Choosing a Log and Debris Loader By Rick Howland

To call the “log loaders” used in tree care by that name is a bit of a misnomer, unless, of course, you’re also in the logging business.

Certainly, some pieces of loading equipment are meant to be dedicated to loading logs, and they are typically found in forestry and land clearing where the intent is to take large logs and load them into trailers or onto truck bodies or barges to be carted away and turned into lumber or paper pulp. And with the growing market for biomass, there may be a move back in that direction. But for most tree care businesses, the definition needs to be refined, and the loader needs to be re-scaled.

In this business, the loader is more often used for limbs and other, lighter debris. Unlike the logging industry, the tree care professional’s operation can vary widely – from close-quarters in city cleanup to suburban backyards to rugged, rural land clearing and right-of-way maintenance. Because we are not in the business of harvesting large timber, our loaders need to be tailored to our business needs.

Selecting the correct loader begins with an assessment of your business and your preferences. That will determine whether you’d be better off with, for instance, a large boom-type lift arm or a folding crane type. Do you want your lift attached to a truck to create a self-contained unit, or will you need it on a skid-steer setup for jobsite portability? Or should it go on a trailer or a dump trailer? Does it need to be self-propelled?

For the purposes of this article, we’ll focus on loader systems that are, or can be, mounted on a truck or trailer.

After talking with TCIA members and manufacturers, the consensus seems to be that the best way to start your search is in the office.

Begin by asking yourself a few basic questions. Will your business be best served by a tail-mounted boom that allows you to back into or along side a job? Will you need to reach up, out and over obstructions such as fencing? How far? Do you prefer to have your lift arm attached behind the cab to allow the truck body to function as a dump?
Then, consider what capacities are appropriate in your business. Do you lift mostly lighter branch material and the occasional tree trunk or stump? Or are you lifting heavier materials on a regular basis? Will you be in the field or doing yard work? Do you want to expand and promote broader capabilities?

All of a sudden, the log/debris loader isn’t as straightforward as one might think. The upside is that, in all likelihood, there is a loader and a setup versatile enough to match your needs or, if not, that one can be easily retrofitted with existing technology to do so.
As with so many of the technologies we’ve written about, the name of the game with loaders is versatility and economies of scale. By combining a multitude of tree care “talents” on one platform, such as a loader, chip/dump body, sprayer, etc., the tree care business owner can reduce the overall fleet and the costs associated with fielding multiple rigs, and reduce crews and crew size while at the same time broadening the menu of services.

For example, John Such, owner of Hawk Equipment Corporation, distributors of Magnum Cranes, says he’s seeing a growing popularity of the type of lift that folds and tucks in behind the cab of a truck, which can then be custom-fitted with a special-purpose body.
“This equipment is part of the knuckle boom evolution,” he says. “It’s not a new mousetrap, it’s new ideas applied to a proven technology.”

Such explains that inspiration for these types of lifts was taken from excavator designs, which help make the lift mechanism strong, but are lightened by several thousand pounds through utilizing fine-grained, high-tensile steel throughout. This allows the lift to be stowed behind the cab of a truck yet deliver optimum strength-to-weight-ratios in configurations of from four to 20 tons. Furthermore, the crane boom geometry has been optimized to increase stiffness. This means that computer systems are not required for load and deflection control.

A typical Hawk configuration would utilize an Arbortech truck body, the Magnum Crane and a Heiden grapple, and then might also be fitted with additional equipment, for example a sprayer.

“We have cities that like these setups for their forestry departments because one truck can do so many things,” says Such. Hawk’s new Utility Tree Truck can be used as a chip truck, open-top dump, flatbed and “urban log truck.” Other uses include tree spray rig or materials handling (landscape materials such as palettes of stone, railroad ties, etc.) unit.
As with any equipment, safety is always a major issue. Obviously, it’s important to match the loader lift to the truck chassis and also to the grapple. And, as often as it is said, it cannot be overstated – do NOT try to over-reach. If your boom or crane has a capacity of 4,000 pounds extended to six feet, it may have only a 1,000-pound safe lifting capacity at 25 feet. (This is by way of example only; always refer to the manufacturer’s safety specs and procedures.)

Dave Nordgaard, an industry veteran and founder of Top Notch Tree Care (recently sold to Bartlett Tree Experts) and Top Notch Equipment, says the loader setup is purely a matter of personal preference. In the tree care business, the huge crane/boom setups are left to the loggers in favor of what he calls a “straight” truck – that is, not a tractor-trailer rig or fifth wheel – with a custom body. The two boom-type options, as he describes them, are the tail-mounted and the nestled type (behind the cab).
For Nordgaard, it is not the nestled-behind-the-cab technology that works best; he prefers loaders mounted at the rear of a truck or trailer. Why? Accessibility and a different kind of versatility that works for him.

“Rigs set up between the cab and truck body usually means there’s a dump box. Positioning of the loader makes it easier to drop the load fast. I prefer the rear mounts on a straight truck, which really doesn’t take much longer to unload. For me, the larger knuckle boom at the tail of a straight, non-dump truck also means I can pull another trailer with additional volume; that means the ability to take on larger jobs and to get jobs done faster,” Nordgaard says. He says he’s used Prentice, Serco and Barko loaders.
Furthermore, and probably more important to him, is reach. With the larger boom capability on the rail of a truck, he says he can get closer to the job and utilize more of the effective lift capacity of the boom in certain applications, reaching up and over a fence for larger material or backing up to a tree and removing it a piece at a time. Also, the tail-mount minimizes the need or tendency to load over the cab of the truck. Depending on the job configuration, lifting from the side can mean having to limit the grab length, especially if reaching from mid-chassis over the cab or truck body. He feels that the mid-mount can take some reach away from the operator. “Certainly, you get a full side-reach, but not a full length-reach,” Nordgaard says.

