Grapple Saws!

When going to a bigger machine like a purpose built cutter, the beauty is in how the boom functions to specifically work a tree. The controls are typically reversed from those of an excavator. In my experience, if you go to a full size machine, your foolish not to just go right for an feller buncher.
 
That's what I was thinking as well, you figure you are at $100k for this set up, but it gives you versatility to get into tight areas. Stepping up to the larger machine, you may as well go purpose built as you will be pushing $200k pretty easy.
 
I think he's going more towards mass genecide than murder. Awesome machine Carl ! Would love to have that at work for some of our clearings we do all by hand Gonna be hard to talk the boss into that since I just was able to prove how efficient a forestry mower can be with the right operator. I'm definitely showing him your videos though
 
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  • #30
I'm going to be offering it set up to run on a skid steer universal mount! Like I've said, the same grapple can be used on a plethora of carriers!
 
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  • #33
It needs 8-10gpm as a minimum, 12gpm+ is recommended. You do not need or want high flow for the grapple, ~25.5gpm is about the max.
 
Thanks. I'll show him the vids and let him know his machines should handle it. Now I gotta check on a Rayco forestry mower for him and see if your grapple would be compatible also. It would be nice if the Rayco follows suit with the universal skid steer mounts. I'll talk to them Monday
 
I put a similar Sweedish made Dangle head grapple saw on my ASV 100 skid steer for doing fuels reduction. It was nice ,but slower than a shear for what we were doing.So I sold it to a tree service and they put it on their crane and it revolutionized their business. Everything is done by remote control, dismantle the tree from the top down. And very quickly. They were back in Pennsylvania, don't know if he is on this forum.
 
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  • #36
Was it a Mecanil grapple? If so, I know the fellow. I'm a dealer for Mecanil as well.
 
I just looked on AS and see that Gerasimek posted a whole description of what he is doing with the saw that I sold him a while back. Pretty interesting for you Pro Arborists. It is under Commercial Tree Care, posted on the 13th," Remote Control Tree Removal". Hope this helps.
Pat
 
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  • #39
Update:

The grapple saw is at least everything I thought it would be and then some more. I've cut some whole trees over 20" in diameter without issue. I haven't tried grabbing any (over ~2') large logs yet to see how it will handle that, but under 2' is gravy. The grapple tines are individual, nothing connecting the two per side. I'm liking that a good bit. If you grab dirt, most of it falls out on its own, and it doesn't scoop up as much either. The first time I filled the bar oil reservior, I was a bit surprised with how much it took. Then I considered how much I had cut and it made perfect sense. All told I'm on my second chain, ~500-600 trees have been cut, 80%+ have been chipped.

I do need to make version 1.0 of the hanger for my excavator, taking what I learned from the proof of concept hanger. I also need to do some cleanup of the plumbing on my dipper.

My excavator (13.2k lbs) is about as small as I would want to go doing straight clearing work, bigger would be better. Doing residential work, a 4t (10k lb) machine would be ok, maybe a 3.5t, but that seems like it would be getting pretty small. The two hydraulic circuits on my excavator are exceptionally handy, being able to run the grapple and rotation simultaneously. I haven't had an issue with the grapple, tilit, and saw being on the same circuit. I could see how that could be an issue with the slower boom of a knuckle boom. With the excavator it's as wide open as the machine can move it. Then again, with the knuckle boom, you could reduce the tilt down speed and it should be easier.

In closing, it's the future of some forms of tree work. It should be exceptionally well suited for my fields. I'm looking forward to getting it on a residential job so I can shoot video for the people who say they like the grapple but don't do enough land clearing to justify it. I'll also make a hanger for my track loader at some point. It's at Treesmith's son in law's house currently.

Some chips from the saw!
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Action shot!
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  • #41
Oh yeah, I'm pretty happy with my current setup. Storm cleanup will be ridiculous!
 
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  • #43
<iframe width="853" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9G8J1MUc1cM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
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  • #45
Haven't updated this thread in a while! The grapple saw is beyond awesome in terms of productivity and comfort while doing tree work. It's also great for doing tree work safely at night, a week ago I spent 30 minutes or so getting a fallen tree out of a business's parking lot before they opened on Monday. Cut the customer a deal since they're a friend's grandparent.


I've uploaded a couple more videos since the above video, here's the playlist:
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/videoseries?list=PLgVC-UFZAmLVLD8L3QqwsMLFC4n7y0rSd" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>


I think I've finally figured out how I want to do the plumbing on the first prototype hanger (I call the one in the videos a proof of concept), so after I get the new hanger fab'ed up, I'll shoot a walk around video of the grapple saw itself.
 
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