Grapples Improve Fire Prevention and Forest Management

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The hydraulic grapple rake, a versatile new loader/tractor/skid steer attachment, is speeding forest management tasks with a unique combination of strength, control, and flexibility.

Too many forest management tasks are still done the old fashion way, from logging and national part conservation to property habitat and fire protection. Even when equipment is used to pick up, move, or stack trees, logs, brush or other fire hazards with shovel, chainsaw, and backbreaking sweat, there are drawbacks whenever these tasks require control and efficiency.

Bucket attachments of the past tend to scoop excess dirt, incapable of holding unwieldy loads, and are largely ineffective for tasks in need of fine control such are raking limbs, or debris. Those who find themselves responsible for managing private and public forestland are now adding a new, versatile attachment - The hydraulic grapple rake - to their skid steers, tractors, and loaders. This new attachment is much more efficient than manual labor, and adapts easier than the bucket. It hydraulically opens, closes, and moves its jaws of spaced metal tines so it can remove trees, logs and brush or surface rake limbs and debris without removing topsoil that is essential in management of lands. No piling up of unnecessary dirt either. This grapple rake can dig out roots and stumps. It can safely pick up, move, and stack logs, trees, or irregular loads up to several thousand pounds. The grapple rake, with it's intertwined teeth, can also grab and place material down to three inches, and reach within inches of desired forest habitat without disturbing it to lift, drag, rake, or haul loads. This attachment can make piles and pick up from the front or lift them from the top, being helpful when loading debris piles onto trailers or preparing piles for burn disposal.

Bob Chapman was faced with the unwelcome task of removing over 300 trees on his 70-acre, Steamboat, Colorado property due to beetle kill. Due to the enormity of the task, he hired a commercial timber company to do the work.

"It looked like a war zone with logs, branches, and stumps everywhere," says Chapman. "I wondered how they were going to clean up the huge mess without destroying habitat for the living trees and adjoining grassland. I was so impressed with the way a skid steer mounted grapple rake navigated living trees while removing huge loads of debris that I talked the timber company into letting me operate it for a few days."

He used the hydraulic grapple rake manufactured by Colville, Washington-based AnBo Manufacturing, which specializes in high quality designed products for tractors, loaders, and skid steers. While their attachment operates like a bucket in that it can be raised and lowered, and rolled forward and backward, it has a third hydraulic function to open and close its jaws.

To handle ongoing beetle kill and fire prevention tasks, Chapman decided to buy a grapple rake for his multi-terrain loader. AnBo Manufacturing built the grapple rake to fit Chapman's loader. He chose a 6-foot grapple rake with 6-inch tine spacing to allow dirt but not brush or debris to sift through the rake's tines.

Previously, Chapman had used a 4WD tractor with bucket attachment to remove debris with unsatisfactory results. "Because the bucket lacked finesse, it left holes and skinned spots that removed topsoil and made it difficult for decorative grassland to grow back, he explains. "Since the grapple rake just scrapes debris off the top and can back rake with accuracy, the grass grew back beautifully in one season."

While trying to clear a defensible space around a five acre, Nederland, Colorado property for fire mitigation, Chapman tried to remove flammable juniper ground spread and preserve the aspen that was desired. The juniper grew among rocky outcroppings so the task was very difficult.

Proving difficult Chapman said, "I'd hired a crew to remove the juniper, but it was basically pickax,shovel, sweat and cuss." He continued, "You couldn't put a chainsaw to it because it grew among rocks and dirt. The needles went right through leather gloves. After two weeks of backbreaking labor, when they'd cleaned up less than 1/10 an acre, they finally quit."

Turning to the grapple rake for help Chapman adds, "using the grapple rake, I was able to pull up the juniper by the roots so it wouldn't grow back -- right from its rocky outcroppings." He continues, "My loader has a push force of about 6,000 lbs, and several times I stalled it pushing on big rocks, but the grapple rake was fine. It's strong enough to handle whatever you throw at it."

