Massive storm clean up

[Hay Dude]

Yeah I’m on rolling steep, rolling ground. I plan on scooping and taking the brush a long way around to the ravine. No straight, flat route to travel. The brush would slide off the dozer blade.

 

[4570Man]

Yeah I’m on rolling steep, rolling ground. I plan on scooping and taking the brush a long way around to the ravine. No straight, flat route to travel. The brush would slide off the dozer blade.

My thought process was either carry the brush to the edge of the ravine with the grapple or haul it in the dump truck then use the dozer to push it the rest of the way in. A regular blade dozer would do fine for that.

 

[Hay Dude]

My thought process was either carry the brush to the edge of the ravine with the grapple or haul it in the dump truck then use the dozer to push it the rest of the way in. A regular blade dozer would do fine for that.

Thats exactly what I am planning on doing….

I will shuttle the brush to the edge of the ravine, then push it in with dozer and try to compact it down at the same time.
Renting a cat D-6 wide track with a cab/heat. Should be nice for winter

 

[4570Man]

Yeah I’m on rolling steep, rolling ground. I plan on scooping and taking the brush a long way around to the ravine. No straight, flat route to travel. The brush would slide off the dozer blade.

Brush actually locks together and pushes good. I still wouldn’t want to go 1/2 mile.

 

[WM75Guy]

I have the W.R. Long Open Bottom Grapple OBG-1 72" grapple. It works well for getting under a load of brush or logs to carry to my burn pile. And I have carried some heavy logs without damage, to the 2,500# capacity of the loader. My only complaint is the hydraulics for the grapple arms don't have as much force as I would like. Once you get the material sitting on the grapple tines and clamp down the arms, it will hold it OK. Just don't try to go straight down like a clamshell bucket and pick up anything heavy, it will fall out.

W.R. Long, Inc. | Open Bottom Grapple "OBG-2" & "OBG-1"

 

[Xfaxman]

I like that grapple. Link says “limited to 75HP“

That would be a 75 HP skid steer.

My V417 Versahandler will lift over 6,000 pounds and push more than 7,000 pounds. It hasn't bent the grapple:

 

[Seven Gables]

Man what storm that must of been , hell of a lot to clean up you’re gettin though .
To move that brush pile efficiently I think a brush rake like we use in orchards might work pretty well. Maybe even a little bigger version since you’ve got plenty of tractor to handle it. The one I’ve got just slips over my HLA forks, kinda universal fit style but available with quick attach too. I generally pick up and carry the packed load to burn pile but if I’ve really got mountains to move just leave rake on ground tilted bit to stay under a massive amount and push. With prunings it packs together as you push.

 

[Hay Dude]

Man what storm that must of been , hell of a lot to clean up you’re gettin though .
To move that brush pile efficiently I think a brush rake like we use in orchards might work pretty well. Maybe even a little bigger version since you’ve got plenty of tractor to handle it. The one I’ve got just slips over my HLA forks, kinda universal fit style but available with quick attach too. I generally pick up and carry the packed load to burn pile but if I’ve really got mountains to move just leave rake on ground tilted bit to stay under a massive amount and push. With prunings it packs together as you push.

That’s kind of my plan. I’m going to try the HLA log grapple and see how it works before I spend 2K+ on a brush grapple.
Thing is, I kind of need one for this and future work anyway.
It won’t be a “one & done” deal if I buy one.

 

[EddieWalker]

I have a backhoe that I converted the front bucket to Quick Attach so I could swap my bucket with a grapple. I went with a grapple from a company that sells them for skid steers instead of farm tractors. My thinking was that it would be more heavy duty, and designed for abuse.

There are two basic designs to the bottoms of every grapple. The forklift style that you scoop up what your getting, and clamp it in place, or the rake style that relies on the grapples to hold it in place. I went with the rake style, and it's worked out well for me. I can pick up a single branch with it, or I can push a pile together to get as much as possible. For my grapple, it's easy to completely clean up a pile to the last branch.

Double lids allow me to hold an uneven load. Each lid closes until it's maxed out, then the other one closes until it's maxed out.

For long distances, I just curl the grapple up so the grapple is under the material.

I'm trying to remember who I bought it from. I thought their website was called excavator thumb, or something like that, but I'm not finding it. The company that came up doesn't have grapples, so that's not right. They might not be around anymore, or merged with another company. What's important is that you buy something "Construction Grade" to deal with the size and HP of your tractor. You'll destroy a lesser grapple really quickly with what you have!!!!

 

[2manyrocks]

There are industrial grapples like these: Industrial tractor backhoe wheel loader grapple root clearing heavy duty rake