New Firewood Beast

[memory]

prob not on that one...its a hay bale fork with two rails under the bale. I bought a 3pt hay spear for the Mahindra tractor I used to have and the bales kept falling off b/c I could never get the angle right. I returned it to Tractor Supply..but on that one you could I'm sure. We just use a 36' flatbed trailer and a truck to haul across the field, with a tractor at each loading and unloading zone.

Did the fork not go in the hay far enough? I would think the bales should not fall off even if the angle was off, unless you were way off. What was the cost of the one from TSC?

I wish we had the equipment to do that. Is your trailer a gooseneck? What kind of truck do you use? We just have one tractor with a loader so that tractor is doing the loading, hauling, and unloading.

 

[luckydozenfarm]

I wish we had the equipment to do that. Is your trailer a gooseneck? What kind of truck do you use? We just have one tractor with a loader so that tractor is doing the loading, hauling, and unloading.

Yeah its a gooseneck hooked to a Dodge dually. We lease land about 15 miles away and we haul our equipment on it, so it sees double duty in the summer. We found its easier with two tractors and a truck to move hay off the field, and sometimes we use it to move hay from one field to another or deliver hay to customers. Hauling hay on the loader across a bumpy field isn't good on the tractor or myself..lol

 

[luckydozenfarm]

Did the fork not go in the hay far enough? I would think the bales should not fall off even if the angle was off, unless you were way off. What was the cost of the one from TSC?

I wish we had the equipment to do that. Is your trailer a gooseneck? What kind of truck do you use? We just have one tractor with a loader so that tractor is doing the loading, hauling, and unloading.

no it was long enough.. but when you lowered the fork the spear was at the wrong angle upward..and when you turned the top link out to level it at lowered position the spear was pointing downward too much at upward position. Dude we worked and worked with it then I just returned it. It was like 250 bucks..so for that price it better work right.

 

[arrow]

Well you've got me a bit concerned. I just picked up a 3016 (basically same tractor with different engine as your 3616) to do just what you are doing minus the hay bales. A pinion gear is a "pulling/torque" entity and since I'll be skidding 1000-2000 lb stems with mine, I'm wondering how yours kept letting go? Also, I think your loader was giving up quite a bit with your grapple on their. That thing must weigh 600-700 lbs. I'm guessing. At any rate, good luck with your new unit. It is more than a night and day difference to your 3616, I'd say more like a month and year difference.

 

[luckydozenfarm]

Well you've got me a bit concerned. I just picked up a 3016 (basically same tractor with different engine as your 3616) to do just what you are doing minus the hay bales. A pinion gear is a "pulling/torque" entity and since I'll be skidding 1000-2000 lb stems with mine, I'm wondering how yours kept letting go? Also, I think your loader was giving up quite a bit with your grapple on their. That thing must weigh 600-700 lbs. I'm guessing. At any rate, good luck with your new unit. It is more than a night and day difference to your 3616, I'd say more like a month and year difference.

I had the MH116 loader and it would lift 1600 lbs at the pins. The grapple weighs in at 500# I'm told. But the loader wasn't the issue. I would just cut the logs to length that it could handle. Maneuverability was excellent with that tractor in the heavy woods. I was pulling a 6' disc when the pinion let go. After 9 weeks or so I finally got it back but it would squeal when you pushed in the clutch at highway speeds..never a big issue, but I was sure they didn't have it fixed right. I had to use it and I couldn't wait another 2 months. After a few months on July 4th weekend, I was moving some dirt and the pinion completely jammed up...no movement whatsoever...we had to skid pull it with our big tractor and winch it up the trailer. I gave up and got a JD. He showed me the pinion he pulled out and I swear its about the size of a corn cob. No wonder it let go. The traction on the 4WD is more than the tranny can handle in my opinion. It's basically a riding lawn mower with a loader on it. I still technically own the tractor, I called Mahindra Finance and gave them a piece of my mind and they are not requiring payments until I get it back from the dealer. But its getting a FOR SALE sign on it when I get it back. )

