Grapple Saw on Kboom

frashdog said:
Awesome!

I thought I understood one could use just the grapple on the Gierkink or just the saw.

So the Gierkink's tilt actuates up and floats down, where as the Mecanil has power up and down?
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You are correct. So , if you're going to grab a limb on an angle and you tilt up too far, well, I guess you have to either grab something else or I don't know. I guess you'd have to ask the guy that's selling them. Seems like Mecanil made a better design, to me.
 
I'm new to the grapple world but should be learning quickly. I'm a dealer for both the GMT and the Mecanil grapple saws.

Give me a little bit to get up to speed, but that should happen quickly. I have the GMT for my mini excavator.


Regarding tilting the GMT too far up, as soon as you stop tipping it up, it starts tilting down. The speed it tips down is adjustable. Also the tilt cylinder will extend if it goes over a certain pressure (also adjustable), which would allow for making up the angle difference.

It's a brave new world, both on the ground (like my excavator, loaders, and skid steers) and on cranes!

662-251-8686
 
I don't think I'd like that Gierkink tilting down on its own. After using the Mecanil I'd find that kind of irritating.
It is a brave new world and if you're selling both, you'll do very well.
I considered seeing about becoming a dealer, but I'm making so much money using it and enjoying it, that I decided against it.
I'd say good luck to you, but you don't need it. The game has changed and your in the perfect position.
Not every service will buy one, but every guy that already owns a kboom, if he has any sense, will. For the amount of work that it does, a grapplesaw is a very cheap investment.
I know two guys that are building exactly what I have and one that has already.
 
That would be a poorly paid climber! The GMT035 is $24,800 list by itself. A common rotator for it lists for $1550. I just spent $7200 on Solidworks (CAD software) which I will use to make a better hanger for the grapple. My proof of concept hanger (quick/dirty/designed on the fly in the shop) works well enough, but I'll be making several revisions as I go.

I spent 3 hours using the GMT 0n my excavator today. Hundreds of trees down. This is going to change the way I do tree work for sure. We haul material whole, loading with the excavator. We will be using the grapple saw to process and load material. One day maybe I can get a knuckle boom, but for now, it'll pay for itself cutting out HUGE amounts of hand work.

Should have a video from today uploaded in a couple hours and change.
 
LeviRockett said:
Damn machines. Any guesses on how long until the climber is obsolete?
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As long as there are men that think they're never going to age, there will be climbers.
I am just kidding. There will always be a need for that skill set, but the need will diminish as we move into the future.
I20150209_124617.webp t's not like I can prune with this tree-mek!
Btw, I have no idea why my pictures post all Topsy turvy on this site.
 
Lumberjack said:
75 trees felled, turned, and windrowed in an hour.
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those are some good sized trees your taking down there for that machine, no side loading issues when your flopping them over? I guess what I'm saying is I'd be concerned about all the stress put on that piece between the grapple and where it attaches to the excavator. I'm interested in that combo just for lot clearing.
 
The grapple protects itself regarding side loads. Both the tilt cylinder and the grapple cylinder have work reliefs which will cause the grapple to open or the grapple to tilt down if it goes over pressure. The grapple relief isn't supposed to be adjusted but the tilt side can be, if desired.


The boom of the excavator isn't receiving any twist unless the grapple contacts the hanger due to how the grapple is hung.


It's crazy how quick it is clearing land. I'll also use it for loading tree debris on our residential work. We've been using a bucket and thumb, loading into our gooseneck dump trailer.
 
Lumberjack said:
The grapple protects itself regarding side loads. Both the tilt cylinder and the grapple cylinder have work reliefs which will cause the grapple to open or the grapple to tilt down if it goes over pressure. The grapple relief isn't supposed to be adjusted but the tilt side can be, if desired.


The boom of the excavator isn't receiving any twist unless the grapple contacts the hanger due to how the grapple is hung.


It's crazy how quick it is clearing land. I'll also use it for loading tree debris on our residential work. We've been using a bucket and thumb, loading into our gooseneck dump trailer.
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Ok thanks for that! I'm interested in a setup like that for sure. I'll pm you to ask you more questions !
 
Update:

The grapple saw is at least everything I thought it would be and then some more. I've cut some whole trees over 20" in diameter without issue. I haven't tried grabbing any (over ~2') large logs yet to see how it will handle that, but under 2' is gravy. The grapple tines are individual, nothing connecting the two per side. I'm liking that a good bit. If you grab dirt, most of it falls out on its own, and it doesn't scoop up as much either. The first time I filled the bar oil reservior, I was a bit surprised with how much it took. Then I considered how much I had cut and it made perfect sense. All told I'm on my second chain, ~500-600 trees have been cut, 80%+ have been chipped.

I do need to make version 1.0 of the hanger for my excavator, taking what I learned from the proof of concept hanger. I also need to do some cleanup of the plumbing on my dipper.

My excavator (13.2k lbs) is about as small as I would want to go doing straight clearing work, bigger would be better. Doing residential work, a 4t (10k lb) machine would be ok, maybe a 3.5t, but that seems like it would be getting pretty small. The two hydraulic circuits on my excavator are exceptionally handy, being able to run the grapple and rotation simultaneously. I haven't had an issue with the grapple, tilit, and saw being on the same circuit. I could see how that could be an issue with the slower boom of a knuckle boom. With the excavator it's as wide open as the machine can move it. Then again, with the knuckle boom, you could reduce the tilt down speed and it should be easier.

In closing, it's the future of some forms of tree work. It should be exceptionally well suited for my fields. I'm looking forward to getting it on a residential job so I can shoot video for the people who say they like the grapple but don't do enough land clearing to justify it. I'll also make a hanger for my track loader at some point. It's a friend's house currently.


image5.webp image3.webp image2.webp image.webp image4.webp
 
Cleaning up the edges of what used to be a cow pasture. I bought the land in November, trying to bend it to my will.

The trees in this morning's video are in a fence line that is coming out.
 
Lumberjack said:
Update:

The grapple saw is at least everything I thought it would be and then some more. I've cut some whole trees over 20" in diameter without issue. I haven't tried grabbing any (over ~2') large logs yet to see how it will handle that, but under 2' is gravy. The grapple tines are individual, nothing connecting the two per side. I'm liking that a good bit. If you grab dirt, most of it falls out on its own, and it doesn't scoop up as much either. The first time I filled the bar oil reservior, I was a bit surprised with how much it took. Then I considered how much I had cut and it made perfect sense. All told I'm on my second chain, ~500-600 trees have been cut, 80%+ have been chipped.

I do need to make version 1.0 of the hanger for my excavator, taking what I learned from the proof of concept hanger. I also need to do some cleanup of the plumbing on my dipper.

My excavator (13.2k lbs) is about as small as I would want to go doing straight clearing work, bigger would be better. Doing residential work, a 4t (10k lb) machine would be ok, maybe a 3.5t, but that seems like it would be getting pretty small. The two hydraulic circuits on my excavator are exceptionally handy, being able to run the grapple and rotation simultaneously. I haven't had an issue with the grapple, tilit, and saw being on the same circuit. I could see how that could be an issue with the slower boom of a knuckle boom. With the excavator it's as wide open as the machine can move it. Then again, with the knuckle boom, you could reduce the tilt down speed and it should be easier.

In closing, it's the future of some forms of tree work. It should be exceptionally well suited for my fields. I'm looking forward to getting it on a residential job so I can shoot video for the people who say they like the grapple but don't do enough land clearing to justify it. I'll also make a hanger for my track loader at some point. It's a friend's house currently.


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Awesome ! It's on my wish list for this year!
 
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