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Using Hydraulic Grapples in Fire Prevention and Forest Management

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

Even when equipment is used to pick up, move and stack trees, logs, brush or other fire hazards, there are drawbacks whenever management tasks are still being done the old fashioned way: with shovel, chainsaw, and backbreaking sweat. From logging and national park conservation to fire prevention, property and habitat protection.

Traditional bucket attachments,seem to have trouble holding unwieldy loads, scoop up excess dirt, and are largely ineffective at tasks requiring fine control such as raking limbs or debris. To solve this, those responsible for managing private and public forestland are using a versatile new attachment -the hydraulic grapple rake - to their loaders, skid steers, and tractors. This new attachment is more efficient than manual labor and more adaptable than the bucket. The grapple rake, which hydraulically opens, closes, and moves its jaws of spaced metal tines, is becoming essential. It can dig out roots and stumps, remove trees, logs and brush or surface rake limbs and debris without removing the much needed topsoil, or piling up unnecessary dirt. The grapple rake can securely pick up, move,and stack logs, trees, or irregular loads up to several thousand pounds. It can rake, lift, drag, or haul loads within inches of desired forest habitat without disturbing it. With intertwined teeth, it can even make large piles and pick them up from the front or lift them from the top. This is especially helpful when loading debris piles onto trailers or guarding 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."

The timber company used the hydraulic grapple rake manufactured by Anbo Manufacturing, based in Colville, Washington. Anbo specializes in high quality designed products for tractors, loaders, and skid steers. The grapple rake operates like a bucket because it can be raised and lowered, and rolled forward and backward, but it has a third function that makes it unique. It open and closes its jaws.

Bob Chapman decided to buy a grapple rake for his multi-terrain loader. By doing this he could handle the ongoing beetle kill and fire preventions tasks on his acreage. Anbo built the grapple rake to fit on Chapman's loader. It was a 6-foot grapple rake with 6-inc tine spacing. This was to allow dirt, but not brush or debris to sift through the rake's tines.

Before to remove debris, Chapman used a 4WD tractor with bucket attachment He didn't like the 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." Chapman liked the results of the grapple rake, he continued, "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.

"I'd hired a crew to remove the juniper, but it was basically pickax, shovel, sweat and cuss," says Chapman. "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."

Because 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) to T1 steel. Thus, satisfying the need for strength. This extra strength allows more lift and payload capacity than like products, at the same time making the grapple rake light enough for mini or compact tractors or skid steers.

With the grapple rake, Chapman single-handedly cleared a defensible space around his property. "I ended up taking out 215 cubic yards of slash and debris, and loaded it onto trailers in about 100 hours," he says. "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. I don't know how I'd have done the job any other way."

With thousands of trees toppled when Hurricane Katrina hit on Tom Hauptmann's property about 60 miles from New Orleans, it took him and his wife three days to make it to their mailbox from their driveway. Cutting and moving downed trees. While others were dragging trees with a tractor and chain, Hauptmann used a front-end loader with a 4-way clamshell bucket to accomplish the task. The inefficiency still frustrated him.

"I could pick up logs, but it was always dicey," explains Hauptmann. "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."

He was also dissatisfied with the bucket's inability to rake limbs, leaves, and debris from the ground without scooping up dirt. Because the dirt mixed with debris in piles to be burned for disposal, the piles burned slowly, incompletely, or with too much smoke.

Hauptmann decided to try the 6-foot, hydraulic AnBo grapple rake with 6-inch tine spacing.

Hauptmann shared, "The grapple rake is strong enough to pick up anything your machine is capable of. "My limit is blowing out the tires on my front end loader." This grapple rake is strong enough to pick up and carry 40-foot sections of tree to 18-inches in diameter, he estimates also weighing up to 4,000 pounds. Finding it faster and easier than cutting logs into smaller sections, dragging or carrying them separately.

Using the grapple rake, Hauptmann can have the control and grip that he needs to more efficiently clean up and manage his property. He can use the grapple rake to pick up trees, logs, limbs, brush and debris, and is even using it to dig up unwanted stumps and roots.

"Unlike bucket jaws that essentially pinch, the grapple rake wraps around a load," explains Hauptmann. "Its teeth and curvature are better for grabbing and grasping. It operates like a hand and gives much better control and holding power. You can grab so much more with the grapple rake."

Accidently Hauptmann built a burn pile of trees and logs for disposal under a power line. learning about the grapple rake's efficient capacity.

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

What can be done for "nuisance trees and brush?" Hauptmann states that the grapple rake is useful for quickly removing these that tend to have shallow roots. "I simply put the teeth down and rip out the roots and all so they don't grow back." To gather limbs, He simply slides the grapple rakes teeth along the ground until his load is big enough to move to the debris pile. Adding, "I could never do that with a bucket because things would slip and go every which way.

"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.

Whether for logging, national park conservation, fire prevention or forest management, 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 are finding that substituting its technology for costly, time-consuming labor is a good investment that continues to pay back, year after year.

About the Author

Anbo Manufacturing builds hard working attachments for agriculture and construction equipment. Specializing in Hydraulic Grapples and Grapple Rakes, Anbo makes rugged attachments for all makes of loaders, tractors, skid steers and backhoes.