The quick attach openings are too large, and I have almost a 1/4" gap between the pin and the 'locking' side of the opening.


I know some of my issues are possibly still adjusting to using it, but I can see some things are not going to resolve with experience.

I wonder if I am asking too much. All I want to do is clean up the area in the pics...

 

[IslandTractor]

So I put an hour or 2 on the tractor tonight using the grapple. The more I use it, the more disappointed I am with it. It seems 9 times out of 10 when I pick up a pile of stuff with it, almost all of it falls out. 2 different things are causing it, 1 is the lid design, and the other is the tine spacing.

With the lid design, it never actually can pinch anything between the tines. Also, having only 2 upper tines, there is little chance of actually pinching anything.

Even 'scooping' stuff up doesnt seem to go well for me. I seem to dig more dirt than anything with it!

I can see it working just fine with pile of brush, but I am dealing more with deadfall and firewood type chunks.

I also discovered today why it 'clatters' so much when adjusting the roll of the bucket, or up/down (anything really that jerks it in general). The quick attach openings are too large, and I have almost a 1/4" gap between the pin and the 'locking' side of the opening.

I know some of my issues are possibly still adjusting to using it, but I can see some things are not going to resolve with experience.

I wonder if I am asking too much. All I want to do is clean up the area in the pics...

<img src="http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=317225"/><img src="http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=317226"/><img src="http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=317227"/>

That is a challenging task. The trees limit maneuverability and you are not dealing with brush or logs but rather various sized fallen branches. Recognizing that you don't have much volume, the upper jaw lid doesn't have much of a role so just leave it full open.. I would just push stuff into a pile and not try to move the pile until it was larger. I would also try just scooping branches into the grapple and curl to keep the load in place until adding to the bigger pile. Once you get a good sized pile, come over the top, crush the pile and in the same manuever, close the upper lid.

 

[mangus580]

That is a challenging task. The trees limit maneuverability and you are not dealing with brush or logs but rather various sized fallen branches. Recognizing that you don't have much volume, the upper jaw lid doesn't have much of a role so just leave it full open.. I would just push stuff into a pile and not try to move the pile until it was larger. I would also try just scooping branches into the grapple and curl to keep the load in place until adding to the bigger pile. Once you get a good sized pile, come over the top, crush the pile and in the same manuever, close the upper lid.

Thanks! That makes me feel a little better

So I AM expecting a bit too much out of it! Maybe I will just put the kids on the project....

 

[mangus580]

I forgot the picture that shows the gap I am referring to....

 

[murphy1244]

I forgot the picture that shows the gap I am referring to....

View attachment 317238

Yours a Wildcat?

 

[IslandTractor]

Thanks! That makes me feel a little better

So I AM expecting a bit too much out of it! Maybe I will just put the kids on the project....

If the kids put stuff in a pile, with branches lined up parallel, it would go a lot faster. Grapples are not very efficient picking up single small branches. I have neighbors who collect brush and branches like yours into piles about 50 ft apart. I wait until the piles look to be about a grapple full and then move them.

I have a special adapter for the FEL that allows me to mount 3PT implements up front. If I didn't have kids to make piles and had a large area, I would probably use a landscape rake on the FEL pointing forward to push stuff like this into a pile and then come back later with a grapple.

 

[mangus580]

If the kids put stuff in a pile, with branches lined up parallel, it would go a lot faster. Grapples are not very efficient picking up single small branches. I have neighbors who collect brush and branches like yours into piles about 50 ft apart. I wait until the piles look to be about a grapple full and then move them.

I have a special adapter for the FEL that allows me to mount 3PT implements up front. If I didn't have kids to make piles and had a large area, I would probably use a landscape rake on the FEL pointing forward to push stuff like this into a pile and then come back later with a grapple.

Both are great ideas..... I will have to consider such an adapter....

 

[TomSeller]

Yours a Wildcat?