Other considerations Nordgaard brought up were post-lift applications. For example, he says if you’re lifting material to send to a chipper, try to match the speed and capacity of the loader with the processing capability of the chipper.

Also, in this economic/energy environment where what used to be junk is now gold, the days of HAVING to chip down material to cut dump trips and volume are changing. Nordgaard says “speed-loading” debris and taking it to a site that charges little to no money (or actually pays for material where it used to cost up to $15 a yard to dump) can mean your loader will actually save you time and money. In Nordgaards’s area of Minnesota, demand is so high for bio fuel starter material that it’s cheaper to load and dump raw waste at a dedicated site and skip the chipping process altogether – a savings of time, fuel and manpower.

“It always boils down to the scale of your business. If you’re doing pruning, you don’t need the big knuckle-boom loaders,” he says.

A word about grapples...
We live in an economy and an age where versatility, not necessarily specialization, puts money to the bottom line. As you consider your loader system, don’t overlook what the business end – the grapple – can do. Ironically, the specialization of these clamping devices can broaden your skill set and put your boom, truck and crews to new and additional uses.

Broadly, you’ll find two major classes of grapples.

The bypass is a claw-type setup in which the tines or forks actually bypass one another. These claws can bypass one another closely, virtually adjacently like a pair of scissors, or at some lateral distance from one another, depending on what you’re picking up. For brush debris, you may want them close-in. For loading logs, you may wish them with more of an offset for control.

The other main category is a butt-type clamp, which can include clamshell-style grapples. In this category you can find grapples designed specifically for rock clearing and what’s called a trash grapple, ideal for storm cleanup. If you’re into expanding into land-clearing, swapping out your grapple will make you far more attractive as a subcontractor.
Some grapple makers offer replaceable and interchangeable jaws to accommodate different materials and different sizes, and a few offer the capability to deliver you custom-designed grapples.

Another consideration is determining if your crane/grapple setup needs a rotator and what kind – some don’t rotate at all, others will rotate up to 360 degrees and some are infinitely rotatable! Combine that with boom arms that can swing more than 360 degrees and the ability to handle tree materials in any setting comes within reach.

Ryan’s Equipment manufactures a variety of grapples built with a skid steer quick attach. Ryan grapples can be adapted to fit a mini excavator and are finding their way increasingly into log and loader equipment. Ryan’s offers 40-, 48-, 60-, 66- and 72-inch grapples, all of a by-pass design that allows them to close to less than three inches, providing the capability to grab small branches, piles of brush or whole logs.

According to Don Ryan, “We’re finding that guys in tree care try to be increasingly more versatile to make their equipment work in many applications, from lot and land clearing to tree care to landscaping – whatever it takes to make equipment multi-task.”

Most start with the bypass grapples, which squeeze from wide range openings to pretty near nothing, up to 6 feet perhaps, closing to a mere few inches. Over time, users have to watch out for wear in the bushings, rotators and grab points, Ryan says. But almost any grapple can be rebuilt, he adds, so the investment in a good one is a sound investment. Ryan’s approach is to “over-engineer and over-build” his grapples, using oversized chrome pins and hardened steel bushings. He learned the importance of doing that when first in the industry rehabbing grapples made by others who had gone out of business. “We oversize everything by at least two to three times” he says, using as an example a 5-ton-rated rotator typically used on a 1-ton lift.

“The big thing with grapples is to watch the expense, and that is maintenance. Regularly check, service and replace as necessary pins and bushings,” says Ryan. “Pay attention to the rotator; replacing one can be as expensive as a new grapple. You can tell by the way the grapple opens and closes. Shake the tines for looseness, put your equipment in a situation where it’s loaded and test for physical turning, and especially check the hydraulic cylinders for leaks, dents, dings and corrosion.”

Richard Goforth is vice president of Southco Industries, Inc., a large producer of forestry trucks. His customers are loggers and tree care professionals. With respect to loaders, there are really a few approaches to take, he explains, and it depends on your business which best fits the bill for you.

“We sell two lift types, the Prentice and the Loglift,” he says. Both typically are mounted behind the cab, but can be attached to the rear of the chassis. “The Prentice is normally delivered with an 18-foot, open-top dump log body with a tarp system. It’s made for loading logs only. But it’s a dedicated truck. If you do not have to load logs, it sits, but it’s great for big takedown and is quite popular among utility contractors.”

“The other type we sell is the Loglift. This is a Z-crane, capable of folding in on itself behind the cab, making it ideal for an arborist who wants a truck to do everything,” Goforth says.

Even though the effective reach of the behind-the-cab mounting is similar for the Prentice and the Loglift, the difference is the “foldability” of the Loglift versus the boom technology.

“Yes, you can mount the Prentice or the Loflift on the rear of the truck chassis, and you’ll get more reach from the machine (with the Loglift extended to the same reach as the Prentice), but that means you can’t utilize a dump body; you’d have to unload with the grapple,“ Goforth says.

“With the Loglift, we utilize a 14-foot dump body with a top. That way, if the arborist doesn’t need to use the lift, he can tow his chipper, remove the dump top with the loader arm and use the body as a chip dump. This setup is more versatile for the arborist,” he says.” This setup starts at just over $100,000, but the Loglift can be ordered in a variety of sizes, including those large enough to accommodate a tandem chassis, “…and how fancy you want to get,” he notes.

At the end of the day, loader preference is a personal, or at least an individual, thing. What is it that you do on a regular basis and what is it that you hope to get done in this economic environment? The right loader means being able to do your current business better, and being able to reach out – literally – for new business.