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Perhaps I Need a Bigger Bobcat

Started by logboy, September 23, 2012, 10:22:14 PM

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logboy

 

I've been sawing up White Pine into 1" x 8" x 16' with the Lucas to fill a couple thousand bdft of orders. Tonight I grabbed a hold of this guy with the grapple to load it into the mill. I'm determined, but so far the log is winning. I dont think its quite a ton, but its over 1,500 pounds.
I like Lucas Mills and big wood.  www.logboy.com

Okrafarmer

Use your pallet forks for that bad boy. You save a few pounds compared to the grapple. I can lift a 2,000 lb. log with our 751 Bobcat with forks. Each machine has its limitations, but yours should be able to handle a bigger log than ours does. You may not realize just how much the log weighs. That looks like bigger than 24" diameter, and since it is 16' long, that is still quite a heavy log, even though it is white pine.
He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Psalm 91:1

Operating a 2020 Woodmizer LT35 hydraulic for Upcountry Sawmill, Dacusville, SC

Now selling Logrite tools!

Writing fiction and nonfiction! Check my website.

logboy

That grapple is actually really light. Too light actually, since I keep bending the arms. I would guess the weight is very close to my forks. I can grab it by myself and drag it.  I need to upgrade to a bigger one with different arms that close all the way onto the bottom.

You can lift a ton with your 751?  I am nowhere even close to lifting that. Here is half of a 2 ton cottonwood log I slabbed. I had to slide the forks on the ground to move it. I wish I had my old man's S250.





I like Lucas Mills and big wood.  www.logboy.com

Okrafarmer

How long is that cottonwood? It doesn't look like I could lift it, but then cottonwood is lighter than a lot of other woods. White pine is one of the lightest of all.

Our old 751 can't lift a log any higher than about 3 ft. if it is too heavy to balance on the machine. I haven't weighed any of the logs, but I recently lifted a red oak log that was 24" diameter, 10' long plus trim and dumped it in the dump truck. That was the maximum capacity. I had to rock the BC back and forth to get it to go up past a certain stage. Our 751 also is older than your machine and is from back in the days of the shorter wheelbase. Your wheelbase looks longer, so you should be at least as stable, maybe better.
He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Psalm 91:1

Operating a 2020 Woodmizer LT35 hydraulic for Upcountry Sawmill, Dacusville, SC

Now selling Logrite tools!

Writing fiction and nonfiction! Check my website.

POSTON WIDEHEAD

Eat more grits and the back of that Bobcat will set down.  :)
The older I get I wish my body could Re-Gen.

Woodsrover


Magicman

Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

Weekend_Sawyer


Ha! I was in China back in 87' and saw that same problem, they had plate steel on a mule cat and started up a hill and the load shifted.

Jon
Imagine, Me a Tree Farmer.
Jon, Appalachian American Wannabe.

Meadows Miller

Gday

Don't We All  :) :) Just scoot it upto the mill one end at a time if you want alot of control of the log  I have done it heaps of times thats the beauty of logs they roll  smiley_thumbsup I have had to do it heaps with the chamberlain The biggest was a 5' dia Gery box that would have weighed about 5 ton per log   just kept pushing and rollin as I dropped the tree where their shed was going to go and I was not coming back to mill it for a while I rolled them about 80 to 100 foot away :) :)

:D :D :D :D Donkeys having a baaad day there  :) :)

Regards Chris
4TH Generation Timbergetter

ladylake


With forks you can get the log a few inches closer to the log to the skidloader which helps.   Steve
Timberking B20  18000  hours +  Case75xt grapple + forks+8" snow bucket + dirt bucket   770 Oliver   Lots(too many) of chainsaws, Like the Echo saws and the Stihl and Husky     W5  Case loader   1  trailers  Wright sharpener     Suffolk  setter Volvo MCT125c skid loader

Thehardway

A buddy of mine had a couple pieces of 1" steel plate cut and bolted to the back of his Case skidsteer as counterweight.  It worked well and gave him an added 500lb lift capacity before tipping point.  Would probably work for you too.  Also, the higher the lift, the less the capacity, don't lift that log more than .25 inch off the ground.  No need to lift it any more than that to move, especially using a grapple.  It won't be any easier to move at 2' high than 1".  Most operators use a lot more fuel, time and wear on hydraulics by lifting loads higher than is necessary trying to lift objects to waist height where we would manually carry a load.  It is human nature.  We aren't used to bending over and carrying anything a distance 1 inch or less off the ground as it would be difficult for a human,  not so for the machine.  Of course if money is no object, get a bigger skidsteer or even a mini-loader. :D
Norwood LM2000 24HP w/28' bed, Hudson Oscar 18" 32' bed, Woodmaster 718 planer,  Kubota L185D, Stihl 029, Husqvarna 550XP

bandmiller2

That cat needs some weights on its a$$.I'am on tippy toes with the BC's all the time just too lazy to put the forks on the big sweed.Really you need some of the add on weights,that big pine log is well over a ton. Frank C.
A man armed with common sense is packing a big piece

SPD748

Quote from: POSTONLT40HD on September 24, 2012, 07:05:37 AM
Eat more grits and the back of that Bobcat will set down.  :)
Quote from: Magicman on September 24, 2012, 07:32:03 AM
Short on horsepower  ???