As AnBo uses a special type of steel that has twice the yield strength (resistance to bending) and a much higher Brinnell hardness rating (resistance to wear) than T1 steel, it satisfied his need for strength. The added strength preserves more lift and payload capacity than similar products, and makes the grapple rake light enough for mini or compact skid steers or tractors.

Chapman states, "I don't know how I'd have done the job any other way." With the grapple rake, by himself was able to clear a defensible space around his property. He adds, "I ended up taking out 215 cubic yards of slash and debris, and loaded it onto trailers in about 100 hours. It's great at back-raking, grabbing, stacking, piling, whatever you need. Not only did I save over $10,000 in labor, but also lowered my insurance from $23,000 to $4,000 annually.

While coworkers of Tom Hauptmann were dragging trees with a tractor and chain, Tom and his wife spent three days cutting and moving trees just to get from their driveway to the mail box. Hurricane Katrina had hit and the Hauptmann's lived an hour away from New Orleans. Using a front-end loader with a 4-way clamshell bucket, the inefficiency frustrated him.

Describing his problems, Hauptmann adds, "I could pick up logs, but it was always dicey." Explaining why he continues, "Because the clamshell bucket had no teeth or curvature, I could pinch the logs but not really grip them. The load would slip out when it got imbalanced, so it was slow going and I had to be careful. When a load slipped, it not only took extra time to pick it up, but also to clean up the debris left behind."

Dissatisfied with the bucket's inability to rake limbs, leaves and debris from the ground without scooping up dirt, thus causing problems with burning debris. Because the dirt mixed with the debris in the piles to be burned would burn slowly, incompletely, or with too much smoke

Hauptmann turned to a 6-foot, hydraulic AnBo grapple rake with 6-inch tine spacing.

"The grapple rake is strong enough to pick up anything your machine is capable of," says Hauptmann. "My limit is blowing out the tires on my front end loader." Hauptmann's grapple rake was strong enough to pick up and carry 40-foot sections of tree up to 18-inches in diameter, which he estimates weighed up to 4,000 lbs. This, he found, was much faster and easier than cutting logs into smaller sections, then dragging or carrying them separately.

Because his control and grip are better with the grapple rake, he's now more efficiently cleaning up and managing his property. He's using it to pick up trees, logs, limbs, brush and debris, and even uses it to dig up stumps and roots.

Explaining what Hauptmann likes he states, "unlike bucket jaws that essentially pinch,the grapple rake wraps around a load. Its teeth and curvature are better for grabbing and grasping. It operates like a hand and give much better control and holding power. You can grab so much more with the grapple rake."

Hauptmann learned the grapple rakes efficient capacity by inadvertently building a burn pile oftrees and logs under a power line.

Knowing he had to move the pile, Hauptmann says, "With the bucket, such a job would've taken me 20 loads to finish." But, "With the AnBo grapple rake, it took me five loads to move the entire pile. It made a two-hour project into a 20-minute one."

Hauptmann finds the grapple rake is useful in removing "nuisance trees and brush," quickly. "I simply put the teeth down and rip out the roots and all so they don't grow back," This works great on shallow roots. He simply slides the grapple rakes' teeth along the ground until there's a big enough load to carry to the debris pile. "I could never do that with a bucket because things would slip and go every which way." he says.

"I can pick up and replace items in the burn pile, shift ashes, whatever necessary to kep it buring properly." This is how Hauptmann finds the grapple rake's flexibility by placing and shifting objects in the burn pile for a cleaner, less smoky and more complete burn.

For a good investment that continues to pay back, year after year, the grapple rake is making traditionally, tedious clean-up tasks faster, safer, and easier with its unique combination of strength, control, and flexibility. Those responsible for such work as logging, national park conservation, fire prevention or forest management are finding that substituting its technology is well worth the investment.

Information about the Author: Anbo Manufacturing builds hard working attachments for agriculture and construction equipment. With a focus on Hydraulic Grapples and Grapple Rakes, Anbo makes rugged attachments for all models of loaders, tractors, skid steers and backhoes. Business Articles: http://www.article-buzz.com

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