Grappling fun - A Picture Thread....

Gordon Gould · Jul 9, 2017

I have some places like this where I can just squeeze thru with my L3010.

But the new to me M5640 is almost 2' wider so there are some rocks to be moved . Tried the Frost Bite grapple out on Rock Plucking. Works very good. Nothing but the rock you are working comes up with a narrow open grapple. Here are a couple examples of nice VT rocks.

gg

Luke'sScreenName · Jul 9, 2017

Ohooooo! That's tractor **** for this rock farmer. :thumbsup:

PhysAssist · Jul 9, 2017

Gordon Gould said:
That is asking a lot
Try the chain thing - cheap enough. Might want some cross chains. Maybe that is what you meant by a basket. I am just guessing but I think something with spaced out teeth would be better than a smooth plate. Teeth seem to catch on irregular small rocks pretty well. Seems like the plate would work if you could get under them w/o just pushing them forward or on roundish rocks. Then again maybe it would be fine. Duh !
gg

Hi GG,
Those side teeth on your bucket look to really enhance your bucket grapple, did you fab them or are the a standard add-on?

Which of your orange tractors is that- I'm not good enough to be able to tell from that angle [or prolly any other where the model # isn;t frotn and ctr... :ashamed:]

Thanks!
PA.

oosik · Jul 9, 2017

View attachment 514826

Ready to head out to the south 40 to move & stack some dead pines.

Xfaxman · Jul 9, 2017

Had three stump root balls left after burning the brush pile.

Grappled them in the 6' wide dual lid Monster Grapple and deposited them in the Brush Ravine. :thumbsup:

Xfaxman · Jul 10, 2017

Then I put the boom in float and spread out the ashes.

dragoneggs · Jul 10, 2017

X, you kill me with your pics. I know it's you before I check the signature on the post.

Gordon Gould · Jul 10, 2017

PhysAssist said:
Hi GG,
Those side teeth on your bucket look to really enhance your bucket grapple, did you fab them or are the a standard add-on?

Which of your orange tractors is that- I'm not good enough to be able to tell from that angle [or prolly any other where the model # isn;t frotn and ctr... :ashamed:]

Thanks!
PA.

That is my L3010 - 30 hp. You are right - the tooth bar made a huge difference using the bucket grapple for both logs and rocks. It is a WR Long tooth bar. It is a very capable grapple.

IslandTractor · Jul 10, 2017

Toothbars can be great especially for digging but be aware that they make things a bit difficult when it comes to common tasks like scraping up sand or dirt piles off asphalt or back dragging. So long as they can be easily removed toothbars are a nice addition especially when part of a bucket grapple combo. However, if you add a ssqa grapple to your toolbox they have little purpose and almost no benefits over just switching between grapple and plain bucket. Also, compare toothbar to Ratchet Rake too as another way to occasionally modify a standard bucket. Toothbar better for digging and RR better for clearing brush and preparing soil for seed.

Gordon Gould · Jul 10, 2017

I agree that a tooth bar makes it hard to clean loose material off down to a hard surface like sand on asphalt but back dragging is not a problem. Just use the wear plate on the heal of the bucket.

I also agree that having a separate grapple with a SSQA makes the most sense but in the case of my L3010 there is no SSQA. I would say that the bucket grapple and tooth bar are a great way to go. I do a ton of work with that combo and pound for pound there is little it won't do.

gg