Thinking about investing in a winch...

[mesuno]

As the title, I'm thinking of investing in a winch to help with our work in the woods. I've not used one before, or seen one used other than in youtube vids so a few pointers would be good.

Typically we are felling small diameter chestnut coppice 8" to 15". It would be nice to be able to drag these straight out to the ride from where they fall, then buck and split right next to the vehicle for transporting home. As it is I'm cutting down to 6ft lengths or so and dragging each section out using log tongs. Pretty tiring and as the area we are clearing gets further from the track I've got further to go each time. Bucking and splitting where they fall just means doing more trips with the splits.

We also are bringing down a few oaks to thin out the canopy. Again, we'd ultimately like to be able to get these out to a work area so we can do some milling.

Are we on track to be thinking about using a winch for this kind of job? What would you look out for?

My dad found these: Lewis Winch which use the chainsaw itself for power. They look good but expensive!

Any thoughts?

Cheers

Mike

 

[basod]

If you have a road to drive the truck on, ever think about a snatch block?
They can be had relatively cheap ~$40 plus rope or cable.

 

[Butcher]

Not tryin to be a safty nazi or nothin but having been on the wrong end of broken cables and log chains while yankin on stuff I wouldnt care for standing right behind that saw and cable. I've seen what happens when a cable comes apart and flies back atcha. I would think a good Warn 12 volt winch with a remote would be cheaper and alot safer. Less maintanence too.

 

[Jags]

If you have a road to drive the truck on, ever think about a snatch block?
They can be had relatively cheap ~$40 plus rope or cable.

Yep, and will be many times faster. I would think differentLEE if you were working up big stuff, but for the size you mentioned, I would be using snatch blocks and a main line rope on tongs.

 

[mesuno]

Can someone elaborate on what you mean by a snatch block? I thought it was just a pulley used to redirect the cable from an anchor? Would you just hitch the cable to the tow bar of the 4x4 and drag it, snatch block pulls it out to the road while you drive along the track?

I should add that our woods are all clay soils and the tracks get pretty slippery - I'm reluctant to do anything that would dig them up.

 

[Jags]

I should add that our woods are all clay soils and the tracks get pretty slippery - I'm reluctant to do anything that would dig them up.

Sounds like you got the idea. From your explanation of the size of trees you are working up, I don't think they will pull hard. There are also nose cones made for skidding logs.

 

[CaddyUser]

I too took a look a couple of years ago at portable winches, especially those from portablewinch.com The Lewis winch was another idea, but I too am not a big fan of being within the danger zone when using steel cable.

So, that got me thinking.... I saw a semi-portable winch that had a 5.5hp Honda 4-stroke engine and a gear reduction system hooked to it with a capstan like that of the portable winch units. Using a rope seemed safer by magnitudes.... But either one is cost prohibitive, to say the least...

So, more thinking.... finally, I came up with an idea. I had noticed some of those Chinese post-hole augers going for a fairly decent price. 50cc 2 stroke engine hooked to a reduction gearbox. They also have a clutch like that on a chainsaw - It would only engage once the RPM is increased. I did a few calculations, and figured that a chain/sprocket hooked to the output of the gearbox would give further reduction that should work.

After all of that, I picked up one of those post augers, welded up a frame of 1x1 to mount the engine, sprockets, chain, a stub shaft, and the capstan (actually the capstan is a rim from a small 4" tire - like those used on hand trucks) to, and off I went..... The thing probably weighs 55lbs, but once it is in place, it's really no big issue. 150' of rope and one of those skidding cone lets me skid 400-500 lbs of wood at a time with no major problems from the woodlot. The woodlot that I have access to is roughly 300ft in width, and the trail is up the middle.

I wish I had a picture - it would probably make more sense than the description. The winch is up in the storage shed at the woodlot...

So, if you are resourceful, and have a welder (or a buddy that can weld it up for you), you could get something going for a couple hundred....

Hope this helps!

 

[wkpoor]

Something to keep in mind when shopping winches is line speed. Don't buy on rated pull alone. Typically a good line speed and power will be in the 8-15K size range.

 

[Jags]

Caddyuser - way to think outside of the box.

 

[Flatbedford]

I wish I had a picture

Me too!

How do you anchor it?

 

[CaddyUser]

I wish I had a picture

Me too!

How do you anchor it?

I use two shackles that are through the frame of the unit. I run a tow rope from one to a nearby stump and then back again to the other shackle.

I'll try to draw a diagram this evening so you can get a better idea of the setup.

I found a video that's similar to what I have..... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybVz0SYWJPc

 

[Flatbedford]

Pretty cool. The capstan is nice too because you have infinite speed control. No mechanical speed control or clutch to deal with.

 

[CaddyUser]

OK, here is a very rough drawing....

The frame is made from 1x1 square tube. It's about 36" by 20" by 18" high. If you take a look at the drawing, the engine is shown in red, the attached gearbox is in orange, the shackles in blue, and the capstan in yellow. The engine/gearbox is mounted to a piece of plate welded to the frame. Same idea for the capstan mount. There is a bearing bolted to the capstan mount to hold the capstan shaft in place. Underneath are the two sprockets - one on the output shaft of the gearbox, and the other on the capstan shaft.

For interest's sake, I think that the capstan shaft is 1.25" round stock.

If you were building one yourself, I'd recommend some type of guard around the chain area, just so that fingers don't get into the wrong places.

As usual, use at your own risk - no liability expressed or implied!!

 

[ironpony]

is this product U.L. listed??

 

[seeyal8r]

I have a Smittybuilt XRC8 winch on my Jeep. I couldn't be more satisfied. I think I got mine on sale for $300 with free shipping from 4 wheel parts.com.

Yes it is cheaper and probably not as good as a Warn winch. But a similar Warn winch costs $1100. If the Warn breaks it has a lifetime warranty. Except you pay to ship it in for the warranty work which is about $100. So I figure I can order about 6 Smittybuilts for the price of a warn breaking 5 times.

Up to you.

 

[Catspaw]

After looking at the various options, I ended up buying the skidding cone kit made by the Portable Winch people.

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200486816_200486816

Use your vehicle of choice (truck/tractor/atv) to supply the pulling power. I've used it a few times and can say that it definitely works. It doesn't take all that much power to pull a log with the cone.

I would recommend buying the whole kit. I used every part the first time out. The open pulley with the automatic rope release is a key part of the system.

Heres a video showing the kit in use:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqA4lopUQMM&list=UUi661RmO7E9jKfcJ2v0S43A&index=13&feature=plcp