No, he has a Titan from PalletForks. I have their forks that fit like his grapple, but they are forks so it is not an issue (not pulling with them). I have their rake grapple and have a good fit. They tightened up their manufacturing a while back, but it looks like they slipped back to their old ways.

 

[TomSeller]

Not a stump bucket. A BH mounted ripper tooth.

I cannot say for sure about bigger, but I have certainly removed 12" trees via the ripper and push over method. I agree that any bigger than that gets dicy as it would be hard to push them over even after ripping lateral roots. Trees with big tap roots might be tough too. Still, a bigger excavator would make quick work of those and you wouldn't be digging out stumps for the next year or two.

Well if you didn't have 11k of posts I would search for pictures of that bad boy ripper tooth on your BH. Mind saving me some search time and re-posting some pics? Thank you.

 

[mangus580]

No, he has a Titan from PalletForks. I have their forks that fit like his grapple, but they are forks so it is not an issue (not pulling with them). I have their rake grapple and have a good fit. They tightened up their manufacturing a while back, but it looks like they slipped back to their old ways.

Now I have to check my forks too!!

 

[IslandTractor]

Well if you didn't have 11k of posts I would search for pictures of that bad boy ripper tooth on your BH. Mind saving me some search time and re-posting some pics? Thank you.

I am traveling so don't have access to photos right now. However, there is a thread I started a couple of years ago titled something like "trees beware, I added a ripper to my Woods BH90x" that has lots of photos at the beginning as well as a pretty good discussion of various issues. Shouldn't be hard to find with the search tool. Basically, I worked with Michigan Iron and Equipment to adapt a full size excavator ripper tooth to scale for my Woods BH90x then to fabricate it. I then went to work removing trees with trunk diameters from about 5-15" by simply ripping through the roots around the base and then pushing the tree over. Works great and takes the "stump" out without nearly the soil disruption associated with digging a stump out after dropping a tree via traditional chainsaw method. And, to bring us back to grapples, I could then simply transport the ripped trees to a pile with my grapple. Very efficient combo for clearing 20-30 years of trash trees from a neglected pasture.

 

[Xfaxman]

Well if you didn't have 11k of posts I would search for pictures of that bad boy ripper tooth on your BH. Mind saving me some search time and re-posting some pics? Thank you.

Found it with google site search. http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/185530-added-ripper-my-woods-bh90x.html

 

[TSO]

I just checked out your thread... you're forgetting that I don't have a backhoe! With that said, if I had access to a backhoe or excavator... that would be my way of removing these trees as well.

 

[TomSeller]

Very cool thread on the ripper. Thank you.

 

[k0ua]

I forgot the picture that shows the gap I am referring to....

View attachment 317238

I would fix that gap pretty quick with a welder and some steel. Show the photo to the manufacture, and if you don't weld yourself , take it to a local weldor and see if the manufacture can pay to have it done.. Should not be much money. I would be afraid with it shifting around, it might pop off on one side and twist your SSQA. I really think you ought to fix it.

James K0UA

 

[mangus580]

I would fix that gap pretty quick with a welder and some steel. Show the photo to the manufacture, and if you don't weld yourself , take it to a local weldor and see if the manufacture can pay to have it done.. Should not be much money. I would be afraid with it shifting around, it might pop off on one side and twist your SSQA. I really think you ought to fix it.

James K0UA

I plan to fix it - problem is, I only have my dads 110v MIG here, and my trailer axle has sprung a leak so to speak.....

 

[IslandTractor]

I plan to fix it - problem is, I only have my dads 110v MIG here, and my trailer axle has sprung a leak so to speak.....

<img src="http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=317391"/>

110v MIG running fluxcore would be fine. You just need to put in spacers. Tack welds would probably work so a bead of 0.030 fluxcore would certainly do the trick.

 

[Herkypilot]

110v MIG running fluxcore would be fine. You just need to put in spacers. Tack welds would probably work so a bead of 0.030 fluxcore would certainly do the trick.

I fixed my Wildcat grapple and forks with putting 1/4" spacer plates on the bottom brackets. Works great and the implements fit tight now.