 

[arrow]

I had the MH116 loader and it would lift 1600 lbs at the pins. The grapple weighs in at 500# I'm told. But the loader wasn't the issue. I would just cut the logs to length that it could handle. Maneuverability was excellent with that tractor in the heavy woods. I was pulling a 6' disc when the pinion let go. After 9 weeks or so I finally got it back but it would squeal when you pushed in the clutch at highway speeds..never a big issue, but I was sure they didn't have it fixed right. I had to use it and I couldn't wait another 2 months. After a few months on July 4th weekend, I was moving some dirt and the pinion completely jammed up...no movement whatsoever...we had to skid pull it with our big tractor and winch it up the trailer. I gave up and got a JD. He showed me the pinion he pulled out and I swear its about the size of a corn cob. No wonder it let go. The traction on the 4WD is more than the tranny can handle in my opinion. It's basically a riding lawn mower with a loader on it. I still technically own the tractor, I called Mahindra Finance and gave them a piece of my mind and they are not requiring payments until I get it back from the dealer. But its getting a FOR SALE sign on it when I get it back. )

Cheez, this does not bode well. My little JD never gave me a problem doing this kind of work and was giving up about a 1000 lbs to the Mahindra. Mine is a gear tractor besides so its going to be "torqued out" aplenty.

 

[luckydozenfarm]

Maybe it was my dumb luck. I don't know. I do like the tractor a lot and I would size the work accordingly. I almost tipped it over a few times lifting a log on the grapple, but all around it is a good tractor. I'm sure your winters are like our summers, where it's absolutely miserable to try to get a full day's work in during bad weather. I appreciated the cab and it allowed me to work through the heat of the day. I skidded and loaded logs in the hot afternoons while cutting and splitting in the cooler mornings and evenings. I won't consider even messing with firewood without a chainsaw and my tractor w/ grapple loader. Without those two tools, I'd rather let the worms have the wood..

 

[arrow]

Maybe it was my dumb luck. I don't know. I do like the tractor a lot and I would size the work accordingly. I almost tipped it over a few times lifting a log on the grapple, but all around it is a good tractor. I'm sure your winters are like our summers, where it's absolutely miserable to try to get a full day's work in during bad weather. I appreciated the cab and it allowed me to work through the heat of the day. I skidded and loaded logs in the hot afternoons while cutting and splitting in the cooler mornings and evenings. I won't consider even messing with firewood without a chainsaw and my tractor w/ grapple loader. Without those two tools, I'd rather let the worms have the wood..

Lucky I logged professionally for 30 years in New England. The most miserable days I spent in my life were those thankfully seldom 90 degree days and more while in the woods. If I had to do his in Texas, I just as soon put a gun in my mouth.

 

[luckydozenfarm]

Lucky I logged professionally for 30 years in New England. The most miserable days I spent in my life were those thankfully seldom 90 degree days and more while in the woods. If I had to do his in Texas, I just as soon put a gun in my mouth.

haha...I've never cut wood in the snow...always wanted to see what that was like. By the time its below 40 degrees here in Texas, I'm in full delivery mode, and the saws are already put away. I'm looking forward to the fall. It has been over 100 degrees every day for about 2 weeks now, and while it's good for drying wood, I'm ready for some cool weather. We had a week in March this year where it was around 50 every day and man the chips were flying that week.

 

[luckydozenfarm]

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Nice cooler weather this weekend, got a lot done. Almost down to my last log to split.

 

[arrow]

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Nice cooler weather this weekend, got a lot done. Almost down to my last log to split.

Cooler in relation to what? A Texan probably thinks 80 is cool. When I retired from logging, I vowed not to touch a stick of wood until it was 50* outside. Super nice rig for firewood you got there. Do you skid logs out with it as well?

 

[luckydozenfarm]

​

Cooler in relation to what? A Texan probably thinks 80 is cool. When I retired from logging, I vowed not to touch a stick of wood until it was 50* outside. Super nice rig for firewood you got there. Do you skid logs out with it as well?

