Is grcs really worth the money??

treehawk1996

treehawk1996

TreeHouser
Joined
Aug 6, 2012
Messages
17
Is grcs becoming a thing of the past? I think it is because you may use it 4 or 5 times a year. I think it is better to invest in a mini skid with a bm(branch manger) then a rope break for your big removals. The mini skid could do a lot more than the grcs and it will speed up production. What do you guys think about it?
 
Whether or not a GRCS is "worth it" is up to the individual, I would imagine. There are those who use them religiously, and there are those like me who will likely wear it out hauling it around. I've head mine about 8 months now, and have used it about 8 times, so it averages once a month seeing use. As a cost-per-use item, it's not worth it to me, as my red bollard paid for itself after only two jobs, and I don't mean big jobs. However, having the winch on hand is reassuring when lowering out big limbs, as if it hangs, the groundie can crank it back up and free it. I got mine last year for a tax write off, and had a credit card offer of 12 months/0% interest, so it made it easier to justify.

What I want is a Gehl AL340.....but sadly I cannot afford one of those.....and could not justify it if i could.:cry:
 
Scott theres no need to worry, you have al AL540 now :) I saw her and she sure is sexy!

Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2
 
:lol: Yeah, I saw it too. It ain't mine though, and it makes my minis look like a joke. After helping Carl few days, and then going out and using my mini, I nearly always cut a couple of chunks too big for it. I'm used to seeing the Gehl grab-it-and-go. The lowly Ramrod just grunts and says, "I think I can't, I think I can't..."
 
We finally got ourselves situated with the GRCS this past spring and I agree with treesmith that our cost per use is fairly steep. However, the time savings it has made on several of our jobs more than made up for it. Our first job outta the chute with it would have had to be dozens of smaller individually rigged cuts without hte GRCS. and more than half of those cuts would have needed lowering onto the other side of the neighbor's fence.

Instead, with the GRCS, we were able to part it out in 6 cuts, lifting each piece up and over the hole for easier processing.

We have since used it to quite the advantage in other scenarios albeit not as many as one would consider good for cost-for-use. Because of the saved time on the site though I beleive we have already paid for it.

To contrast its use with that of the loaders we also have a swinger. We've used that to lift stuff but that still requires an extra man, extra truck and nowhere's near the fine control afforded by the GRCS.

With multiple bases we can move the winch to several trees throughout the jobsite as necessary too. We're now looking at getting another smaller winch (easier to move around) and another full size winch to use.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #10
Yea, but you can just run a two man crew with a loader. I agree the grcs is nice to have when you need it.
 
We are a two man company and I promise you that a GRCS is wayyyyyyyyyyy more valuable to us than a loader would ever be. Our niche is working in tight areas. We usually don't have loader access to our jobs. The big jobs that we do get where there is access, the customers dont want machines on their property. In those cases, we get the jobs because the other companies with the big equipment wont do the work if they can't use their toys.

We have learned to use our GRCS on just about any job that we rig. It started out that we forced ourselves to use it, now I wouldn't ever do tree work without one. I promise you that ours has paid for itself several times over.

In my situation, a loader would be nice, but a GRCS is a necessity.
 
Here is a video by Gerald Beranek, Frans and Greg Good (I think) comparing the Hobbs to the GRCS dropping various loads, not sure I would try this with a rigged mini. Enjoy!

http://youtu.be/ExlaAnSkEq0

ps, embedding disabled by request of the owner of this video.
 
Like everything in business, you have to figure out how long it will take you to pay for itself vs it working life span and see if that pencils out for you. I had a GRCS before a loader and that worked fine. IMO it shouldn't be a which should I get question but a which should I get first.
 
What a video, ironically i have been weighing up between the two and was leaning towards the hobbs anyway. Here in the Uk these devices get used a lot more than in the US id guess. We have old medieval poorly set out towns and cities. Not to mention our row upon row of terrace houses that have no access other than through the house. Oh and the small streets a lot of the time rule out cranes.

But it makes life fun although i do get envious of your big kit in the States.
 
With any tool you have to do the work where you need it. The GRCS is awesome in so many ways. One man operation being the best.

I wish we had one when I was doing line clearance. So many times I crawled out on limbs and pieced them out over power. Pain staking some of them. To have had a GRCS and pull them in one piece would have been nice.
 
Paid for my GRCS the first week I had it and worth every penny. With the type of trees and removals I do, it has made life so much easier.
 
I'm glad to have mine, I just don't regard it near as highly as the mini or the Wraptor. If it were as quick to set up as a porty, I'd use it more. :D
 
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