normally the people who are the best are the ones who are always willing to learn. theres alot of close minded people in the tree industry and many others too who think they know everything and arent willling to take advice and learn cause they think they know it all.
Been running a mini ex in similar work for 4 years. 8,200lb Deere 35G. You made the right decision for you. Reasons I chose an ex and you should not have: I work exclusively in rural areas. Get the tree down. Buck it for firewood for them. Stack that wood at the edge of clearing. Dig burn pit, stack and burn the brush, grade their yard flat. It half tree work and half clearing. I’m always in yards I can destroy and grade/seed. I’m always at the base of the tree with a machine. If you need to carry debris 30+ feet to a chipper, and you need to worry about residential lawns, you do not want an excavator.
I love your Reon Rounds mentality when it comes to running business. Invest heavily in equipment, rather then lots of people. Having a few guys that are properly trained is so much more better then lots of people and less equipment. Good job buddy!
Nice to see you found a good machine for your work. I’ve had a 520 for 12 years in private use and I have several attachments for it. I dont’t have a grapple like you have. You seem to have the extra side weights. With those that machine is about 3500 lbs (1600 kg). My 520 has extra back weights and with those it is about 2900 lbs (1300 kg). I lifted and moved a solid piece of rock size of 5` x 2` x 1` weight over 1700 lbs (1,5 x 0,6 x 0,3 m3 about 800 kg). Avant is a strong machine even it is quite small. It is heavier than it looks because the steel plates it is made of are quite thick. It can turn around in very small place. You have to use reverse though. If you have slip lock turn it off on asphalt. Because you sit in the front unit it feels sometime very awkward when you go reverse and you have to turn the steering wheel. At first it feels like you turn to the wrong direction when you yourself move to the opposite of where you want the machine to go. You get used to it eventually. Happy hours with you Lil’ green monster.
You’re going to love your Avant. Out of all the brands we sell, Avant is my absolute favorite. They are great quality and the aftermarket support for service, parts, and warranty is light years ahead of all the other brands.
Now you’re thinking, the less workers comp. The better. You are gaining a great deal of wisdom. Glad you are having children,this country needs more people like you and Randy.
Back up off to the side of the chipper arcing your butt end away from the chipper. As the pieces get close to the mouth of the chipper tilt the bucket down so the tips drag and pull the branches inline with the feed tray. Stop. Move forward and towards the opening of the chipper. It also helps if you start with the boom extended on approach and them suck it in while driving forward and feeding it in. Im really good at driving these things. My coworker is better. This is how we do it. Process huge trees in an hour, hour and half. Your driving straight in and jamming it in is going to break your machine and your chipper. Know from experience
I was going to mention this also! Our crew broke all the plastics feeding it that way when we got ours. Congrats on the Avant man, you're going to love it!
Agreed. We use a grapple to do the same thing. Eventually you learn how much the butt end of the brush needs to extend out one side. It’s hard to explain in words but once you see it in action it makes tons of sense. Machinery position is everything on a job. You’ll get it.
been a climber for 22 years and a company owner for 15. bought a case w4 with a full cab 12 years ago and had an adapter made to accept all bobcat attachments. This has been one of the best purchases i have ever made, the machine weighs just under 5k lb and lifts 3k with properly stacked brush i am able to load the chipper easily with just a set of pallet forks and the articulation of the machine. total game changer, been running a two man crew ever since.
I’m a recent graduate of a utility line clearance program and I’m thoroughly enjoying the variety of videos, reviews and education on this page. I can’t wait to get out of Sol Cal and back into a forest.
Hi Jake, I’ve been watching you since your old channel/Eastside days. It’s been great to watch you evolve: A. Starting basically from scratch with a new channel B. Contract climbing/traveling and your own local jobs C. Starting Sappy Supplies D. Building/changing your business with new equipment Thanks for all of the wonderful videos throughout your journey, especially ones with Randy…You give a retired guy like me something to look forward to watching. It’s a pleasure to watch a young man with so much initiative and drive (Two qualities missing in most your age). Stay safe Mark K
it’s good if you drag straight back , back of the machine to the chipper and then right before the hopper take a sharp turn, place the butts on the hopper and then articulate away from the chipper , grab the pile, and then articulate towards the chipper and it feeds like butta. looks like you’re feeding too far away or head on. too far away gets annoying with lining butts up and head on I always catch the feed bar
Hell yeah buddy. Try putting it forward on the trailer so the weight is over the wheels of the dump trailer. It will ride a lot better Especially if you bring it on the highway.
