excavator grapple

[jd540b]

Just bought a Valby log grapple and rotator to put on my excavator to pile wood, anyone have one of these and any thoughts.  It's a GR50HD with a R45 rotator.......

[bill m]

Yes, I have a GR55HD on my log truck and do not like it. First the good points. It will close real small to pick up small stems. It is built strong but light so I have a higher payload capacity at the end of the boom. Now what I don't like. The large curve on the tines makes it hard to reach down between logs to pick something up from the bottom. The way the tines bypass, with one set having a smaller radius, when you grab a log with the tips the log wants to roll and you may not get a good grip on it. I cut notches in mine with a torch and it helped but is still a pain in the @$$. With the big curve on the tines sometimes when you have a grip all around a log and are trying to set it down carefully, Like loading a trailer or setting them on a mill, they do not like to roll out of the grapple smoothly. The hyd. hoses for the grapple cylinder have 90 deg. fittings on both ends and it puts a lot of stress on the hoses. I have had to replace both of mine all ready and it is less then a year old. Even though it is a 55 inch grapple it does not like to hold onto a 32 inch dia. log.

[JDeere]

jd540b, How big is your excavator? I have had the same thought to put one on my EC140B Volvo. I looked into a Rotobec and all set up it was going to be about $10,000.00. I may be buying a Serco 7500 center-mount crane shortly so the excavator grapple probably won't happen. Let us know how it works.

[jd540b]

I have a 10,000 lb machine.  Wanted something small enough I could move it with my 1-ton.  Should be a pretty good rig-will be nice to be able to do site work/make yards, fix ruts, dig waterbars, etc. and pile wood with one machine.  I have had two different forwarders in the past but mainly just used them on the landing and actually "forwarded" very little wood.  Think this will be a good set up along with my shear and grapple......for now.  Finding the right equipment mix is the key-not always easy and always seem to tweak it.

[LarryRB]

We also have a 10,000 pound machine but have a hydraulic thumb. It work well with logs to about 24"  if we have bigger logs we use our next size bigger excavator.

[Andrew Lawrence]

how about a Roto-bec with a (topping ) saw ? 20 ton machine w/ forestry cab?

[jd540b]

Picked up the grapple today...will hopefully have it up and running next few days and try to post some pics.  Looks pretty good so far-well built and rugged.

[barbender]

Bill, I have used two different grapples (up here everyone calls them "buckets") on the forwarder, huldtins and gripen. They are both the "modern" bypass type, they are good on a forwarder I guess, but I sometimes wonder if a truck type "butt" grapple wouldn't work just as well. I know it's easier to sort with a butt grapple, and I definitely prefer one on a truck. The wood rolls out better, easier to get between stems.

[snowstorm]

Picked up the grapple today...will hopefully have it up and running next few days and try to post some pics.  Looks pretty good so far-well built and rugged.

do you have 2 extra valves on your excavator? 1 to rotate 1 to open close. when i put a thumb on my cat 1 extra valve was there but not the piolt valve had to buy that

[jd540b]

Well, got it up and running.  Overall, I really like it.  Nice to have the mobility of the machine to sort and pile.  As far as the grapple, the "hook" in the arms definitely don't let the wood roll out too well, and it is hard to pick one stick out of a pile-but other than that I'm going to call it a success!  Will try to post a photo.....

    

[thecfarm]

Looks good. A member put a trailer behind his excavator and used it in the woods as a forwarder. I think it was just for his own use.

[Piston]

That is a great setup!  I had been thinking about buying a grapple for the backhoe, but decided not to since I wouldn't be using it much. 

Your gonna love that thing! 

[jd540b]

 

 
Here's a picture my buddy took last week of the grapple in action.  Has been working great. Now just need winter to come back for more than 3 days.

[Bobus2003]

Looks good. A member put a trailer behind his excavator and used it in the woods as a forwarder. I think it was just for his own use.

I used to pull a Trailer behind my Link Belt Excavator with Patu Harvester head, Process the wood right onto the trailer. When the trailer was full i'd take it out to the landing and unload with the skid steer (Much faster)