Welding the grapple was a good project in itself. Returning it in better condition than it was, was the "neighborly" thing to do. The paint was a nice touch. The tree being cut down was a great lesson. Your RU-vid videos are top notch. Thank you for sharing.
Mitchell is a distant cousin of mine, I grew up in the town just north of him. Someone is always someone’s cousin in your videos, ha! I found you from your pond videos and it’s always interesting watching you drive through your part of the state and when you cross into mine.
Why would he rebuild it? It's not his, he just borrowed it and fixed it so he could use it to see if it's what he wants, then returned it to it's owner
Wow he's a good tree guy ... Great to see the safety and skill he has in tree work. He's concerned about it not being perfect but he's super skilled and for me his safety and the safety he takes is key... Seen so many guys claim they are pros.... He is a professional
I would sooner hire someone that looks at their work and said "I could have done this better because..." than someone who says that they did a great job whether they did or not.
I'm thankful that you guys recognize him as a pro. He truly is very knowledgeable and skilled at tree work. Been at it over 20 years and safety is his #1 priority.
Neil… you are correct on the grapple. A grapple like the one you used is great for brush clearing, root raking and rock sifting… but not for logging. One made with a different geometry on the bottom would work a lot better. Here’s a piece of advice from a long time grapple operator… when you find one, make sure it has a similar set up on the top. You definitely want to have two independent top claws like that one did. A single center or, full width solid, upper is ineffective at grasping logs safely. It’s always a joy to see Cousin Tony display his expertise. He and she are consummate professionals. I have a video coming up where Brandon (Elite Earthworks) loads logs on our flatbed trailers with his excavator… it ain’t as simple as dropping them into the dump bed. But… I enjoyed watching a pro at work all the same. You are definitely headed for an appointment with a different tailgate!!! Have a great weekend bud.
Great advice on the grapple choice! I do think there are some better options out there for sure. It was great to learn a bit with this one though. I will definitely check out that video with Brandon. He knows what he's doing when it comes to operating! This week we are in Tennessee and will hopefully gonna get a little boat time. Have a great week!
Great video I have to say I love when your brother in law is on I love how precise he is cutting down trees todays video taught me a few things I do wrong and will change
I thought Neil did a great job on the video showing what was right and wrong about the face notch and hinge. I was the cutter in this video. If you have intrest in learing about these things I would highly recommend a series of books by Jeff Jepson, please look into his books on this subject!
Gm Neil! This was fascinating to watch something you are not a master at doing and learn at the same time. I always enjoy your journeys each week and watch you complete projects.... I wish you had time to do more. Thanks for sharing!
Hey Neil, a grapple is a man's best friend when it comes to cleanup and firewood. I have a frostbite log grapple and I absolutely love it. I use it on my compact 40hp tractor and my 74hp bobcat skidsteer. However there isn't one tool that's perfect for every job. It does decent for cleanup but leaves the small stuff. Unlike a grapple with more bottom teeth. But I've got a few teenage boys that do well with the smaller stuff! Great video! C-ya next week
Nice load of wood, nice job of loading it. Nice little quickly repair job on the grapple, your welds didn’t look all that bad on cam, and they held, liked the idea of returning something borrowed in better shape than when you got it, I try to do the same. Thanks for the video, enjoyed watching.
Great video, as always! Just a tip I've picked up in similarly frustrating welding situations - slow down your wire feed and weld at a snail's pace in order to get the little unit to produce enough heat. The heat sink capacity of the entire grapple is what's working against you, but high heat and slower wire will stretch its boundaries better. With your creativity and ability to source a good deal, definitely put the word out that you're in the market for a decent 220 machine; especially with the bigger equipment. Have a great week!
Welding duty cycles typically are based on a 10 minute window. So a 20 percent duty cycle will let you weld 2 minutes out of every 10 minutes. I have welded a bunch with one of those little lincoln welders with flux core wire are pretty decent little welders.
Cool stuff. Best thing is you get to use equipment !! Loui is a sweet rig. Old dump trucks sure are interesting. Nice you have all that family around you and you’re a great neighbor. Dave.
If your going to use a small mig machine for a job like that add some preheat to your weld joint first. Could be just a little propane torch but if you can raise the temp a couple hundred degrees it helps the penetration and weld flow. I have the same little lincoln mig and love the machine bit that job would have been a stick job.
