# takedown truck -- knuckleboom crane w/ grapple + saw at boom tip



## treeguy1979 (Feb 19, 2017)

Ok, I'm gonna sound like a shill here but has anyone ever heard of a crane truck w/ a grapple AND saw at the boom tip? As in, you would maneuver the crane around a tree you're tryin' to take down and grab on with the grapple, then a saw attachment would cut the tree where you're holding on? Then you could lower the limb to the ground (or into a chipper/chip body) w/ the crane.

I was reading TCIA's online magazine and apparently Altec has a new truck w/ all these features. My company has a couple of their LR5 buckets but nothing like this. They call it the EC175-5S-FG "Heartland" -- it has an Effer knuckleboom crane behind the cab w/ grapple + chainsaw at the boom tip and a log body at the back. This thing looks ridiculous, they have a couple of videos on their site: http://www.altec.com/products/specialty-products/grapple-saws/ec175-5s-fg/ (click the videos tab)

The thing is remote controlled too.......so you could be in a lawn chair drinking a beer while you do a takedown hahaha

Has anybody ever heard of a truck like this before? It seriously looks like it can take down whole trees in minutes, plus you don't even need your guys up in the tree to take it down. I wonder what this thing costs, and if they have a rear mount option. The TCIA article makes a case that this product could revolutionize the tree care industry...what do you guys think. Would you run a rig like this?


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## ChoppyChoppy (Feb 19, 2017)

3300lb lift isn't gonna do much! The grapples we run to load logs are 20,000lb to compare.


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## treeguy1979 (Feb 19, 2017)

Well I suppose you can't do huge trunks in one go but for residential tree removal this would be amazing. Pretty incredible what they show in the 2nd vid on their site, taking down some pretty decent sized limbs at a time.


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## Jed1124 (Feb 19, 2017)

Search Tree-Mek. Altec is late to the game and TCIA featured them like they were the inventors of the thing.


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## beastmaster (Feb 19, 2017)

Like a lot of mechanical tree equipment its use I think is limited to a narrow special usage. Doubt itll revolutionize much of anything. Pretty cool though.


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## no tree to big (Feb 19, 2017)

Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk


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## treeguy1979 (Feb 19, 2017)

Thanks for the vid. Gerasimek appears to be a father-son type small business. Is anyone else actually manufacturing a product like this though or is Altec the first?


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## no tree to big (Feb 19, 2017)

Google it tree mec
altec is not the original there are several of these units out there. there is another forum that has much more of a following of these units.... 
btw it is not anything crazy special 99% of this system is the boom truck, it's a big badass k boom with hydraulics to the tip.... then the grapple saw mounted to the boom that's it...you can go buy the truck and mount the grapple and you r done

Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk


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## ATH (Feb 19, 2017)

Gerasimek has been working with a Palfinger dealer to get these going. I talked to a guy from Tiffin Crane (Palfinger dealer putting them together) at the Ohio Tree Care Conference a couple of weeks ago. He is selling more and more...not several per week or anything, but they are getting orders. He told me the name of a local company who is looking at one... Having seen their work, they will probably use it for their "trimming" 

Seems like Palfinger's cranes are a better fit for this system than an Altec.. I haven't used either, but looking at specs, mounting, weights, etc, it just seems that way. I am not sure that either company actually put engineering into a crane specifically for this use, but rather the cranes that Palfinger was already making happen to be a better fit than the cranes Altec was already making. But Altec was already heavily invested into the tree care industry, so it is not surprising they get more attention.

I don't do many removals...but if I did, I'd certainly be looking hard about how to get one. As it is, I have tossed the idea around...I think I could put it to work, but not willing to take on that much financial risk or to distract from the core business I am trying to build.

Like beastmaster said, they will have limitations, but I do see some "game changer" in them.


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## ATH (Feb 19, 2017)

PS: here is a post from 2 years ago: http://www.arboristsite.com/community/threads/remote-control-tree-removal.272986/


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## Jed1124 (Feb 19, 2017)

I've seen the Altec unit in person. It seems pretty light compared to the Tree-Mek that is in the video in this thread.


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## Zale (Feb 23, 2017)

My question with these units has been "What do you do if you pinch the saw?"


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## BC WetCoast (Feb 25, 2017)

More power, Mr Sulu


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## Gerasimek (Feb 26, 2017)

Zale said:


> My question with these units has been "What do you do if you pinch the saw?"


 Pinching the saw is not an issue. If the weight of the piece being cut shifts and stops the saw, you simply lift it up a quarter inch and you're good to go. No problem. 
I used the Mecanil grapple saw on my little 50' kboom truck for all of 2014. It was very limited. During that time I realized a bigger crane with a jib would be ideal. Tiffin/Palfleet helped me build what I wanted and they stood behind it. Mecanil is also a great company to work with. I didn't think being a grapplesaw dealer made sense so I told Palfleet that they should do it so they could make sure everything worked properly before it left their facility. It's not rocket science but there are some things you have to know about the grapplesaw , hydraulics, and electrical pull to make it work really well with the crane.
Long story short, I'm starting my 3rd year using the Mecanil on my Palfinger and I love it. I'd never go back to doing trees the old way. I've found that at my age (45) I'm not willing to go back to babysitting grown men, paying insane workers comp, maintaining tons of equipment that employees don't care about, and dealing with that whole circus. Those days are well behind me and I'm glad.
If you have any questions, I'd be happy to help out. I enjoy helping other guys in my line of work help themselves. I find it very rewarding. There are over 20 tree-meks in operation now and I enjoy keeping in touch with those guys and hearing about how it's changed their lives for the better.


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## knuckleboomtrader (Mar 4, 2017)

treeguy1979 said:


> Ok, I'm gonna sound like a shill here but has anyone ever heard of a crane truck w/ a grapple AND saw at the boom tip? As in, you would maneuver the crane around a tree you're tryin' to take down and grab on with the grapple, then a saw attachment would cut the tree where you're holding on? Then you could lower the limb to the ground (or into a chipper/chip body) w/ the crane.
> 
> I was reading TCIA's online magazine and apparently Altec has a new truck w/ all these features. My company has a couple of their LR5 buckets but nothing like this. They call it the EC175-5S-FG "Heartland" -- it has an Effer knuckleboom crane behind the cab w/ grapple + chainsaw at the boom tip and a log body at the back. This thing looks ridiculous, they have a couple of videos on their site: http://www.altec.com/products/specialty-products/grapple-saws/ec175-5s-fg/ (click the videos tab)
> 
> ...



I sold a Mecanil grapple saw setup a few weeks ago to a company in your area, it should be ready in May. It's a PM 47.5 crane w/ jib and SG220 grapple saw... 98 feet of vertical reach. Keep your eye out for it! 

here's a bit more info on these grapple saws https://www.knuckleboomtrader.com/mecanil-grapple-saws/


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