Sorting Ash Veneer

[skidsteer.ca]

Last week I had the opportunity to sort some of the nicest saw and veneer logs in our part of Ontario. Logs were all select cut and skidded over a 2 mile area to a landing in a frozen pond.
They were laid out side by side, ones with cracks or rot in the butt were bucked off until the wood was sound, then they were bucked into 8, 9 and 10 ft logs for veneer, sawlogs and the rest as fire wood.
The 853 with a grapple on the front was the answer to sort it all out and pile it up.
Veneer was bought by 2 Korean fellows that flew in to hand select the pieces they want as well as some sawlogs. These logs were then trucked to Winnipeg and put in a shipping container for rail transport to Vancouver then on a ship to Korea.
They can slice 125 layers of veneer out of 1" of log so they had to be handled carefully.
Ken
648 Jd with a skid

My father with a couple nice ones

One or two at a time.

There was 5 groups of logs like this

Sawlog pile

Frost checked butts waiting for the fire wood pile

A grapple full, rolling that back on the tines to quick will rattle your teeth

1st truck load. There was 9 truck loads of logs, plus the fire wood from 300 trees.

The fire wood pile, est 25 to 30 cords

Packed up and ready to roll

 

[nailsbeats]

Ken that looks awesome, must have been a blast! I too love logging and got a popple job soon after I got my 763 w/ my homemade Greggory style grapple. My dad a two other guys were dropping and limbing trees, my brother was on the John Deere 440B cable skidder, and me and another guy were stacking logs behind a crew of guys cutting them. It was maybe a 20 hour job, but moved a lot of popple and had a great time. Grapple sure is nice for controlling the logs in transport and while stacking. The guy I was working with had a log come over his forks and smash the front end of his tractor. He lost money that day. Veneer Ash, man, that is living!

 

[Tazza]

Ken that looks awesome, must have been a blast! I too love logging and got a popple job soon after I got my 763 w/ my homemade Greggory style grapple. My dad a two other guys were dropping and limbing trees, my brother was on the John Deere 440B cable skidder, and me and another guy were stacking logs behind a crew of guys cutting them. It was maybe a 20 hour job, but moved a lot of popple and had a great time. Grapple sure is nice for controlling the logs in transport and while stacking. The guy I was working with had a log come over his forks and smash the front end of his tractor. He lost money that day. Veneer Ash, man, that is living!

very impressive!

 

[skidsteer.ca]

very impressive!

I had over 50 hours in this buy the time it was all sorted out, loaded on trucks and fire wood was packed up off the ice.
I made piles of 1 grapple full of each for the 648 with the 6' and longer fire wood.
Land owner brought in a tractor loader backhoe (TLB) to pick up the short blocks in its bucket, but I could get just as many or more in the farm grapple. In the end I was putting a few extra blocks into his bucket after he made a scoop, then taking a grapple full and heading up the river bank right behind him. It was a good job, the pond was smooth ice so I was wishing I had a 2 speed.
Can you post a picture of the homemade Greggory style grapple?
I was going to use my root rake grapple for this job, but the farm grapple with the xtra forward reach was a much better for piling the logs 5 to 6' high
Ken

 

[nailsbeats]

I had over 50 hours in this buy the time it was all sorted out, loaded on trucks and fire wood was packed up off the ice.
I made piles of 1 grapple full of each for the 648 with the 6' and longer fire wood.
Land owner brought in a tractor loader backhoe (TLB) to pick up the short blocks in its bucket, but I could get just as many or more in the farm grapple. In the end I was putting a few extra blocks into his bucket after he made a scoop, then taking a grapple full and heading up the river bank right behind him. It was a good job, the pond was smooth ice so I was wishing I had a 2 speed.
Can you post a picture of the homemade Greggory style grapple?
I was going to use my root rake grapple for this job, but the farm grapple with the xtra forward reach was a much better for piling the logs 5 to 6' high
Ken

Ken,
I will see what I can do as far as pictures, I could get some today w/ the grapple alone. Kind of waiting for a good job to get really nice action pics, I like those the best. I will get back to you.