Not even a tree guy and been watching you from the start, awesome to see your drive and how much you’ve grown. It isn’t unnoticed. Running a business is hard and you seem to be doing an awesome job! Keep it up man!!
Each day gets a little better keep it up young man when I was your age I had a plumbing company and service the area you’re in now I’ve been retired and moved to Eastern Washington many many years ago
My business partner and I picked the same machine for when we wanted to increase production. We usually can knock out several trees between the two of us. Pro tip: we had the same issue with the back weight kit hitting our ramps when loading or unloading. I took two scrap pieces of pressure treated 2" X 10" roughly a foot long and screw two of them together. Set the pieces under the ends of the ramps and it will decrease the angle of them so you dont hit the back end.
Weuse a 1.5 tonne excavator with a grapple for chipping and we do a lot of roadside jobs for the council, felling timber overhanging on public roads, the excavator is a bit too wide somtimes on the narrow backcountry roads for cars to pass one way, it has to be constantly moved in, then back out to pick up the trees from the road.. I could see this being quicker to nip in and out of traffic. Best thing about the excavator is we can reach into fields and brush to fetch felled logs if its easier to knock them that way instead of dropping them on the road..
Man I just hand loaded an entire water logged ginormous walnut and then hand unloaded it. I’m 37 years old and I am starting to understand the quote “I’ll never do manual labor again” lol great work ! A small business inspiration!
It’s awesome how you’re growing. Machines are making our jobs so we can do them for many years to come. I chose a giant because the steering actuates the front instead of the rear so I could pinpoint the grapple better and it doesn’t have plastics. If you’re in North Carolina, feel free to reach out. There’s a few guys around here that you’d probably enjoy working with.
You can attach weight on the back of the avant. It will lift way more then. I Have lifted around 600kg with the avant 520 that way👍. the avant is strong enough but the back will lift up pretty easily without extra weight
I'm thinking he's using the boom extension too soon when grabbing up, he shouldn't need to extend until feeding the chipper once he gets the hang of it I'd think
@@baggermasterIt is a terrible idea to put water in any machine’s tires. If you do that, yes it will lower center of gravity but risk of blowing up transmission is WAY higher.
@@malachihgrayatgmail lt is really common for smaller wheel loaders. At least here in Germany nearly everyone does it. Never heard of any problems caused by it. Even bigger rollers have Water in the tires quite often to give them more traction
Drag brush backwards directly towards chipper, as you get to chipper, turn to the side and then rotate grapple simultaneously so buts of branches go onto the feed tray. Stay there, let go and grab again further away from but by steering loader without moving the steer back towards feed rollers
Good buy Jake! We've got one here in Invercargill New Zealand. We have the bucket and the grab as apposed to the hanging grapple. Works well on flat ground, steep slopes it doesn't like so much, otherwise such a great machine, pays for itself so fast. Great to see your progress bro!!
Might be talking out of my arse, but I wonder if it would have been better to start at the far end of that first pile. More room to complete the turns and straighten out. Either ways what a cool combo you guys make.
if you ever end up working in the snow you will really be glad you have wheels because, with a good set of snow tires, it will run circles around anything with tracks, rubber, or steel
Next time same setup back up from the chipper pull into the pile then back out and pull down to the chipper then back all the way down from chipper to pile and repeat saves an entire turn around and sets you up strait on. Then you will get used to using the squirt out and rotate function mush faster setup
Jake you mentioned the controls are different. On excavators you can change the pattern.So I think you should also be able to change the pattern on that machine as well.
23:05 randy!! I got that full house reference 😂 sing it baby!!! FOR SOMEBODY WHO NEEDS YOU! EVERYWHERE YOU LOOK EVERYWHERE U SEE, IS SOMEBODY WHO NEEDS YOU!!! 🎵 🎶 🎙️ 🕺
Looks like an elongated feed hopper would be useful for the chipper loading. I've been watching you since your Eastside days so I'm glad you are building your own business.
