Grappling fun - A Picture Thread....

[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.

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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