Bruce's Journal

[Bruce]

Wow, amazing that ~60 miles can make such a difference! We don't plant anything that likes warm weather until Memorial day either. Cabbage, peas and broccoli can go in earlier. Peas "as soon as the soil can be worked" but unfortunately it is usually a clay mud mess early. Never even got the peas in last year.

 

[Senile_Texas_Aggie]

Sure would be nice to have a grapple for that instead of forks but they worked well enough.

I don't recall how much work you do in the woods, but I guarantee that if you do much you will be so glad you got them. It is probably my second favorite attachment, behind the mower.

 

[Bruce]

How do you attach the grapple behind the mower and can you use them at the same time?

I only need 4 cords of firewood per year and so far have yet to accomplish even that. And I certainly have NO idea what 4 cords looks like as a pile of cut trees. I had 2.5 cords last year but Al got bored last winter and cut some wood so I got his 1.5 cords. He used to cut and sell 10 cords every year. I see he has some up on the "splitting" hill this year as well, I might need some of it if he offers it up.

Besides Al having a logging winch (*) the trails up through his woods must be in a lot better shape and a LOT drier than mine. Not surprising since he's been logging for years. There is only one place to go up into the woods here as there is a large section of ledge running behind the west field. Plenty hard to clamber up that in boots, certainly nothing a tractor will scale. That one trail on the north end is all I have to work with. Might need a hundred tandem trailer loads of stone and a lifetime to carry it all through the fields to the trail to get the trail usable for the tractor. And I am surely NOT going to walk up into the woods, cut down trees and carry out all the rounds in my arms one at a time. If that is the option, there are plenty of people selling cord wood here.

Snow flurries have started, might get 1.5". Making soup stock and sourdough bread today. Will make a chicken and veg soup for dinner. DD2 will eat something else since I'm not making New England clam chowder, the only soup she will eat and then only if the first "solid" ingredient is clams. DW wouldn't be happy with that soup, she's really not a potato fan other than yams/sweet potatoes.

* which Mike Morgan found out he really DID need once he got one. I 'hinted' about his need in the comment section of several videos. OK, hint is too weak a word, I actually said it outright When he finally got one his comments in the video suggest I wasn't the only one telling him what should have been obvious to someone who brings in as much wood as he does.

 

[farmerjan]

He meant that the grapple is his second favorite attachment.... as in second favorite behind his first choice favorite, the mower.... not attached behind the mower.....

I just noticed the Winky eye..... duh.

 

[Senile_Texas_Aggie]

How do you attach the grapple behind the mower and can you use them at the same time?

It's really quite tricky to do!

I think you would be amazed at how much work you could get done with a grapple. You could easily carry the rocks you are talking about that would be needed to build a trail. I know you could carry the rocks with the FEL bucket, but using a grapple you can easily pick them up and move them around into position more easily. Do you have a 3rd function valve on your Mahindra? If you don't, you can install a diverter kit on your tractor for less money than a 3rd function valve. I went ahead and paid the extra expense for the 3rd function valve when I got the grapple. The 3rd function valve was $3500 for installation, while the grapple was $1500. I bought the 2-clamp kind of grapple, which I like better than the ones with a single clamp. I believe you can install a diverter kit in lieu of a 3rd function valve for around $1000. As for the winch, you may want to consider buying one as well. I don't have one as I don't make and burn firewood. If I decided to go into the firewood business I would certainly consider one.

Senile Texas Aggie

 

[Bruce]

The kind of stone that would be needed on the "trail" would fall right through a grapple! I had originally told the tractor dealer that I wanted a grapple .... until I found out how much the 3rd function kit would cost. Went with the pallet forks instead. From watching TTWT and OWTM I agree that the double grapple over the single seems a lot more functional.

Saw on Tractor Mike's channel yesterday: a sub compact tractor electric grapple for those that don't have a 3rd function or diverter. It is a single clamp and not the full width of the lower section - 49" wide (lower) and 28.25" (upper) though. That is a pretty narrow single upper clamp. I don't know well one would have to center the load to keep the ends from dragging in the dirt. I would like to see longer lower "jaws" on it as well, looks like you would be limited to 1 log of any diameter at a time. Apparently $2K without shipping. I wonder if they make one for compacts, I don't see one on the Worksaver site.

Just found Good Works Tractors "review" of that and another "no hydraulics" grapple. Yeah, single log on the Worksaver unless you somehow managed to stack them vertically when picking them up. The other one clamps as you use the dump function on the loader. Much more circular clamp so multiple logs but not great with control of the grapple since you can't adjust the bottom relative to the ground without opening/closing the clamps at the same time. But something to think about in any case.

I don't cut near enough wood to justify a logging winch. I think you should start burning wood so you can make even more use of your grapple

 

[Senile_Texas_Aggie]

Believe me, I would like to burn wood instead of propane. It would be practically free. But the cost of upgrading the fireplace and chimney would be outrageous. I may look into an outdoor wood burner -- HomeSteadHow did a review of their outdoor woodburner stove after 4 years of ownership. I may need to watch that more closely.

I can't imagine buying an electric grapple. I am so glad I got my 3rd function valve installed, as it has permitted me to buy the tree shear and be able to use it as well. Now all I need is a wood splitter and I'd be ready to cut and process some wood!

 

[thistlebloom]

Couldn't you put a freestanding woodstove in, instead of using your existing fireplace? I love wood heat, it's the best!

 

[Bruce]

I think the cost of the chimney could be a deterrent. Even a triple wall metal chimney isn't cheap.

 

[farmerjan]

Did you get any snow? My brother sent a picture from my parents in NH that they got 5 inches. I guess a day or 2 ago?
Boy, I sure don't want to see any of that stuff with my peach trees in full bloom....