Maybe try reversing alongside the pile, forward approach to grapple, then drive toward the chipper to feed. I was in a similar situation recently! Fine job regardless!
I'd still keep an eye out in the future for a mini ex for the tighter jobs and the stuff where you could use a bucket for fixing yards and etc. Then you wouldnt have any downsides especially with randys equipment as well ❤. That's why I went with the mini ex as my first piece of equipment besides the chipper and truck. I need to get a bucket truck next 😊❤
Great vlog love the Avant brand have used the 600 series as a friend of mine has one but hopefully on Friday will have a couple of items from Sappy supplies all the way over in little old U.K. but great vlog Jacob especially with Randy the Mandy 😊😊😊
Bad news for you! I have the same unit purchased a few months ago and they no longer have heated seats. If you have a black seat like yours it does not have heat. They removed the heated seat but did not inform dealers. I went to my dealer and they spent a few hours trying to figure out why it didn't heat. They contacted their supplier from Avant and they pulled the heated seat. Its nearly impossible to get a heated seat now. You could have been one of the lucky few but from what my dealer and I can find the vinyl seats are no longer heated but they did not remove the switch or wiring! But I still love my Avant
Nice machine man, i think another spot the mini skids shine is going backwards easier to look behind you, but yea id love an avant, so i use an f550 landscape dump and pull a flatbed trailer witb the skid and the grinder on it, solid unit wood and mulch load easy with the skid in the trucks duml bed its got the sides that fold down, then of course standard chipper and chip truck, it took me awhile to get this set up like it is but its super efficient, 2 drivers can tackle any job needed with all equipment there
Maybe get those buckets with the grab on top for cleaing up some looser stuff and stacking small diameter firewood rounds into it for transporting it away?
The avant is a money making machine. Especially if you got a good operator. The swivel control switch for the grapple is not my favorite but she’s definitely production.
love seeing the progress with the tree service Jake! We went with the bobcat articulated loader. Love it. Need to go see Reon and Filipe for a masterclass on the avant!
Try feeding the chipper by reversing back as if your reversing into the chipper then pivot to the side and spin the grab a little.. will be much easier then a 3 point turn
Try to always keep the grapple pointed towards the chipper and return to brush piles counter weight first. Then you can approach the piles at a 45. That should speed up the process. Just my 2 cents Nice machine
So -when do you and Randy just merge into one company? Randy did predict that you would start small and eventually get all of the vehicles you would need for an actual company.
Rotating grapples are really nice for chipping but you have to be mindful of the hoses on the grapple. Ryan's is probably the best when it comes to hose protection, most companies have thin plates or none at all and those rotate hoses just get mangled
When the branches are all throw together like that it makes it tough when grapple only so big… could try going into piles grab some and just go a lil bit from the pile and start a new neat one, so that way you can grab a big pile when your making the trip to the chipper.. if that makes sense?? Just making every trip count by taking the throw together/messy pile, into a nice pile where ya can get a full grapple before making the trip 👌🏼👌🏼👌🏼 like ya would w an excavator since it’s so much slower, make every trip count🤘🏼🤘🏼
it took me quite a bit to get good at using a grapple like that but ive only used one on a mini skid. ares didnt rotate on its own though it jus was free spinning. its alot easier if its all stacked the same direction but one its a random pile it can be a pain in the ass to stuff into the chipper. and we have a 20 inch mobark that will eat trees lol honestly what we use the most is just the skid loader with a grapple/bucket on it. ive gotten real good at stuffing the chipper with a skidloader. cant drive it on yards though is all unless you dont turn at all if you do it will destroy the grass lol
Love watching a young dude grow his company. Proud of you sir.
Thank you!
I love how positive and humble you are. You always realize that there is much to learn, even though you are a professional. Well done!
I appreciate that!
normally the people who are the best are the ones who are always willing to learn. theres alot of close minded people in the tree industry and many others too who think they know everything and arent willling to take advice and learn cause they think they know it all.
