Trailer, towing, weight questions.
- Thread starter Ooklaa
- Start date
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mavrik1
New member
Ooklaa...I see you have some forks on your machine, can you tell me the brand and if your happy with them? lifted anything really heavy? how much weight you think?
thanks
thanks
AxleHub
Elite Member
Something weird is happening. Your post shows a date of 1-26-16 but I've never seen ut before and it's 2-22-16 today. Then the post rigjt after yours shows today . Strange.
Anyway if you wrote this the end of january . . . In wi we've seen numerous snows sine then and in late dec. Early january. I've got 32 hours on the tractor since nov. 15th when I changed the oil. And all those 32 houes have bern snow plowing or bucket lifting. Byt I'm pleased to report that as of 2-22-16 we are 41 degrees and we've bern as high as 48 degrees in these last 3 days once. It will be changed starting tommorrow . . but a nid wunter warmup like this is very unusual at this temp.
There are white patches around but we're ice free and all my 4 foot high piles of snow are now 8 or 10 inches.
Have you been putting some seat time in on that gc1720 ?
I like em. Granted i only have 15 hrs my tractor and i really have no experience with other machines.
Tractor Bucket Forks And Skid Steer Bucket and Debris Forks i got the aluminum ones. Def lighter which is good for our smaller tractor.
Put it this way the machine is limited in lifting weight.. I was moving around some big logs the other day and i had first hand seeing the limitation of my scut. Couldnt lift the log or anything, got it to get on the fork but I could not lift or tilt it. So i couldnt move it around the bucket was to low and was scrapping up the ground and pavement. You def need alot of weight in the back of these smaller tractors i out my backho on and the *** was still wanting to come up. Obviosuly i was slow and patient, but I got the job done. I might but some weight in the backho bucket next time to stabalize it better.
I will say this i went with the debri fork cause its a lot cheaper then the grapples i originally wanted to buy. But if i had a neighbor close by with grapples so i could actually s the value of them i might of spent the money.
The debri forks sometimes let a lot of debri fall threw the spacing. Which sucks cause i hve to do 2 or 3 times to pic up the debri. Im thinking i might out some hevy duty rope around the whole fork so the smaller branches dont fall threw. Might me me happier.
But for the money they are strong well built and pretty light. I mean i can pic em up pretty easy with both hands. Ill take some pixtures when imgo back out saturday, i got one big *** log to go get.
Not sure what happened with the posting. Last week we got like 2-3 inches but it melted pretty fast cause the next day was 60 degrees. I put a couple of more hrs on it moving some logs around as explained in the post above. Im glad in some ways i got the smaller tractor cause i see now how easy it is to mess up the lawn lol. My wife yells at me all the time. I gotta purchase a bunch of grass seeds this year. Hey its rookie mistakes i tell her. Im a little sad cause i met the machines match the other day lifting a big log.
I dont like the fealing of limitation.
But the scut is a perfect match for my property tho.
AxleHub
Elite Member
I put a couple of more hrs on it moving some logs around as explained in the post above. Im glad in some ways i got the smaller tractor cause i see now how easy it is to mess up the lawn lol. My wife yells at me all the time. I gotta purchase a bunch of grass seeds this year. Hey its rookie mistakes i tell her. Im a little sad cause i met the machines match the other day lifting a big log.
I dont like the fealing of limitation.
But the scut is a perfect match for my property tho.
Niko, I don't remember if you have industrial tires or turf tires on your gc1720 . . . but non turf tires and having the backhoe on is a hard combination on lawns. My mmm is off for the winter and I put my trailer mover/ballast rack on the 3 pt. between the ballast rack and the weight on the rack its about 300 pounds. That gives me plenty of counterbalance for my loaded fel. Its also less than half the weight of the backhoe. Ive been on my good lawn a great deal this winter because I drive on it to get better access for plowing the sidewalks and rear patio areas and dumping snow out in the yard. So far have almost no damage at all to the yard.
New topic . . the log that beat you. I don't know how big that log was . . . but I've moved some pretty good sized pieces with my gc1715. My forks can be used on the 3pt side or on the fel when the bucket is off. Mounted on the 3 pt. I can haul a 1000 pounds pretty easy. Putting the forks on the front with the bucket off I can haul 250 pounds less than on the 3 pt but of course 750 pounds of log is still alot of wood. If you're hauling long lengths you have the challenge of weight and balancing at the same time.
Hopefully later this spring I can afford to get that mini grapple I'd been talking about. Its only 77 pounds in weight and can open up to 28 inches for grabbing big rocks or a big piece of log or a pile of branches.
Niko, just imagine this spring how you can do all kinds of landscape related projects to put a smile on your wife's face. That gc1720 of yours will be busy and appreciated as the hours start growing on your big red machine
And having limitations is good for our humility as well as our creative determination . . . it keeps us looking at how we can turn our limitations into strengths. I bet that log would have been defeated with just one single chainsaw cut
Axle not log length about 5-8 ft long, but probbaly 3-4 ft wide. Not sure of weight as this is all new to me for calculating that. Ill take a picture of it after work today to show you what im working with. Like i said some pieces where so big and heavy the my rear wheels still,wanted to come up even with the backho on.
Also my debri forks gotta weight 100 pounds or so.
Also my debri forks gotta weight 100 pounds or so.
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mavrik1
New member
Ookla.....if that log is 5-8ft long and 3-4 feet wide (is this circumference or cross sectional?) either way that is a ton of weight and way more than the machine is made for or that the components can take...wow that is crazy weight
AxleHub
Elite Member
Ooklaa,
Its a huge difference if its 5 feet long vs. 8 feet long. And its another huge difference if its 3 feet in diameter or 4 foot in diameter. And lastly . . .solid dense wood or old and punky wood is a huge difference.
Obviously no one buys log wood that size . . . so either someone gave it to you or its some ypu didn't break down of your own cutting.
With all due respect Niko . . . as I recall from the units you looked at before buying . . . you didn't look at a single tractor that could have moved that log properly. Depending on actual dimensions that log could weigh as much as your whole unit.
Its a huge difference if its 5 feet long vs. 8 feet long. And its another huge difference if its 3 feet in diameter or 4 foot in diameter. And lastly . . .solid dense wood or old and punky wood is a huge difference.
Obviously no one buys log wood that size . . . so either someone gave it to you or its some ypu didn't break down of your own cutting.
With all due respect Niko . . . as I recall from the units you looked at before buying . . . you didn't look at a single tractor that could have moved that log properly. Depending on actual dimensions that log could weigh as much as your whole unit.
mavrik1
New member
exactly axlehub....my point exactly with less detail
