Gerasimek's Tree-mek

ROYCE said:
Yes, that is a great option. I think it is another great tool to have in the tool box.
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Royce, I may have felt the same way as you about building a crane truck around the grapple saw. I decided to go bigger on the crane capacity in order to feel more confident if I'd want to use the hook for bigger leads. I may find out it was unnecessary. It has been pointed out that big trees can be done efficiently with the crane size that most are using for the grapple. It did cost me in other areas of the build to go bigger, so there is a trade off. Just some food for thought based upon my experience to this point. Good luck to you.
 
Tanner28 said:
Royce, I may have felt the same way as you about building a crane truck around the grapple saw. I decided to go bigger on the crane capacity in order to feel more confident if I'd want to use the hook for bigger leads. I may find out it was unnecessary. It has been pointed out that big trees can be done efficiently with the crane size that most are using for the grapple. It did cost me in other areas of the build to go bigger, so there is a trade off. Just some food for thought based upon my experience to this point. Good luck to you.
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What is the crane / truck combo you are building?
 
  • I'm going with a standard mount along with a dump bed. The crane is a Palfinger pk72002. The setback with a crane this size is a need for an extra axle under the crane to keep the front axle from being overloaded. Another setback is the need for a longer wheelbase for stability.
 
Tanner28 said:
  • I'm going with a standard mount along with a dump bed. The crane is a Palfinger pk72002. The setback with a crane this size is a need for an extra axle under the crane to keep the front axle from being overloaded. Another setback is the need for a longer wheelbase for stability.
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So is that a second steer axle that you need? What is the reach on that Crane? How long will the dump bed be? Sounds like its going to be a pretty cool Truck. Are you getting your truck from Tiffin? Or are you not from the Ohio area? Sorry for all the questions really does sound like it's going to be a cool truck.
 
Thanks. It's a pushable steer axle. The vertical reach is approximately 115'. Tiffin is doing all the fab work, but I bought the truck and crane elsewhere. I'm in PA.
 
Sorry for the late reply, i used the traditional climb or bucket setup previously. I can say that I took some video while not using grapple saw because we needed all 115' of reach. I later watched some of the video and noticed it took so long to get the hook and then for it to be taken off the stem on the ground. If the rain would stop I will do a timed comparison of the two. But I can say it's still faster in most situations with a skilled operator.
 
Jerad Oren said:
Sorry for the late reply, i used the traditional climb or bucket setup previously. I can say that I took some video while not using grapple saw because we needed all 115' of reach. I later watched some of the video and noticed it took so long to get the hook and then for it to be taken off the stem on the ground. If the rain would stop I will do a timed comparison of the two. But I can say it's still faster in most situations with a skilled operator.
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You must have been sleepy writing that post. What can you say is faster with a skilled operator?
 
So Glenn should i develop thick skin for when you other Tree-Mek owners make fun of my BIG nose truck?! My grapplesaw should be in the testing stage by Jan 8th and on the job by the 10th. For those of you who ask about the chart my crane is the Palfinger 40002, the vertical reach is 110', 900 lb but remember that is only 12ft from the side of the truck, 100ft of horizontal reach at 900 lb, ( you will notice the pounds stay the same) to achieve 110 ft and 100ft i must extend the 2 manual sections, Palfinger rates the manual pull out extensions so as long as the hook is on the last extension 900 lb is all i can lift. To run the Mecanil grapple (which weighs 700 lbs) i can only extend one manual (104' vert. , 94' hor.) 1360 lbs which leaves me 500lbs branch weight with a 160lb margin that would put me at 90% capacity, most times i will be at 400lb or less . So what this all means in the practical world is i can park 40ft from a 95ft tall tree and remove all of the branches and wood to 18in diameter (that is the cutting capacity of the Mecanil). The climbers time in the tree is cut in half if not more and maybe you can drop the stick , to remove the saw takes 10 minutes tops. For Royce, as many voices here have said its not the total answer for me and my company, my crew will go out in the morning and trim for 4 hours while i am doing as much as i can stacking the brush on a $2400 removal, they will meet me after lunch and we will finish the job, that's a $3800 home run for a 4 man crew in our part of the world and nobody was over worked ( this is what i am shooting for once it is up and running), thats not an everyday occurrence but it will be three days a week. I also hire out to other certified arborists only ,to help them with their removals.
 