Guilty of Randy video today YES 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Been running a mini ex in similar work for 4 years. 8,200lb Deere 35G.
You made the right decision for you. Reasons I chose an ex and you should not have:
I work exclusively in rural areas. Get the tree down. Buck it for firewood for them. Stack that wood at the edge of clearing.
Dig burn pit, stack and burn the brush, grade their yard flat.
It half tree work and half clearing. I’m always in yards I can destroy and grade/seed. I’m always at the base of the tree with a machine.
If you need to carry debris 30+ feet to a chipper, and you need to worry about residential lawns, you do not want an excavator.
Every video it's looking more and more like you're running the tree service you said you didn't want 😂😂😂
I love your Reon Rounds mentality when it comes to running business. Invest heavily in equipment, rather then lots of people. Having a few guys that are properly trained is so much more better then lots of people and less equipment. Good job buddy!
Hence Reon just bought a massive new crane.
@@reganmahoney8264 exactly
Plus the people will be happier because they have equipment to make the job easier
Nice to see you found a good machine for your work.
I’ve had a 520 for 12 years in private use and I have several attachments for it. I dont’t have a grapple like you have.
You seem to have the extra side weights. With those that machine is about 3500 lbs (1600 kg). My 520 has extra back weights and with those it is about 2900 lbs (1300 kg).
I lifted and moved a solid piece of rock size of 5` x 2` x 1` weight over 1700 lbs (1,5 x 0,6 x 0,3 m3 about 800 kg). Avant is a strong machine even it is quite small. It is heavier than it looks because the steel plates it is made of are quite thick.
It can turn around in very small place. You have to use reverse though. If you have slip lock turn it off on asphalt.
Because you sit in the front unit it feels sometime very awkward when you go reverse and you have to turn the steering wheel. At first it feels like you turn to the wrong direction when you yourself move to the opposite of where you want the machine to go. You get used to it eventually.
Happy hours with you Lil’ green monster.
I've been watching you since 40k subs. The way you've grown is amazing and you're one hell of a owner and worker. You deserve it brother
Ooh that's cool. I've had a 530 with a closed cabin for a few years. Very dependable as long as you take care of them.
You’re going to love your Avant. Out of all the brands we sell, Avant is my absolute favorite. They are great quality and the aftermarket support for service, parts, and warranty is light years ahead of all the other brands.
Now you’re thinking, the less workers comp. The better. You are gaining a great deal of wisdom. Glad you are having children,this country needs more people like you and Randy.
Back up off to the side of the chipper arcing your butt end away from the chipper. As the pieces get close to the mouth of the chipper tilt the bucket down so the tips drag and pull the branches inline with the feed tray. Stop. Move forward and towards the opening of the chipper.
It also helps if you start with the boom extended on approach and them suck it in while driving forward and feeding it in.
Im really good at driving these things. My coworker is better. This is how we do it. Process huge trees in an hour, hour and half.
Your driving straight in and jamming it in is going to break your machine and your chipper. Know from experience
What he said! 👍🏽
All that. I was waiting for one of those plastic panels to break the whole time
I was going to mention this also! Our crew broke all the plastics feeding it that way when we got ours. Congrats on the Avant man, you're going to love it!
Agreed. We use a grapple to do the same thing. Eventually you learn how much the butt end of the brush needs to extend out one side. It’s hard to explain in words but once you see it in action it makes tons of sense. Machinery position is everything on a job. You’ll get it.
been a climber for 22 years and a company owner for 15. bought a case w4 with a full cab 12 years ago and had an adapter made to accept all bobcat attachments. This has been one of the best purchases i have ever made, the machine weighs just under 5k lb and lifts 3k with properly stacked brush i am able to load the chipper easily with just a set of pallet forks and the articulation of the machine. total game changer, been running a two man crew ever since.
I’m a recent graduate of a utility line clearance program and I’m thoroughly enjoying the variety of videos, reviews and education on this page. I can’t wait to get out of Sol Cal and back into a forest.
