New toy for Christmas, with pics

[Brogan007]

20 acres beside our home has been clear-cut...what a hellish mess they made, leaving hundreds of tons of wood all over the place. The logging contractor told me the only value is in pine pulp. The hardwood is not worth cutting,....yet the land owner told him to clear cut it all....with no plans to re plant. Morons!
Anyway, since nobody seems to care, I spend a couple hours a day picking out superb firewood.
I bought this cool grapple bucket to carry the wood back to our farm. What a great tool.

 

[stejus]

That sure makes easy work out of scrounging. What the heck are they doing by clear cutting 20 acres and not re-seeding? The only good thing is the hard wood is down waiting for you to pick up!

 

[Brogan007]

Simple answer is they are uneducated & broke. Can't understand anyone doing this for a few thousand bucks. Sell an acre if you need some cash.

 

[Joey]

Thats a awesome tool......

 

[oldspark]

Nice, pricey, but nice.

 

[SolarAndWood]

That thing is mint. Is it intended for boulders?

 

[Adios Pantalones]

If I had that thing I'd use it every day just on principle. Take out the trash, bring in groceries... Think it could pick up spilled trash and smashed grocery bags too?

 

[Dairyman]

Grapples are awesome tools, I don't know why I didn't get one sooner. Enjoy!

 

[Flatbedford]

Wow! That is darn near cheating!

 

[bogydave]

Wow! That is darn near cheating!

Not "Darn near" it's just plain cheating.
I mean you could hold up a log waist high & cut rounds.
retrieve down trees
Carry them to the splitter.
Yep; plain cheating !
Nice but cheating

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Good for you that you have access to this wood. Make good use of it.

 

[Thistle]

If I had that I'd just get fat & lazy :lol:

 

[golfandwoodnut]

I have one of those grapples with forks on the bottom, comes in real handy lifting up logs, clearing brush etc. Not to mention the pallet forks doing the normal fork functions.

 

[billb3]

Mother Nature will replant it.

Can be a multi-generational haphazard process.

 

[Brogan007]

Expensive? I spent hours researching alternatives. "The Thumb" was an option...light grapple that welds on top of your existing tractor bucket...for $350, plus shipping plus hoses & fittings & the welding.
Then there were the grapple forks, usually $1500 plus. Ouch!
Have a set of pallet forks, but can't see them as being as functional as the snub nosed bucket.
Found this small company in NC, WildCat Attachements....selling a few items a month on E-Bay...probably just trying to move excess inventory.
Bought this for $600, picked it up myself.
It's only 5/16th plate, and is listed as a stump bucket...but for my use, it's damned near perfect.
I LOVE the thing.
Yes...holding logs at waist high for chainsaw is a major back-saver.
Came up with a cool idea for lifting the heavy rounds onto the splitter.
Use a small 110v winch, over a pulley on top of 6" x 4" 16 ft beam set up as a tall pivot point.....set of log tongs at the working end, and I hold the remote control.
The tongs grip the round, I control with remote and drag/lift log onto splitter. Works like a charm.
Being Scottish, I'm a cheap bastard at heart.....couldn't bear to pay for a fancy log-lift.
Pics in spring when re assembled.