Grappling fun - A Picture Thread....

[Luke'sScreenName]

Need to move this twig. I feel my front axles crying in pain doing this kind of thing.

 

[tractorshopper]

Twig? That's more like a splinter! JK

 

[John_Mc]

if the block is attached to the pulled object it doubles the pull. if it is used to redirect the pull (around a corner) the pull is not doubled

You described that much more succinctly than my attempt.

routing the winch cable through the snatchblock and returning the hook end to the actual winch backblade area or in same plane, to a nearby tree, etc. to use 100' of cable doubled back for effective length of 50' from load point, but is that the only way one accomplishes doubling the pull force/strength?

Yes, that is the only way to double the pull. The doubling happens because you are pulling 2 feet of rope for every one foot you move the log. It's sort of the same concept as using a big breaker bar on a stubborn nut: you have to move the end of the long bar a lot more inches to get the same degree of rotation than you would if you vere just using a 12" wrench - but you get mre leverage with the long bar.

If you are just redirecting through a snatch block, you don't gain any pulling power.

BTW, it sounds as though you are using a block which needs to be manually released. If you use a block to redirect fairly regularly, it's worth looking in to a self-releasing snatch block. The cable pops out of the block as the choker hits it, so you don;t have to walk back and manually release it. It's a big time-saver when you need to have a dogleg in your pull. I sometimes even use it on a straight pull: I'll set up the self-releasing block just across the trail from where my logs are coming out, then spot the tractor down the trail a bit. When I pull the logs out across the trail, the block releases, and the logs are pulled toward the tractor, so they lay along side of and parallel to the trail. If I don't pile so many up that they block the trail, I can still drive by them or right up next to them for loading.

 

[Gordon Gould]

Here's some pictures of rocks I plucked from the ground this afternoon.

Looks like you are having fun plucking rocks :thumbsup:

What do you do with them ??

gg

 

[Gordon Gould]

Need to move this twig. I feel my front axles crying in pain doing this kind of thing.

That grapple work good on logs, even crooked ones, doesn't it.

gg

 

[saxnbees]

Looks like you are having fun plucking rocks :thumbsup:

What do you do with them ??

gg

I have rocks in our fields that I have worked around for years so I am pulling them up and putting them on existing stone walls. I am also planning to pull some rocks from our trails and those will probably just be placed to the side of the trail.

Either way, I need to get some fill to take the place of the rocks I removed from the ground.

 

[Luke'sScreenName]

I have rocks in our fields that I have worked around for years so I am pulling them up and putting them on existing stone walls. I am also planning to pull some rocks from our trails and those will probably just be placed to the side of the trail.

Either way, I need to get some fill to take the place of the rocks I removed from the ground.

From experience, that starts out as a reasonable project, and turns into a much bigger project.

 

[saxnbees]

From experience, that starts out as a reasonable project, and turns into a much bigger project.

Sounds like good advice that is already proving to be true as evidenced by the fact that I need to get fill for the resulting holes!

 

[Coyote machine]

Thanks to all who chimed in on the doubling the pull questions. I guess old dogs CAN learn new tricks! Who knew?!
OR, this was a test any you all passed on the who knows the answer scale!:thumbsup:
I believe Windy Knoll sells the NO teeth version of the rock plate for around $50, with no S/H to my local store;and IIRC, it fits both Gr-20 Igland AND Frostbite, according to the owner at Windy Knoll.

On the snatchblock self releasing unit- I would'a got that one had I known it existed.:confused3: I've seen it used on youtube and it seems really a good idea, but I don't need it badly enough to have it and my existing one...

 

[Luke'sScreenName]

So before y'all go spend money on the "rock bar" for your Igland/clone grapple give a chain a try...

I will use the grapple for grubbing granite rocks and placing them for walls. I bought this grapple to complement my 6ft/900lbs root rake grapple. I need to be able to grub in the ground and pick up very large to basketball-sized rocks. I was going to make a "rock bar" similar to the manufacturers but thought I'd try chain first with stuff I had laying around (except fro some $1.50 carabiener (sp?) type things.

I am pretty floored how well it works with no practice. Essentially all of these pics were "blind" first-attempt grabs. The front chain works so well that I'm not sure the "basket" I created is really necessary (the basket does prevent the jaws from 'scissoring" completely closed). I thought the chain would twist allowing rocks to flip out when the jaw closed but this just didn't happen. This was just a 20min attempt. I'm going to remove the basket part and see how often rocks fall through the bottom jaw.