Hi Jake, I’ve been watching you since your old channel/Eastside days. It’s been great to watch you evolve:
A. Starting basically from scratch with a new channel
B. Contract climbing/traveling and your own local jobs
C. Starting Sappy Supplies
D. Building/changing your business with new equipment
Thanks for all of the wonderful videos throughout your journey, especially ones with Randy…You give a retired guy like me something to look forward to watching. It’s a pleasure to watch a young man with so much initiative and drive (Two qualities missing in most your age).
Stay safe
Mark K
it’s good if you drag straight back , back of the machine to the chipper and then right before the hopper take a sharp turn, place the butts on the hopper and then articulate away from the chipper , grab the pile, and then articulate towards the chipper and it feeds like butta. looks like you’re feeding too far away or head on. too far away gets annoying with lining butts up and head on I always catch the feed bar
logs are good head on, obviously it’s subjective
you will love the avant, so many attachments. I have a 745 and the weight it can lift is insane.
Brilliant machine the Avant, one attachment I would get is Avant's Root Grapple.
Any machine is better then no machine definitely saves your back love the videos I’ve been doing tree work for about a year now
I just bought my first chainsaw from a guy on marketplace last night , about to fell my first tree this weekend , wish me luck boys
Hell yeah buddy. Try putting it forward on the trailer so the weight is over the wheels of the dump trailer. It will ride a lot better Especially if you bring it on the highway.
Love how you dropped the first load 😂 after talking it up life’s great at humbling you
Not even a tree guy and been watching you from the start, awesome to see your drive and how much you’ve grown. It isn’t unnoticed. Running a business is hard and you seem to be doing an awesome job! Keep it up man!!
Each day gets a little better keep it up young man when I was your age I had a plumbing company and service the area you’re in now I’ve been retired and moved to Eastern Washington many many years ago
My business partner and I picked the same machine for when we wanted to increase production. We usually can knock out several trees between the two of us. Pro tip: we had the same issue with the back weight kit hitting our ramps when loading or unloading. I took two scrap pieces of pressure treated 2" X 10" roughly a foot long and screw two of them together. Set the pieces under the ends of the ramps and it will decrease the angle of them so you dont hit the back end.
Weuse a 1.5 tonne excavator with a grapple for chipping and we do a lot of roadside jobs for the council, felling timber overhanging on public roads, the excavator is a bit too wide somtimes on the narrow backcountry roads for cars to pass one way, it has to be constantly moved in, then back out to pick up the trees from the road.. I could see this being quicker to nip in and out of traffic. Best thing about the excavator is we can reach into fields and brush to fetch felled logs if its easier to knock them that way instead of dropping them on the road..
Love having the avant on jobs, great machine, a friend I work with had one and it is great, very versatile!!
Great too addition to the crew.
Man I just hand loaded an entire water logged ginormous walnut and then hand unloaded it. I’m 37 years old and I am starting to understand the quote “I’ll never do manual labor again” lol great work ! A small business inspiration!
Exciting milestone! Can't wait to see your first job with the new Avant 528 loader.
Great job Jake... happy for your new Avant.... Great that Randy has that big chipper now.
excellent job guys. not a bad job for 1st use, so the more you use it, the better you'll be at it. way to go Jake
It’s awesome how you’re growing. Machines are making our jobs so we can do them for many years to come. I chose a giant because the steering actuates the front instead of the rear so I could pinpoint the grapple better and it doesn’t have plastics. If you’re in North Carolina, feel free to reach out. There’s a few guys around here that you’d probably enjoy working with.
You can attach weight on the back of the avant. It will lift way more then. I Have lifted around 600kg with the avant 520 that way👍. the avant is strong enough but the back will lift up pretty easily without extra weight
I'm thinking he's using the boom extension too soon when grabbing up, he shouldn't need to extend until feeding the chipper once he gets the hang of it I'd think
also filling water in the tires makes the machine way more stable. Also lowers center of gravity
@@baggermasterIt is a terrible idea to put water in any machine’s tires. If you do that, yes it will lower center of gravity but risk of blowing up transmission is WAY higher.
@@malachihgrayatgmail lt is really common for smaller wheel loaders. At least here in Germany nearly everyone does it.
Never heard of any problems caused by it.