 

[nailsbeats]

I had over 50 hours in this buy the time it was all sorted out, loaded on trucks and fire wood was packed up off the ice.
I made piles of 1 grapple full of each for the 648 with the 6' and longer fire wood.
Land owner brought in a tractor loader backhoe (TLB) to pick up the short blocks in its bucket, but I could get just as many or more in the farm grapple. In the end I was putting a few extra blocks into his bucket after he made a scoop, then taking a grapple full and heading up the river bank right behind him. It was a good job, the pond was smooth ice so I was wishing I had a 2 speed.
Can you post a picture of the homemade Greggory style grapple?
I was going to use my root rake grapple for this job, but the farm grapple with the xtra forward reach was a much better for piling the logs 5 to 6' high
Ken

Ken,
These are the pictures I took today, and some old ones. This was the first attachment I ever made. The new pictures show the grapple with an extra cross brace on top, this helps crush brush better, and protects the cylider also. You can see in the old pictures I didn't yet know how to leave the dirt and grass behind.
Whenever I bust this grapple out it draws a crowd. What I like most about it is that you can roll it over and use it like a clam, with maximum visibility. I mainly use it for logs, brush, and scrap steel.
http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t154/nailsbeats/DSCN0829.jpg
http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t154/nailsbeats/DSCN0830.jpg
http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t154/nailsbeats/skidsteer-1.jpg
I really like your grapple. I have been thinking about getting a root removal tool for land clearing and was thinking about building an attachment with tines and one solid grapple just like yours. Do you think this would work well? What other things do you use that attachment for? Maybe I don't need another grapple. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[skidsteer.ca]

Ken,
These are the pictures I took today, and some old ones. This was the first attachment I ever made. The new pictures show the grapple with an extra cross brace on top, this helps crush brush better, and protects the cylider also. You can see in the old pictures I didn't yet know how to leave the dirt and grass behind.
Whenever I bust this grapple out it draws a crowd. What I like most about it is that you can roll it over and use it like a clam, with maximum visibility. I mainly use it for logs, brush, and scrap steel.
http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t154/nailsbeats/DSCN0829.jpg
http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t154/nailsbeats/DSCN0830.jpg
http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t154/nailsbeats/skidsteer-1.jpg
I really like your grapple. I have been thinking about getting a root removal tool for land clearing and was thinking about building an attachment with tines and one solid grapple just like yours. Do you think this would work well? What other things do you use that attachment for? Maybe I don't need another grapple. Any advice would be appreciated.

That attachment is bobcats version of a farm grapple. Its great for manure, brush, loose stumps and rocks and of course logs. The tines are small but quite springy and tough.
The best part imo is that they bolt in, so if one breaks it can be replace, so far no breakage, and on occasion when one has been bent slightly, I can rotate it 180 degrees and let it slowly bend itself back to straight.
I have used it for raking bigger rocks out of course pit run gravel.
The Grapple can be unbolted and bolted to my bucket, but I have never used it that way.
I have been thinking about welding the grapple to a spare quick attach I have then it could be quick attached to any bucket or forks. This would move the bucket forward @ 3 1/2" so some lift would be lost
Its much too light for stump removal or poping bolders out of virgin soil imo
The root rake is better for roots because it closes tight and is more hd. I was going to take it for the log sorting, but would have missed the forward reach for piling.
There are a few pics of the farm grapple on my web site as I was thinking about selling it, but after this last job, I'm reconsidering. I could take you some more.
Ken

 

[farmboy55]

That attachment is bobcats version of a farm grapple. Its great for manure, brush, loose stumps and rocks and of course logs. The tines are small but quite springy and tough.
The best part imo is that they bolt in, so if one breaks it can be replace, so far no breakage, and on occasion when one has been bent slightly, I can rotate it 180 degrees and let it slowly bend itself back to straight.
I have used it for raking bigger rocks out of course pit run gravel.
The Grapple can be unbolted and bolted to my bucket, but I have never used it that way.
I have been thinking about welding the grapple to a spare quick attach I have then it could be quick attached to any bucket or forks. This would move the bucket forward @ 3 1/2" so some lift would be lost
Its much too light for stump removal or poping bolders out of virgin soil imo
The root rake is better for roots because it closes tight and is more hd. I was going to take it for the log sorting, but would have missed the forward reach for piling.
There are a few pics of the farm grapple on my web site as I was thinking about selling it, but after this last job, I'm reconsidering. I could take you some more.
Ken

Hey Nailsbet good looking grapple, what's the specs on the tubeing you made it out of ? dennis

 

[nailsbeats]