:D :D :D You guys are too much! :D :D :D

-lee
Frick 0 Handset - A continuing project dedicated to my Dad.

410 Deere, 240 Massey... I really need a rough terrain forklift :)

Sawing Since 1-19-2013 @ 3:30 pm
Serving Since 2002
"Some police officers give tickets, some gave all."

logboy

When I upgrade one piece of equipment, I end up finding the limitations of another piece of equipment. Its like a dog chasing its tail.  I just picked up a few big logs for slabbing. My old clunker forklift can lift 3000 pounds. Guess how much each log weighs.





I like Lucas Mills and big wood.  www.logboy.com

logboy

QuoteEat more grits and the back of that Bobcat will set down.

I'm a northern Yankee, so you wont find grits around my breakfast table. But I did eat quite a bit of them in the Army at Fort Benning, GA and Camp Shelby, MS. I learned if I dumped a ton of sugar on them and mixed in a little syrup they werent half bad.   And the drill sergeants werent about to let us throw food away.   :D
I like Lucas Mills and big wood.  www.logboy.com

Okrafarmer

I have to lift the log high off the ground to put it in the dump truck. The oak log I lifted was very heavy, put the machine to its limits.
He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Psalm 91:1

Operating a 2020 Woodmizer LT35 hydraulic for Upcountry Sawmill, Dacusville, SC

Now selling Logrite tools!

Writing fiction and nonfiction! Check my website.

Thehardway

You might be better off to invest in a knuckleboom truck instead of a bigger bobcat loading a dumptruck.  Could eliminate a couple pieces of equipment for picking up logs?
Norwood LM2000 24HP w/28' bed, Hudson Oscar 18" 32' bed, Woodmaster 718 planer,  Kubota L185D, Stihl 029, Husqvarna 550XP

SAWMILL BUDDY

If you roll that grapple under the log will be right next to the bobcats front end. You can carry a lot more weight that way.

Okrafarmer

Quote from: Thehardway on September 24, 2012, 02:41:27 PM
You might be better off to invest in a knuckleboom truck instead of a bigger bobcat loading a dumptruck.  Could eliminate a couple pieces of equipment for picking up logs?

We have a knuckleboom truck, but I use the Bobcat to get into people's back yards to get logs, where a knuckleboom can't go.
He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Psalm 91:1

Operating a 2020 Woodmizer LT35 hydraulic for Upcountry Sawmill, Dacusville, SC

Now selling Logrite tools!

Writing fiction and nonfiction! Check my website.

logboy

Its not an option for me, as I just bought a flatbed this summer. I absolutely need a skid loader.

Just found a little log hauler arch on Craigslist, if someone is in the market. 

*Craigslist links not allowed.*
I like Lucas Mills and big wood.  www.logboy.com

POSTON WIDEHEAD

Quote from: logboy on September 24, 2012, 07:22:01 PM


Just found a little log hauler arch on Craigslist, if someone is in the market. 




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The older I get I wish my body could Re-Gen.

wood monger

White pine and Cottonwood are light woods when they're dry but when they are green and full of water they're quite heavy.

Sawdust Lover

I bought a bigger tractor to handle the logs and found that I started getting bigger logs and know I'm right back where I was with a smaller tractor. I figure if I cant lift them with a 65hp tractor they are to heavy for my 2000 Timberking.

logboy

This is the heaviest log I ever slabbed (actually for another forum member). 20' long, 36" diameter White Oak. Apparently took 2-3 skid loaders to put on the truck for transport. Guesstimated to weigh in the 9,000 pound range.  I'll be begging the wife for a payloader when I start doing those all the time.



QuoteWhite pine and Cottonwood are light woods when they're dry but when they are green and full of water they're quite heavy.

Trust me, I know full well how heavy the Cottonwood was. It bent every cross-member on my trailer. It calculated at over 2 tons.

I like Lucas Mills and big wood.  www.logboy.com

barbender

That white oak is beautiful, what in the world was the 20' slab for? A board room table or something?
Too many irons in the fire

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