Even bigger rollers have Water in the tires quite often to give them more traction
@@malachihgrayatgmailfar more common than not to put water in the tires of almost any equipment from skid loaders up to tractors
Nice addition.
Learning curve is real.
Nice work
Love the kawasaki green
Drag brush backwards directly towards chipper, as you get to chipper, turn to the side and then rotate grapple simultaneously so buts of branches go onto the feed tray. Stay there, let go and grab again further away from but by steering loader without moving the steer back towards feed rollers
I've got an s70 wheeled bob cat with there grapple attachment. Thing saves the day
Congrats on the new machine!
So cool to see you doing well since going at it alone
I’m so excited watching your come up man I’m so proud of you
love the videos! Ive recently started doing videos for m y company as well pray for all the grouwth for you and your crew this season god bless
That is awesome, Love your channel glad you are back!
Good buy Jake! We've got one here in Invercargill New Zealand. We have the bucket and the grab as apposed to the hanging grapple. Works well on flat ground, steep slopes it doesn't like so much, otherwise such a great machine, pays for itself so fast.
Great to see your progress bro!!
Might be talking out of my arse, but I wonder if it would have been better to start at the far end of that first pile. More room to complete the turns and straighten out. Either ways what a cool combo you guys make.
Pull up from the side and as u swing the boom into the chipper release the grapple
The foggy misty PNW . The trees are really pretty up there
Enjoyed the video. Nice addition to your tree service arsenal.
If you only had a ground guy as good as Felipe!!!
Thats the tiniest wheel loader I have ever seen. I love it
such a motivating attitude!
onto the next one
if you ever end up working in the snow you will really be glad you have wheels because, with a good set of snow tires, it will run circles around anything with tracks, rubber, or steel
Good job Jacob and keep growing! You make wish I was young again! Tree work is HARD work but it's fun and rewarding! I love your new toy! :)
at my job we had one of these but a weidemann,we used it to lift big metal gates, great machine.
Next time same setup back up from the chipper pull into the pile then back out and pull down to the chipper then back all the way down from chipper to pile and repeat saves an entire turn around and sets you up strait on. Then you will get used to using the squirt out and rotate function mush faster setup
Congrats on an AWESOME purchase Jacob!!!! 👍👍 ....... Kind of wish this could be more useful at my job... I work golf course maintenance.
So much room for attachments!!!!
So much Room!
Jake you mentioned the controls are different. On excavators you can change the pattern.So I think you should also be able to change the pattern on that machine as well.
we need a 4 stroke chainsaw test!
This is the best avant video that’s for sure
23:05 randy!! I got that full house reference 😂 sing it baby!!! FOR SOMEBODY WHO NEEDS YOU! EVERYWHERE YOU LOOK EVERYWHERE U SEE, IS SOMEBODY WHO NEEDS YOU!!! 🎵 🎶 🎙️ 🕺
Looks good Jacob 👍🏻
Another Great Video Jacob Nice New Edition of The Avont 😮
Game changer had 3 avant already the 755i is a beast
Awesome job man!
Hell yeah dude definitely pumping me up
Looks like an elongated feed hopper would be useful for the chipper loading. I've been watching you since your Eastside days so I'm glad you are building your own business.
Maybe try reversing alongside the pile, forward approach to grapple, then drive toward the chipper to feed. I was in a similar situation recently! Fine job regardless!
😂😂Aaaaah at last. You shouted Timber!!. That's made my day. 🤪
Was not expecting the the millennium falcon reference 🤣🤣🤣
I'd still keep an eye out in the future for a mini ex for the tighter jobs and the stuff where you could use a bucket for fixing yards and etc. Then you wouldnt have any downsides especially with randys equipment as well ❤. That's why I went with the mini ex as my first piece of equipment besides the chipper and truck. I need to get a bucket truck next 😊❤
That is so cool. Nice trailer by the way.
Good Job Guy's! Don't worry you'll get it.
I would suggest to reverse you ramps so v -on the ramp facing upwards, it als gives extra clearances . Check it out.
You need to watch 'The Castle' , classic Australian humour at it finest. So many great one liners.
