We are just starting to get the hang of our TSY 155. Have you ever rigged up the mechanical grapples on one? I never have nor have I threaded new grub lines or drop lines through an MSP Carriage. Any tips and tricks will be greatly accepted
For the grapple johnson industries has a pic
http://www.jlogging.com/gpspec1.html showing how the cable is run thru the sheaves and the pic also shows what they call the 3way slider which your main, slackpuller and closing line are all attached to using knobs. We always kept spare closing lines on the machine. Changing the closing line cut the line about a foot from both knobs and throw them knob first at the grapple as hard as you can that will loosen the wedges.(they will bounce back and try and hit you in the shins)
The MSP had spliced eyes for the main slackpuller and dropline with a flush shackle so it could go through the sheaves in the tower, that is how we ran ours. Also there should be a valve somewhere on the air system to change the pressures on the mains to open the grapple on the outhaul and with the MSP reverse the pressures so the dropline isn't dragging in the dirt on the outhaul.
Johnson also has a mini MSP carriage that is has hooks for the chains on a grapple then you drop the the grapple throw a 40 foot dropline on and some chokers and choke out a spot that has crap deflection(ie lines in the dirt). Did that with the regular grapple carriage for a couple hours one day instead of hooking the choker onto the grapple.
Regular grapples run 2500 to 3000 lbs for a 3/4" machine. The hawkeye carriage is 3000 lbs but the big downfall is the grapple closes when it drops down and opens by lifting up loosing valuable lift when you need it most. Regular grapples pull the grapple up to the carriage when you really pull on them and the harder you pull the more they tighten onto the wood. I would look into the camera for the grapple though that was a nice feature on the hawkeye. Really needed it on that thing though 52" opening is really tiny when you are out 800'.