01/18/2020
As promised, I did some new product testing with these European style, AR 500 plate steel log grabs.
In the development / design stage, I made some modifications to them that make them a little better suited for hardwood, rather than the European grabs that are primarily for softwood. I shortened the spike and made the angle of the spike less acute.
In summary, they performed satisfactorily, but they definitely do not out perform our Dixie style grabs. Performance MAY slightly increase if I tweak the angle of the spike, but significant change is unlikely.
Also should note: I have not tried them in softwood yet. I expect them to be better in softwood than our 0’s, but not necessarily better than our 1’s.
Pros and cons are listed below.
Pros: they are exceptionally easy to “eject” from the log. This can be done easily with the back side of a hatchet, or any other striking tool. They pop out of hardwood logs with a single smack. This more or less eliminates the need for a skip hammer, though you’ll want a substantial hammer / striking tool to drive them in when using them in hardwood.
Also, they are incredibly tough! AR 500 is pretty much indestructible. I don’t think you’d ever wear them out. The ductile iron we use in our dixie’s is also very tough, but it’s more malleable over time (when in heavy use) than AR 500.
Cons: They are significantly more expensive to produce. They are approximately 3x the cost of our 0’s, which more or less gobbles up the savings you might realize from not buying a skip hammer.
They also seem to slip the log easier on the trail, when on rough terrain. In situations where the log is snagging rocks / roots / humps in the trail, they seem to work loose whereas the Dixie style grabs are much less likely to. This can be somewhat countered by driving a single grab into the center of the end of the log, rather than on the outside of the log as we typically do in this part of the world, but if you use a cart with a low axle (or a barden style cart) that the logs can bump into when they surge or when running ahead on downhill trails, that can cause the grabs to skip of the tail of the grab bumps into the back of the cart.
All things considered, I will offer these as special order items. I can easily have them made by request, but you’ll be looking at $75/pair (hardware NOT included) opposed to roughly $30/ pair for our Dixie style grabs. The advantages are not significant enough to wrap up time and resources in considerable inventory for a product that does not outperform what we already offer at a lower cost.