Ive been waiting for this one 🤘🏾
Jake I'm your biggest fan I've been watching you ever since you worked at Eastside can you please test out the former tech 888
Cool bit of gear 🥳😎 good job
On customer lawns skid steers and excuvators are hard on the lawns these have turf wheels to reduce it
I commented before your mention of the wheels haha
haha No worries!
Great vlog love the Avant brand have used the 600 series as a friend of mine has one but hopefully on Friday will have a couple of items from Sappy supplies all the way over in little old U.K. but great vlog Jacob especially with Randy the Mandy 😊😊😊
Bad news for you! I have the same unit purchased a few months ago and they no longer have heated seats. If you have a black seat like yours it does not have heat. They removed the heated seat but did not inform dealers. I went to my dealer and they spent a few hours trying to figure out why it didn't heat. They contacted their supplier from Avant and they pulled the heated seat. Its nearly impossible to get a heated seat now. You could have been one of the lucky few but from what my dealer and I can find the vinyl seats are no longer heated but they did not remove the switch or wiring! But I still love my Avant
Nice machine man, i think another spot the mini skids shine is going backwards easier to look behind you, but yea id love an avant, so i use an f550 landscape dump and pull a flatbed trailer witb the skid and the grinder on it, solid unit wood and mulch load easy with the skid in the trucks duml bed its got the sides that fold down, then of course standard chipper and chip truck, it took me awhile to get this set up like it is but its super efficient, 2 drivers can tackle any job needed with all equipment there
Maybe get those buckets with the grab on top for cleaing up some looser stuff and stacking small diameter firewood rounds into it for transporting it away?
The avant is a money making machine. Especially if you got a good operator. The swivel control switch for the grapple is not my favorite but she’s definitely production.
love seeing the progress with the tree service Jake! We went with the bobcat articulated loader. Love it. Need to go see Reon and Filipe for a masterclass on the avant!
I've definitely gotten better since recording this video hahaha
Yes nice set up
excellent machine, Well done! 👍
Try feeding the chipper by reversing back as if your reversing into the chipper then pivot to the side and spin the grab a little.. will be much easier then a 3 point turn
I would choose the avant I love the mini skids but they are limited the avant just is smooth and incredible to use
Try to always keep the grapple pointed towards the chipper and return to brush piles counter weight first. Then you can approach the piles at a 45. That should speed up the process. Just my 2 cents
Nice machine
I just saw you pop up on Blacktail Studio's channel! The latest video on 4/4 @ about 13 min.
So -when do you and Randy just merge into one company? Randy did predict that you would start small and eventually get all of the vehicles you would need for an actual company.
Maybe you could make a rake system for that like cotton top uses on his mini excavator.
Rotating grapples are really nice for chipping but you have to be mindful of the hoses on the grapple. Ryan's is probably the best when it comes to hose protection, most companies have thin plates or none at all and those rotate hoses just get mangled
congrats for the new truck :D
When the branches are all throw together like that it makes it tough when grapple only so big… could try going into piles grab some and just go a lil bit from the pile and start a new neat one, so that way you can grab a big pile when your making the trip to the chipper.. if that makes sense?? Just making every trip count by taking the throw together/messy pile, into a nice pile where ya can get a full grapple before making the trip 👌🏼👌🏼👌🏼 like ya would w an excavator since it’s so much slower, make every trip count🤘🏼🤘🏼
man i wish my boss would get some of this equipment that you have bucket truck,avant,DUMP TRAILER would make the day by so good.
Very jealous - would absolutely love one of these. Looks awesome 👌
Would a extended loading shelf help in feeding the chipper when using your new avant 528? Easier push into the chipper.
it took me quite a bit to get good at using a grapple like that but ive only used one on a mini skid. ares didnt rotate on its own though it jus was free spinning. its alot easier if its all stacked the same direction but one its a random pile it can be a pain in the ass to stuff into the chipper. and we have a 20 inch mobark that will eat trees lol honestly what we use the most is just the skid loader with a grapple/bucket on it. ive gotten real good at stuffing the chipper with a skidloader. cant drive it on yards though is all unless you dont turn at all if you do it will destroy the grass lol
Good on ya