CurSedVoyce
California Hillbilly
Clamp ins move your weight too far out. Forks are cheap and will pay for themselves imho
Finally got a loader
- Thread starter emr
- Start date
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Mick!
TreeHouser
Nice feeling, it can change afternoons from hemorrhoid busting misery to a nice sit down in the winter sun.
FireFighterZero
Captain Zero!
Jeezlus, that looks fun!
treebilly
Student of the Jedi. OH-7106A
Looks like a nice load of hickory. Definatly beats carrying it out by hand.
emr
Cheesehead Treehouser
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #31
It was a perfect load of wood.... One basswood and the rest was shagbark and bitternut Hickory. The neighbor ended up taking it and giving us some homemade Maple syrup in exchange. It saved us time and fuel so we were happy to do it.
Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk
Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk
Some may disagree with me, but forks are limited (at least with smaller machines) in how much they can handle of "big" wood, in that they put ALL the weight farther out in front. Carl and I (mostly Carl) built this tong hanger back in 2010 when I got my first mini, to get me by until I could afford a grapple.
Even after I got my grapple, when dealing with big wood, I'd put the tong hanger on, and cut the wood just long enough to slip the tongs over it. My 20" tongs will open to 21", so I'd cut the wood 20-21". The tongs fit rather snugly, and so won't slip off. I've moved 4' diameter wood with the tongs, and I KNOW the forks wouldn't have handled it. I used the tongs on the Gehl a few weeks ago to load some wood that was around 4' in diameter. The grapple has a hard time gripping wood that big. I loaded some 5' diameter oak chunks two years ago that the Gehl couldn't handle with the weight out front on the forks. I hooked the tongs right behind the forks, at the pin, and it could pick up 5' chunks cut 24" long.
Even after I got my grapple, when dealing with big wood, I'd put the tong hanger on, and cut the wood just long enough to slip the tongs over it. My 20" tongs will open to 21", so I'd cut the wood 20-21". The tongs fit rather snugly, and so won't slip off. I've moved 4' diameter wood with the tongs, and I KNOW the forks wouldn't have handled it. I used the tongs on the Gehl a few weeks ago to load some wood that was around 4' in diameter. The grapple has a hard time gripping wood that big. I loaded some 5' diameter oak chunks two years ago that the Gehl couldn't handle with the weight out front on the forks. I hooked the tongs right behind the forks, at the pin, and it could pick up 5' chunks cut 24" long.
pantheraba
More biners!!!
That's cool. Carl is a pretty cagey devil...key word being devil.
emr
Cheesehead Treehouser
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #34
That thing is awesome! I wish I would have seen that picture a week ago. They sell a boom like that for our machine.Some may disagree with me, but forks are limited (at least with smaller machines) in how much they can handle of "big" wood, in that they put ALL the weight farther out in front. Carl and I (mostly Carl) built this tong hanger back in 2010 when I got my first mini, to get me by until I could afford a grapple.
Even after I got my grapple, when dealing with big wood, I'd put the tong hanger on, and cut the wood just long enough to slip the tongs over it. My 20" tongs will open to 21", so I'd cut the wood 20-21". The tongs fit rather snugly, and so won't slip off. I've moved 4' diameter wood with the tongs, and I KNOW the forks wouldn't have handled it. I used the tongs on the Gehl a few weeks ago to load some wood that was around 4' in diameter. The grapple has a hard time gripping wood that big. I loaded some 5' diameter oak chunks two years ago that the Gehl couldn't handle with the weight out front on the forks. I hooked the tongs right behind the forks, at the pin, and it could pick up 5' chunks cut 24" long.
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sotc
Dormant hero!!
I disagree but wood may balance differently that close to the equator 😆Some may disagree with me, but forks are limited (at least with smaller machines) in how much they can handle of "big" wood, in that they put ALL the weight farther out in front. Carl and I (mostly Carl) built this tong hanger back in 2010 when I got my first mini, to get me by until I could afford a grapple.
Even after I got my grapple, when dealing with big wood, I'd put the tong hanger on, and cut the wood just long enough to slip the tongs over it. My 20" tongs will open to 21", so I'd cut the wood 20-21". The tongs fit rather snugly, and so won't slip off. I've moved 4' diameter wood with the tongs, and I KNOW the forks wouldn't have handled it. I used the tongs on the Gehl a few weeks ago to load some wood that was around 4' in diameter. The grapple has a hard time gripping wood that big. I loaded some 5' diameter oak chunks two years ago that the Gehl couldn't handle with the weight out front on the forks. I hooked the tongs right behind the forks, at the pin, and it could pick up 5' chunks cut 24" long.