That attachment is bobcats version of a farm grapple. Its great for manure, brush, loose stumps and rocks and of course logs. The tines are small but quite springy and tough.
The best part imo is that they bolt in, so if one breaks it can be replace, so far no breakage, and on occasion when one has been bent slightly, I can rotate it 180 degrees and let it slowly bend itself back to straight.
I have used it for raking bigger rocks out of course pit run gravel.
The Grapple can be unbolted and bolted to my bucket, but I have never used it that way.
I have been thinking about welding the grapple to a spare quick attach I have then it could be quick attached to any bucket or forks. This would move the bucket forward @ 3 1/2" so some lift would be lost
Its much too light for stump removal or poping bolders out of virgin soil imo
The root rake is better for roots because it closes tight and is more hd. I was going to take it for the log sorting, but would have missed the forward reach for piling.
There are a few pics of the farm grapple on my web site as I was thinking about selling it, but after this last job, I'm reconsidering. I could take you some more.
Ken

Ken,
Thanks for the advice, I guess my best bet would be a heavy duty grapple rake. More pictures would be great.
Farmboy, the tubing is 4x2x3/16 mild steel.

 

[siduramaxde]

Ken,
Thanks for the advice, I guess my best bet would be a heavy duty grapple rake. More pictures would be great.
Farmboy, the tubing is 4x2x3/16 mild steel.

Ken, great pics! I'm in Illinois and do some logging for a friend in the winter months. Most of our veneer logs also go to asian markets due to the fact that they pay more because they can slice thinner. When we sort logs we use a JD ct332 track machine with HD 4' long pallet forks (no grapple). This seems to be the fastest for us, as we can generally pick up 2-3 logs (hardwood - 15' long and about 24" diameter). We lay the logs out about the same as you do for the buyers to look at.
Rod

 

[skidsteer.ca]

Ken,
Thanks for the advice, I guess my best bet would be a heavy duty grapple rake. More pictures would be great.
Farmboy, the tubing is 4x2x3/16 mild steel.

These guys have some great looking grapple designs to
http://www.multitekinc.com

 

[farmboy55]

These guys have some great looking grapple designs to
http://www.multitekinc.com

Hey Ken how can I contact your Veneer Buyer's? I like to send some of this Kentucky timber to Korea.
Nailsbeat thanks for the specs on the metal. dennis

 

[skidsteer.ca]

Hey Ken how can I contact your Veneer Buyer's? I like to send some of this Kentucky timber to Korea.
Nailsbeat thanks for the specs on the metal. dennis

Dennis
About all I know it that it was arranged through
MaGregor (sp) Hardwoods in Manitoba
I can get you a ph # if you want, but as for the Korean fellows, no help there.
You and I would need a translater if we did call, one spoke @ 10 words of english and the other none. MaGregor has other customers to, some even let him do the selecting for them.
Those Korean boys flew in to pick theirs themselves, @ 60 % of the logs we set out made the cut.
Must be some hardwood companys in the US to.
Ken

 

[farmboy55]

Dennis
About all I know it that it was arranged through
MaGregor (sp) Hardwoods in Manitoba
I can get you a ph # if you want, but as for the Korean fellows, no help there.
You and I would need a translater if we did call, one spoke @ 10 words of english and the other none. MaGregor has other customers to, some even let him do the selecting for them.
Those Korean boys flew in to pick theirs themselves, @ 60 % of the logs we set out made the cut.
Must be some hardwood companys in the US to.
Ken

Ken I'll check with MaGregor, we have lots of hardwood companys dwn here but as with everything else need to be looking for a new market and get the best price. #2 redoak went dwn $10. a hundred last wk. We sell our poplar to a cabinet co., average .55 ft.
Looks like the only thing going up in price is insurance & fuel. Thank's dennis

 

[skidsteer.ca]

Ken I'll check with MaGregor, we have lots of hardwood companys dwn here but as with everything else need to be looking for a new market and get the best price. #2 redoak went dwn $10. a hundred last wk. We sell our poplar to a cabinet co., average .55 ft.
Looks like the only thing going up in price is insurance & fuel. Thank's dennis

McGregor Hardwoods Limited
555 Hervo St
Winnipeg, MB R3T3L6
(204) 261-3789

Jim is the fellow we worked with. I have no idea how far away he purchases logs from, but it can't hurt to call.
Sometimes a guy needs to shake things up a bit.

I don't see a web site
Ken