Tell me about buying a winch

[wahoowad]

I've always wanted a 12v winch but have never purchased one because they are kinda pricey. It is one of those things that it would be great to have on certain occaisions, but you don't necessarily have a pressing need for one standing there in the store looking at the price tag. I don't tend to get my truck stuck anymore like I did when I was younger, so I guess my more recent needs would have been to winch up some logs from hillsides...kinda a utility winch and not necessarily a truck winch. I've passed up some wood because I didn't want to carry the weight up hills, couldn't drive to the wood, but could have winched up logs or my wood cart.

I do not want to mount it to my truck, except perhaps temporarily to my receiver hitch. I'm sure I could weld up a suitable way to do this. Any thoughts to decent value priced winches, accessories that might make this work (a snatch block?), etc? What is your setup?

 

[Roospike]

No winch yet for me , i have used log chains and a cell phone so far but was looking into a winch also that could be used with the class 3 hitch on my 4x4 and truck . Any good infor ya find let me know. I dont like to buy junk so i guess this is what i haven't bought one as of yet , I'll stock pile the savings pot before going toy shopping but you know how the toy list goes and how long they are.

 

[nshif]

Heres a receiver mount winch from Warn.

http://www.warn.com/truck/winches/src/m6000sdp_multimount.shtml

I have a Warn on my jeep, great winch. kinda pricey.
You will also need a snatch block, some chain and heavy duty tow straps. The only problem with skidding logs uphill is that the bark gets packed with dirt and rocks which can tear up a chain on your saw in no time.

 

[velvetfoot]

I just read about a chainsaw winch.

 

[Eric Johnson]

The chainsaw winch is a nice thing to have, especially if you have a big saw to run it. They're not cheap either, but more portable than one mounted on a truck, although you can obviously use it in every situation where you can use a truck winch.

Lewis is a good brand. A little pricey, but you probably do get what you pay for. It is a toy, after all.

http://store.baileys-online.com/cgi-bin/baileys/580?product_sku=LW 400MK2

 

[frwinks]

if you only looking for something to use occasionally, I would suggest a portable unit like this one. You can mount it in various ways depending on the situation (even strapped to a tree if needed).

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=43331

I've seen it pulling stuck trucks (light ones ) so I'm sure it'll be more than adequate for pulling logs

http://cgi.ebay.com/WHOLESALE-NEW-1...5095033QQihZ013QQcategoryZ66798QQcmdZViewItem

another option is a utility/atv winch, like this one
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=92860

weld up a cradle for it like you said and you're set. Warns are great, I've had one on my crawler for few years without any problems, but for what you're after, they're overkill

 

[par38lamp]

I have considered those exact same Harbor Freight winches for log retrieving. Need a saw first!