Gerasimek said:
You must have been sleepy writing that post. What can you say is faster with a skilled operator?
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I'm sorry but with a newborn and a 2 y/o, awake and sleep all merge together. I was not very clear on that but it is still faster with the grapple saw in most cases. Having the ability to grab a branch and either bring it all the way down or drop it at any point is helpful. I don't think this truck will solve every removal situation. For example we were parked on the road "near" a tulip poplar that had four vertical limbs quite high. There was plenty of room to rig the four down separately making four cuts. I could have used the Mecanil to take it out in sections. Since there was room and we hand plenty of hands to help, I climbed and rigged the tops out and then craned the stem out. If there was a tight canopy and small drop zone I would have used the Mecanil. Everyone runs their operation different, the smart ones learns from others and adapts it to try to make a more efficient and effective business. That's what I see by reading into these comments and questions. Trying to decide if this new technology is a fad or an ideal investment.

I went to see Glen's treemek work. I met him in the morning and followed him to remove a large walnut tree over a house and powerlines with an asphalt driveway. I was not prepared to make that large of purchase yet and I pride myself on always finding more efficient ways to do tree work. I watched him for 2 hours and the tree was almost done except for the stem. He did this with one guy at the chipper and only using 10 fingers. I didn't need to see any more and left for Tiffin crane and put an order in for one right then. Seeing it work in person answers most any question you could think of in a forum post. I don't think it will replace climbers or bucket trucks but it will save your life or body and keep you in the business long enough to retire happy instead of broken and lonely. Ok sorry got a little too carried away at the end there but you get my point.
 
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SJ_Treeguy said:
So Glenn should i develop thick skin for when you other Tree-Mek owners make fun of my BIG nose truck?! My grapplesaw should be in the testing stage by Jan 8th and on the job by the 10th. For those of you who ask about the chart my crane is the Palfinger 40002, the vertical reach is 110', 900 lb but remember that is only 12ft from the side of the truck, 100ft of horizontal reach at 900 lb, ( you will notice the pounds stay the same) to achieve 110 ft and 100ft i must extend the 2 manual sections, Palfinger rates the manual pull out extensions so as long as the hook is on the last extension 900 lb is all i can lift. To run the Mecanil grapple (which weighs 700 lbs) i can only extend one manual (104' vert. , 94' hor.) 1360 lbs which leaves me 500lbs branch weight with a 160lb margin that would put me at 90% capacity, most times i will be at 400lb or less . So what this all means in the practical world is i can park 40ft from a 95ft tall tree and remove all of the branches and wood to 18in diameter (that is the cutting capacity of the Mecanil). The climbers time in the tree is cut in half if not more and maybe you can drop the stick , to remove the saw takes 10 minutes tops. For Royce, as many voices here have said its not the total answer for me and my company, my crew will go out in the morning and trim for 4 hours while i am doing as much as i can stacking the brush on a $2400 removal, they will meet me after lunch and we will finish the job, that's a $3800 home run for a 4 man crew in our part of the world and nobody was over worked ( this is what i am shooting for once it is up and running), thats not an everyday occurrence but it will be three days a week. I also hire out to other certified arborists only ,to help them with their removals.
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We'll nickname you Jimmy Durante
 
Just today I put my order in with Jason Smith at Tiffin Loader Crane to set up a truck with the Palfinger, very much like Glenn's and Jerad's.
Thanks Glenn for letting me come out and see your crane in action.
In the meantime I will be renting a truck with an IMT material handling boom with the Mecanil head on it. Should have that next week sometime.
Watch out Minneapolis area!
 
Ben Heller said:
Just today I put my order in with Jason Smith at Tiffin Loader Crane to set up a truck with the Palfinger, very much like Glenn's and Jerad's.
Thanks Glenn for letting me come out and see your crane in action.
In the meantime I will be renting a truck with an IMT material handling boom with the Mecanil head on it. Should have that next week sometime.
Watch out Minneapolis area!
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Ben, that's great news! Hope you and your dad like the truck.
 
so can someone give a ball park price of what these trucks are costing? The cost of a new 75 footer bucket perhaps?
 
ROYCE said:
so can someone give a ball park price of what these trucks are costing? The cost of a new 75 footer bucket perhaps?
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Well, I think most of the guys are buying new cranes at least and I know Glenn put it on a used truck. I am going a less expensive route by purchasing a used truck crane combo. It is a little smaller than some of these in this thread with 80' of horizontal reach. I could have been up and running for about 110k to 115k but I am having Tiffin shorten the truck so I will be at about 135k.
 
Thanks, Jerad. And thank you again for letting us check out your truck when you were picking it up. It is fun to read about how you have been using it and how well it is working out.
I am going to have Tiffin put mine together on a Sterling Condor.
Royce, Joshua is prety close on price. Mine will probably come out near $230,000. Could buy a bucket and a log loader for that much I suppose. New crane and grapplesaw mounted is about $186-187K. Then the truck is extra, and the bed or box or whatever.
I don't know how much those polished aluminum wheels were on Jerad's. But very nice.
 
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