CurSedVoyce
California Hillbilly
Willie knows what I'm talkin bout. We both had this Dingo with the fork attachment. The load about slides back to almost the mounting plate eliminating the lever situation that the grapple creates. I can pick up bigger nuggets, rounds and logs with the forks than I can the grapple. The slide on forks suck as they introduce more lever MA onto the machine.
A fork attachment can be had for 5-600 plus shipping.
The forks weigh less as well. So more load weight can be had.
A fork attachment can be had for 5-600 plus shipping.
The forks weigh less as well. So more load weight can be had.
sotc
Dormant hero!!
:highfive:
CurSedVoyce
California Hillbilly
I do wish we had purchased a grapple sooner. Good move on your purchase and congrats Eric.
Grapple sure makes short work of cleaning it up.
Grapple sure makes short work of cleaning it up.
SeanKroll
Treehouser
I'd buy tongs , and put a tong hanger a couple places. Some tongs hang by a chain grab-hook, so those would only need a couple links of chain welded anywhere you might want to use the tongs. http://www.baileysonline.com/Forest...l-Grab-Skidding-Tongs-with-Rotating-Teeth.axd These might be too cheap, depends on that your machine can lift/pull.
Seems like at the end of the boom, where the bucket attaches would give you the most lift capacity (without the bucket).
A solid anchor point for a POW would be a cheap and easy add-on.
Seems like at the end of the boom, where the bucket attaches would give you the most lift capacity (without the bucket).
A solid anchor point for a POW would be a cheap and easy add-on.
It just may at that!If you think about it, all the weight of the nugget is forward of the fork plate. My mini forks weigh ~140# I think. My tong hanger weighs about 75#, maybe 80-85# with tongs. I can move the tong attachment back several inches if need be, to get the weight even closer to the machine. The difference in weight of the attachments automatically increases payload by that amount, without allowing for attachment positioning,
As Carl pointed out when I suggested building one for the Gehl, its usefulness diminishes as your machine's strength increases. If your machine's max lift is 800#, by swapping to the lighter hanger and configuring the wood closer to the machine, you gain something. If your machine will lift 1500#, you won't see much benefit. Loading the 5' rounds with my 140 two years ago was the first time I'd used tongs with the Gehl. And I loaded wood I couldn't load with the forks, simply by getting it closer to the machine.
sotc
Dormant hero!!
I know the tongs are lighter than the grapple but i couldn't pick up near the weight with the grapple on either mini i had. Another bonus was taking 4-5 short logs in one trip with the forks, grapples and tongs won't do that. The dingo can really curl too, which brings weight back, far more than the boxer could
menchhofer
TreeHouser
We purchased a powertrac 1430 about 15 years ago. It is diesel and one step up from the 422 or 425. Have used it alot in our tree care operations. I think when we bought it was 14k or so. We have grapple. Grapple bucket and light material bucket and still use it regularly. Simple machines. Good price. I think ours lifts 1200#. I agree the lift height could be better but still beats moving by hand. It has been good machine. Very easy on lawns with the large tires and articulation.
menchhofer
TreeHouser
Yes, that was years ago. Bmg works ok with Powertrac you just seem to need more room to work vs. a mini or compact loader...located in Indy. We also have the grapple which we have used but always went back to the bmg. Grapple just sits now and is not used at all
emr
Cheesehead Treehouser
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #46
Thanks for the feedback..... For some reason I thought you may have been from WI.
I think we are going to make up a lifting boom for our PT422. I can see how the BM might be kind of long. We will also be getting a tong set quickly.
Thanks to everyone for their comments. Lots of good info /ideas here.
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I think we are going to make up a lifting boom for our PT422. I can see how the BM might be kind of long. We will also be getting a tong set quickly.
Thanks to everyone for their comments. Lots of good info /ideas here.
Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk
menchhofer
TreeHouser
Go to tractorbynet.com and scroll down to Powertrac forum. There is much information there for you to read and digest if you do not know about it already.
flushcut
TreeHouser
The BMG is worth a look IMO I have moved some hella big logs well beyond the lifting capacity of my machine by picking it from the side and dragging it parallel with the mini kind of like a "y" configuration. When I am talking about moving them I am talking about barely even pushing them hella big, huge even, fresh dead ash, 22-24' long by 16-20" ash logs, and I feel the extra length of the BMG helped tremendously!
