Hand cranked Boat winch for log pulling?

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dougstove

Feeling the Heat
Hearth Supporter
Aug 7, 2009
357
Nova Scotia, Canada
Hi I have logs 3-50 m from my woodlot access road. I have a Maasdam PowePullR rope puller, which works but is painfully slow.
I am wondering about Curt 'boat winch' with a crank; it has 1:4 advantage and is rated for 1800 lb; which does not make sense to me except for use by a gorilla.
I would prefer a hand cranked capstan winch.
I am dithering about the battery Portable Winch, but it is heavy and not in my battery ecosystem (Dewalt and Echo).
Or, just use snatch blocks and pull with truck?
 
I think I’d be picking up a winch at Harbor Freight. 9500lbs for $300
 
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> it has 1:4 advantage and is rated for 1800 lb

I believe that rating is for a floating boat and pulling it onto a trailer bunk through rollers. You would be hard pressed to pull 500# of a wheeled load, up a ramp onto a trailer with that, I know, because I have done it in the past with a huge 2 speed boat winch running 1/2" arborist rope. The boat winch would be a very poor choice to skid a log, imho.

A better option would be cheap 1/2" x 200 feet of Chinese rope with a 4-2-1 pulley system, with the live end pulled by a lawn tractor. I bought this, just for that purpose:

$94 Twin Sheave Block and Tackle 0.43-0.5Inch 100-200Ft Twin Sheave Block with Braid Rope 30-35KN 6600-7705LBS Double Pulley Rigging (1/2" x 200')

.

If you put one of the blocks across the road into a tree, about six+ feet off the ground, you should be able to skid the log without dragging it through the crown of the road. Obviously, the higher the block, the better chance of skidding it farther away off the ground.

Anchoring a block to a tree on the far side of the road 6 feet up, then tossing the rope over a tree branch higher up on the opposite side, and then have that rope go down to the log/pulley block, will probably help lift the end once tension is applied. You can always put an idler pulley in the 2nd tree if you are worried about friction or messing up the rope on the bark. You will probably end up having 5 legs, with a 3-4 advantage depending on set up. If the 200 ft rope is too short, you can tie the block that goes on the log to a short snatch rope or cable to extend your reach.
 
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Thanks. I am avoiding gas power, will explore pulley options.

I would prefer a hand cranked capstan winch.

If you wanted to go "cordless electric winch"

Electric Capstan Winch - 48V 2Ah Battery, Low-Stretch Rope


If using a 4:1 block system, pretty much any electric winch that does 300+ pounds would be okay. I have never tried the cordless drill winches, though I know when using cordless drills for pumps, you really need a drill with a handle such as a hammer drill or good 1/2" drill.


The nice thing about a good block system, it is much easier and quicker to pull a line while walking vs. ratcheting a come-a-long.

> I have a Maasdam PowePullR rope puller

FWIW: Me too, I found all the cheap ropes pretty much frazzle at 500# logs except SeaChoice lines, though I have not tried the correct 3 strand safety rope because at $1.50+ per foot, 200 feet is a small investment. I mainly bought the puller to take down trees combined with wedges for spots where I could not get a truck. Though I am going to try skidding logs with it soon.
 
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I suspect you are going to be disappointed with the speed (and effort) required using a hand crank winch. It's one thing if you are only pulling something 3 or 4 meters. Since you are trying to stay away from gas-powered equipment and appear to be looking for lower-budget items, I'm guessing a tractor 3 point hitch mounted logging winch is out of the question.

I'm not a fan of using a vehicle mounted electric winch for any significant, regular use for logging: the winches are slow (especially under load), and the duty cycle is generally very low (requires frequent stopping to let the winch cool). A longer winching session (winching out multiple logs over any significant distance) also puts quite a strain on the vehicle's electrical system and battery. Most vehicle charging systems will not keep up with the drain of an electric winch used repeatedly in quick succession. They are great for a quick recovery of a stuck vehicle or pulling a downed tree out of the road. They are not so good at extended pulling.

I recommend going to a capstan winch. The best I have seen of these are those made by Portable Winch Company. I have used their gas winch models and been very impressed. I have not used their battery model (PCW3000-Li), but have spoken with two people who own them and use them for gathering firewood and clearing storm damage. They are happy with them, but did note that you are not going to get anywhere near all-day use out of a single battery. I know this is a different battery system that what you already have, but it's worth it, and Dewalt makes nothing even remotely similar. On the upside: the PCW3000-Li uses Greenworks 80/82V batteries (which are also the same style used by some other cordless tool companies (Briggs & Stratton/Snapper XD, Cramer, Stiga, and Kobalt), so you do have some other sources.

A couple of notes:

when comparing the useful work you can get out of the batteries available with various brands, it's important to note that looking at just the Amp-Hour rating of the battery is only half the story. You need to compare Watt-Hours, which is just Amp-Hours X volts. a 40 volt 4AH battery can do only half as much work as an 80 volt 4AH battery.

The weight of the log is only one factor that goes into determining the amount of pull required to move it. A 1000# log may take far more or far less than 1000# of pull to move it. Terrain, the shape of the object, they type of soil, & etc are all factors. You can significantly reduce the amount of pull required by using a skidding cone (PCW also sells these - see their Forestry Accessory package). Even shaping the end of the log to taper the edges and trimming limbs/stubs so they don't dig in as much can make a noticeable difference.
 
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