I would recommend you check out Express Steel attachments. They are local to you. I've had one of their grapples for my tractor for years and it works great. Use it with all the downed trees on the property around here.
Love the Thrivent Live Generously t-shirt Craig is sporting! I think I’ve seen one or two of those previously on your channel. I used to work for Thrivent and worked on the project that facilitated the Action Teams programs where these t-shirts are given away.
Good work on that grapple. That was some thick tree, and the chainsaw was impressive. The skill shown is testament to the guys in the TEAM, that makes all the difference. Team-work solves many problems before they arise. Nice ending too, could be foreshadowing the girls at a later date. From UK.
I’ve got a friend that has a boiler like you use except the top of it opens instead of using the front door on, he loads it with a skid steer with a grapple and loads entire logs into it he can place like 4ft logs into it and doesn’t have to deal with busting up firewood.
Hi Neil. If your weld held up, then it's a good weld. Not everyone can make beautiful, stacked dimes every time. I rarely do. Love that shop. That is what I need! I have to find a suitable property first.
The 20% duty cycle on the welder, will be at max current setting. At lower current settings, the duty cycle will be higher. The sticker on the back will include the duty cycle at probably 3 different current settings.
I’m not a welder either but someone once told me that if you need to weld thick metal with a small welder, you can preheat the metal with a torch or map gas. I have never tried it so I can not claim that it works. Sorry if this comment was already made be someone else. Have a blessed day my friend.
I would love to see your skid loader painted (eventually) in the same scheme as the rest of your trucks (whenever that happens).....same base color, same stripes, your DDD logo for Dig Drive DIY and a QR code so no matter where you go with the equipment people can find your RU-vid channel.
My part of Texas is called The Livable Forest. We just endured a hurricane that took a toll on our trees. You could get enough firewood for a decade. Sadly, it will probably end up in a chipper. Beautiful, hundred year old trees deserve a more dignified ending.
Duty cycle on welders go off 10 minute increments. So a 20% duty cycle means it can run continuously for 2 minutes and needs to cool down for 8 minutes until it can be used again!
On your welder, I'm an Amateur (with a capital A...lol) welder but, I have a Lincoln 215 mpi and really like it. It's a multi process welder (MIG, TIG and stick) that does both 110v and 220v. You might prefer something that's dedicated to one process to avoid the Jack of all trades, master of none thing but, it does a great job for the DIY type welder for sure. Thanks for another enjoyable video. Take care.
Great Video as always Neil! If you are looking to buy a grapple bucket of your own, i would highly recommend one from Joe’s Attachment’s made in Iowa. I have been extremely happy with their attachments on my CTL!
Bonjour Neil. Super vidéo. Il faut effectivement veiller au bon entretien du matériel qui travaille à l’effort. Sympathique couple de bûcherons et bonne information concernant la technique d’abattage. Passez un bon dimanche.
Check out grapples made by W.R. Long. I have one on my Kubota tractor and have more than abused it over the last five years and never had even a crack. It is designed more like what you were describing.
I struggled with a 110 welder for years. Had a structural welder tell me he won't use anything less than a 220 welder. Moved to the Lincoln 220 machine and will never go back
When you're not the best welder you just have to be a good grinder! That has been my experience. I have The 180 amp 110/220 version of that welder and I am a heck of a grinder! 🙄
Definitely need an upgraded welder for that size material. I would highly recommend a miller 211 for MIG. If you are looking to expand into TIG their multi process welders like the 250 are really good too. But pricey.
Check out a lincoln buzzbox arc welder if you want a 220 welder that's inexpensive and won't be a big deal if it's not used as much. You can usually find them used pretty cheap.
My sister was taking night classes to get her bachelor's degree in nursing. She had to spend the weekend on a mercy flight helicopter crew. Anyways a guy was on a tractor trying to push a tree over. The tree ended up coming towards him and he got hurt very badly. She said that it was ugly
I have the exact same welder. Yeah it's not a 180 (240v) but with fluxcore it will weld pretty thick in multiple pass. with gas it doesn't weld much..even with ,025 wire. (,035 wire built up way too much for its power)
