Attachments for Firewood

[labradorguy]

Hello all.

I was curious what attachments members here have found to be the best for the firewood business. I've got to get more efficient or else hire someone. Since nobody seems to want to work around here..... I'm thinking attachments might be less of a headache, so I'm looking for a couple for my skid steer and tractor. I thought I would lump it all into one thread rather than have several similar threads thrown out there.

So....

What is the best skid steer attachment you have found for loading a processor log deck?

What is the best skid steer attachment you have found for picking up from a split firewood pile (on rock or in a sawdust floor barn) and loading into a trailer?

I was looking at a 3pt. grapple too for bringing logs up out of the woods. I'm getting too old to hop up and down twenty times. I saw some hydraulic ones for an 80hp tractor that looked pretty sweet. It carried the log off the ground and it looked like a person could lift it off the ground for delimbing too. That would be nice.... Right now I am hooking chains into a box blade and lifting the front part of the tree. What is everyone else doing?

Thanks for the feedback. It's great to come here and get some ideas that are real world and not salesman bs. lol

[DDW_OR]

I have a Multitek 1610EZ processor with live deck.
on rock or in a sawdust floor barn = skeleton bucket with grapple and skidsteer quick attachment.
I made the mistake of not getting it for my pallet forks.

chains into a box blade = I have a Farmi skidder winch for my 3pt. plan on adding a trailer hitch so i can tow a flatbed trailer when i go into the woods.
so the setup will be pallet forks on the tractor, winch on the 3pt, and trailer on the winch.
then detach trailer at landing. winch logs to the landing area, cut to 12 foot length. load logs onto trailer. then re-attach trailer to winch and drive back to Multitek.

my motto is "let the machines do the work"

[labradorguy]

I really, really like that motto.....

I came across a Bradco bucket that looks pretty sweet.

http://www.farmequipment24-7.com/Bradco_84_x3_Skidsteer_Rock_Bucket_Grapple_SHI_p/bradco84inquickattachbucket.htm

[DDW_OR]

yep, that is what i am talking about. i have been thinking of getting a rock grizzly to sift, or a skeleton bucket. the bucket can also be used for clearing brush, picking up branches, sifting rock and so many other things. it is just the price that stops me. but if i did then i have to get the quick attach and plates for my bucket and forks.

I added two extra forks so i now have a four tine tractor pitch fork.

[labradorguy]

I've got a root grapple now that I have tried but with only 7-8 tines, it's almost pointless. I thought about trying to modify it, but then it works REALLY great as a root grapple and I lose that.

I saw this for the front of a tractor or skid steer. It looks like the berries. www.frostbitegrapple.com

[DDW_OR]

.... a root grapple ........

I got the ripper tooth for the 331 excavator to remove large stumps, 12 to 24 inch

this vid is not me
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Smcj5QKbMEo

[hedgerow]

I bought a ROBO (brand name) 8ft grapple for my skid loader a number of year ago. I looked a lot of them and wanted one that was heavy duty. Wasn't cheap but has stood up. I use it for brush and moving logs to be bucked and load logs on a trailer. The spacing on it would be too wide to load regular size firewood. It will load most of my firewood as I run a Garn so my wood is usually not  split very small. I usually don't split wood on the ground. I usually split and load into my storage trailers as I don't sell wood but process 10 to 15 cords a year for myself. I am trying to clean up a 160 acre pasture so the grapple has seen a lot of usage.

[OH logger]

not to step on any toes here but we make around 3oo cord or so a year and i load all poles on the processor with regular pallet forks. the poles are between 8' and 25' long and we have no trouble. the forks are cheap and i like that there are no hydraulics to hook and unhook when changing attachments . that is a big pain in the butt for me cause we switch a lot. and  to load split wood get a regular old rock bucket with 3 inch spacing. we load on concrete now (i still use it to shake out he grit) but we used to load on stone and it worked as good as anything would have. stone bad;concrete great i have the bobcat brand cause i think its a little harder to bent the tines. just my observatiion. i had the round tine kind and bent  acouple of the tines at the tips. after that it was pretty buck toothed :D. the bobcat kind is more of a flat iron type that are all connected with another flat iron welded all the tips together. in stone it may push a little more but  i like it better for me

[John Mc]

I have something that is almost identical to the Frostbite grapple that Labradorguy linked. Mine is the Sundown GR40 Forestry Grapple. It's specifically designed for grabbing logs (also works well picking up piles of brush).

I got mine this spring, and have wondered ever since how I got along without it. I paid about $1500 for it, not including installing the hydraulic plumbing to operate the grapple. My tractor is a little small to make full use of it (33HP New Holland TC 33D with a Woods 1012 loader) but I'm very happy with it. I use it for shuffling logs around, loading trailers, etc. I don't have a firewood processor, but it would be great for loading the deck.

It won't work for picking up split firewood, however.

[labradorguy]

Forks are definitely a cheaper option. I'm going to take a hard look at that Bradco rock bucket/grapple for loading split wood off the ground. I've not saw one like it from another manufacturer. I think it would be a pretty good time saver.

[John Mc]

I'm not really a fan of forks for moving logs. They are inexpensive, but for me at least, the advantage stops there. They just don't have positive control of the logs. Too much depends on grabbing the log in just the right place (i.e. at the balance point), and they can tip off or slide off at the most inconvenient times. This might be helped with a grapple or arm that clamps down on the logs, but by the time you add that, you might just as well have bought a log grapple anyway. 

I don't own forks, but have borrowed my neighbor's from time to time. That experience is partly why I bought a forestry grapple. I suppose if I had used forks enough, I might have gotten better at them and ended up liking them

That's just my opinion, but I'll yield to those on here with a whole lot more experience than I.

[brianJ]

Everything OHlogger said.    Though I prefer the Case brand of which I got prolly 10k hours of operation in and John Mc is absolutely right practice makes forks work just fine for handling logs.

[hedgerow]

I also have a set of pallet forks that  are bobcat brand that I have had for 25 years or more and have been on many skid loaders. In the past I moved logs with them when that was what I had. They still have there place around here just used them the other day to unload a used 2 post lift I bought. But any more when we head to the timber to work the grapple fork is used only to handle logs. It wasn't cheap but it has been a great tool.  It is a pain to get in and out to hook hoses.  When I work in the timber there is a lot of that as  I run a ground force saw on my skid loader and then put the grapple on to clean up. I wish I could afford two skid loaders and leave the saw on one and the grapple on the other.