I havent skidded with it yet. I need to get a good boom pole first. Yes it was about 10 degrees cooler than normal this weekend...like 92..lol

 

[arrow]

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I havent skidded with it yet. I need to get a good boom pole first. Yes it was about 10 degrees cooler than normal this weekend...like 92..lol

Well, I'm not sure how'd you use the boom pole meaning if you were going to try and attach a tong or something like that. You could also just use a drawbar on the 3 pt with a grab hook on it or two. Get a couple or three 8 ft chains with slide hooks and go logging. I've seen guys log with boom poles but sometimes they are a pain to go through the woods if you are not on a dedicated logging road and they really cut down on hitch capacity. So 92* is refreshing out there in Texas land?….just kill me now.

 

[luckydozenfarm]

Well, I'm not sure how'd you use the boom pole meaning if you were going to try and attach a tong or something like that. You could also just use a drawbar on the 3 pt with a grab hook on it or two. Get a couple or three 8 ft chains with slide hooks and go logging. I've seen guys log with boom poles but sometimes they are a pain to go through the woods if you are not on a dedicated logging road and they really cut down on hitch capacity. So 92* is refreshing out there in Texas land?….just kill me now.

I was going to get a boom pole out on the 3pt hitch and a set of skidding tongs. I don't want to tear up the dirt too bad not getting them off the ground. Tractor Supply has one I'm thinking of getting, but I won't need one until next spring. That's when I do most of my cutting and dragging. I usually cut the tree into 6ft or 9ft lengths and load them onto my flatbed trailer with my grapple. Then I unload them with my pallet forks onto the ground. I cut on other people's places a lot and I use my tractor to load in the woods and my dad's tractor to unload them at the lot. The boom pole would be helpful b/c I could carry one log on the front grapple and then one on the skidder to the trailer.


Yeah crazy enough, 92* is a welcome change. We've been seeing some hot days, but the humidity is the worst part of it. We had drier air, 10* cooler air and a nice breeze blow through this weekend. Seemed like a fall day to me around here.

 

[luckydozenfarm]

Did a bit of tree harvesting this weekend.


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[zogger]

Did a bit of tree harvesting this weekend.

I like that last pic the best.....

 

[Vermonster]

Very nice new beast. What model and make is that grappler? That sure would come in handy if I could fit that on my 4wd TN70 with its 32LA quick connect loader.

 

[luckydozenfarm]

Very nice new beast. What model and make is that grappler? That sure would come in handy if I could fit that on my 4wd TN70 with its 32LA quick connect loader.

Its an Armstrong Ag 60" mini-grapple. It has the skid steer hookup design. They are made about 30 miles from my house in Brenham TX. I paid $900 for it brand new, but I'm thinking of upgrading to a bigger stouter unit, as I used this one on my small tractor b/c its so lightweight. I have issues with it popping off the Deere where the adapter plate mounts to the grapple. But it does a good job.

 

[Vermonster]

Its an Armstrong Ag 60" mini-grapple. It has the skid steer hookup design. They are made about 30 miles from my house in Brenham TX. I paid $900 for it brand new, but I'm thinking of upgrading to a bigger stouter unit, as I used this one on my small tractor b/c its so lightweight. I have issues with it popping off the Deere where the adapter plate mounts to the grapple. But it does a good job.

Cool, thanks. OK, I'm not seeing your model on their site. Is it one of these?

ArmStrongAG : Rock & Brush Moving Equipment

 

[rancher2]

I sure hope you have better luck with your JD than I did. Over the years I have owned a lot of JD tractors but the 5603 I had was the worst. It was the same size as the one you bought. The cab and engine was great but the rest of the tractor was junk. I did buy it new and it spent a lot of time at the dealer the 1,000 hours I owned the tractor. It was the first time in my life the only way I could get a good price for the tractor was I had to trade it to a Case-IH, Bobcat dealer on a new skid loader. It all started with the hyds going out at 50 hours then the rearend then the reverser then the trans. JD is not what it use to be.