 

[saxnbees]

Looks good. I've never been around tractors very much so I don't think of these types of solutions. It looks like the chain forms around the rock to help capture it. With the plate, it might slide off more. I guess that is what the teeth are supposed to help with. I'll try the plate for a while but then I might try a chain for comparison. If I do, I'll let everyone know how they compare.

 

[Luke'sScreenName]

It looks like the chain forms around the rock to help capture it. With the plate, it might slide off more. I guess that is what the teeth are supposed to help with. I'll try the plate for a while but then I might try a chain for comparison. If I do, I'll let everyone know how they compare.

Hmmm. You might also right but I bet overall the bar is better. The only solid advantages of the chain are cost, convenience procuring, and maybe visibiliy.

But my thinking is the chain might be almost as good as the bar. Certainly much better than I had expected. :drink:

 

[saxnbees]

I was just thinking.... Maybe a hybrid would be even better. Some of the smaller rocks get pushed over the plate and fall out. If there were chains going underneath like the two you have, that might help catch the smaller rocks on the first attempt.

 

[4570Man]

Need to move this twig. I feel my front axles crying in pain doing this kind of thing.

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Here's a nice branch.

 

[Luke'sScreenName]

Here's a nice branch. View attachment 517660

I usually just move that stuf by hand. Hardly worth getting the tractor out for. But that's just me.

 

[4570Man]

Here's a limb. I haven't figured out what it do with the other one. It's too short for the mill to take it and too big to deal with for firewood.

 

[saxnbees]

So before y'all go spend money on the "rock bar" for your Igland/clone grapple give a chain a try...

I will use the grapple for grubbing granite rocks and placing them for walls. I bought this grapple to complement my 6ft/900lbs root rake grapple. I need to be able to grub in the ground and pick up very large to basketball-sized rocks. I was going to make a "rock bar" similar to the manufacturers but thought I'd try chain first with stuff I had laying around (except fro some $1.50 carabiener (sp?) type things.

I am pretty floored how well it works with no practice. Essentially all of these pics were "blind" first-attempt grabs. The front chain works so well that I'm not sure the "basket" I created is really necessary (the basket does prevent the jaws from 'scissoring" completely closed). I thought the chain would twist allowing rocks to flip out when the jaw closed but this just didn't happen. This was just a 20min attempt. I'm going to remove the basket part and see how often rocks fall through the bottom jaw.

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Here's the latest modifications to the Sundown GR40 grapple inspired by the quote above. I won't know how well this works until I try it but I hope smaller rocks that fell through the opening will now be caught. Anything smaller can just be picked up anyway.

I also got longer bolts to attach both the rock plate and extensions. 2.5" x 5/8" bolts with a lock washer are the perfect length.

 

[tractorshopper]

Tested the limits of my new tractor and grapple last week and especially on Saturday. As I approached a few of these logs, a thought occurred to me about measurements and strength of loader always rated max at pins, so a few that I couldn't scoop up with grapple extended, I actually grabbed from above with grapple curled all the way down and was able to barely pick up and move.

The one pic is not the largest item I moved, but close. A few in the piles in the other photos, I couldn't lift, but rolled and pushed. I wish I had before pictures to show, but I did take after pictures.

We had 3 large trees cut down and several huge limbs cut off others at a house my brother and I are flipping. I had to sort the limbs and small stuff to put on the road (the city will pick up and I've had them pick up stuff for about 5 weeks in a row, some piles about half the length of this one) and the larger stuff in the log pile we've been having some people come take some for firewood and whatever others may not pick up, the city will give us dumpsters to fill and they will remove for us to take to another place where people can get free firewood, etc. One dumpster was filled by the arborist with the biggest chunks of all because he knew there was no way I could move them. He probably only got about 10 chunks and filled that entire dumpster for us as he cut.

Anyway, here's some photos of the after.

 

[Luke'sScreenName]

Here's the latest modifications to the Sundown GR40 grapple inspired by the quote above. I won't know how well this works until I try it but I hope smaller rocks that fell through the opening will now be caught. Anything smaller can just be picked up anyway.

I also got longer bolts to attach both the rock plate and extensions. 2.5" x 5/8" bolts with a lock washer are the perfect length.

View attachment 517696

Quick and easy thing to try for sure. I found myself wishing fo some old tire chains to use.

 

[jimmysisson]

Tractorshopper, how does the city pick up those brush piles? Around here no municipality would do that, I don't think. Cool forbyou, though.
Jim