Section 2: Operating Procedures
SGC1560, SGC1572, & SGC1584 Claw Grapples380-074M
4/4/23
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Traveling With A Load
1. Be sure to read and understand all safety alerts
2. Pedestrians always have the right-of-way.
3. Keep load tilted back slightly.
4. When possible, travel with grapple and load kept low
to the ground.
5. Continually scan all sides for pedestrians, other
traffic, and obstacles.
6. If load is large and blocks your view, travel in reverse.
7.
Always drive at a safe speed and slow down when
going around corners. Avoid sudden braking.
8. Leave enough clearance when turning so that the
grapple and load does not contact obstacles such as
vehicles, buildings, trees, or fences.
9. When traveling over a ramp or incline, keep load on
the “uphill” side of skid steer/tractor.
10. When possible, travel straight up and down grades,
ramps, and inclines. Avoid making turns on grades,
ramps, and inclines.
11. Raise or lower load only when stopped, never while
traveling.
12. Slow down when traveling over rough or hilly terrain.
13. Do not transport loads on public roadways.
14. Transport on public roadways without a load and
transport in such a way that faster moving vehicles
may pass you safely.
15. Plan your route to avoid heavy traffic.
Releasing A Load
1. Be sure to read and understand all safety alerts
2. Stop in front of desired location.
3. Slowly raise load to required height.
4. Move forward slowly checking to make sure grapple
and load clears all obstacles.
5. Stop forward movement when load is positioned over
its release location.
6. Releasing load requires a combination of tilting front
of grapple down, raising upper jaw, and raising
loader arms. The order in which the load is released
will vary depending on type of material being
released. The most important objective is to have the
load under control throughout the release.
7.
Once load has settled onto the pile, slowly back up
making sure grapple clears all objects and there are
not any pedestrians or other traffic behind or on
either side.
8. Leave enough clearance when turning and/or
lowering the grapple so that it does not make contact
with obstacles such as vehicles, buildings, trees, or
fences.
9. Lower grapple to transporting height (low to the
ground) before moving again.
Back Raking With Upper Jaw
1. Be sure to read and understand all safety alerts
2. Open upper jaw fully and rotate front of grapple down
while lowering unit until the tips of the upper teeth
touch the ground.
3. Back-up to rake loose sticks and debris into a pile.
4. For instructions on how to pick-up the raked pile, see
Ripping Out Bushes
1. Be sure to read and understand all safety alerts
2. Open upper jaw halfway.
3. Rotate front of grapple down while lowering unit until
upper teeth extend into the ground on the far side of
the bush and lower teeth are on the near side.
4. Close grapple jaws around the roots of the bush.
5. Raise grapple up to rip bush from ground.
Break Sod With Lower Jaw
1. Be sure to read and understand all safety alerts
2. Open upper jaw halfway.
3. Lower grapple until bottom teeth start to go into the
ground. Do not go very deep into the ground.
4. Drive forward to break up sod and push debris ahead
of attachment.
IMPORTANT:
Check full range of motion before
rotating attachment down to back rake. See
Do not operate attachment with lower