Whats a good way to go for a winch to attach to a truck hitch?? Gas or electric , off Any thoughts?? cable or rope, Can be up to 24" spruce and 100 feet away.
Winch, gas or electric??
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You could possibly mount it on a plate that works on a receiver hitch & I would suggest cable & electric. That would be the the easiest but maybe not the best. I am sure others have more experience & other/better thoughts. Most of my experience has been with cable & electric for moving 2000# hay bales with stabber on the back of the pickup.
You can get a receiver mount for a winch. Norwood has red spruce listed at 855 lbs for 24" diameter 8' long. Overkill on the winch, that way you always have enough pulling power.
I have a 10k electric winch in my truck that I skid with, has 100' of synthetic on it, plus I carry another 100' in case of longer pulls, prefer synthetic rope over cable as you don't have to worry about getting a wire stabbed in your hand.
I have a 10k electric winch in my truck that I skid with, has 100' of synthetic on it, plus I carry another 100' in case of longer pulls, prefer synthetic rope over cable as you don't have to worry about getting a wire stabbed in your hand.
I run a 12K electric Milemarker bumper winch and carry a pulley block to double that to 24k.....nothing this winch cant handle so far..you can do the same with a receiver mounted winch...just make sure your receiver can handle that....I run steel cable.....and like fishki I carry a extra 100 feet...in case...
Ashful
Minister of Fire
Isn’t a 12k winch going to just drag the truck, if actually used near capacity? Since it sounds like this is for skidding logs, and not truck recovery, I’d go with a 3k - 5k winch, which gives you some better options in the realm of speed and battery cabling. It can always be doubled back to give near 6k capacity with a snatch block, if that’s ever even needed on skidding logs (which I doubt).
A note on winch capacities, they’re rated at empty spool. As the spool fills, and moment arm increases, capacity drops. This is not much an issue with skidding logs, where desire for speed nearly always trumps need for capacity.
They make standard hitch mount plates, so no concern, there. Your big job is batteries and cablining, as even a fast 3k winch can pull 150 - 200 amps.
On cable length, I’d not want more than 50 feet on the drum. In fact, they all come with an unusable amount spooled on the drum, such that they jam up if not spoiled on there in an unrealistically perfect fashion. Some pull 20 feet or more off and cut it just to resolve that issue.
Use extension cables for long pulls, on the occasions you need it. In most cases, I can back my trailer within 50 feet of the logs, but I usually skid them to the trailer with a tractor.
The winch on this trailer is 7500 lb, and complete overkill for skidding logs. I worry I’m going to break the trailer, every time a log hangs up on the ramp. I have plans to downgrade to 5k it with a gear set available from this manufacturer, which will also increase my pulling speed by 30%.
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A note on winch capacities, they’re rated at empty spool. As the spool fills, and moment arm increases, capacity drops. This is not much an issue with skidding logs, where desire for speed nearly always trumps need for capacity.
They make standard hitch mount plates, so no concern, there. Your big job is batteries and cablining, as even a fast 3k winch can pull 150 - 200 amps.
On cable length, I’d not want more than 50 feet on the drum. In fact, they all come with an unusable amount spooled on the drum, such that they jam up if not spoiled on there in an unrealistically perfect fashion. Some pull 20 feet or more off and cut it just to resolve that issue.
Use extension cables for long pulls, on the occasions you need it. In most cases, I can back my trailer within 50 feet of the logs, but I usually skid them to the trailer with a tractor.
The winch on this trailer is 7500 lb, and complete overkill for skidding logs. I worry I’m going to break the trailer, every time a log hangs up on the ramp. I have plans to downgrade to 5k it with a gear set available from this manufacturer, which will also increase my pulling speed by 30%.
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Ashful...12K is waaaaaaay over kill....there is enough there to tear the bumper clear off of the truck..but I use it for skidding and truck recovery and getting big "leaners" to fall where I want them to..also to save my butt when I have the old dodge with 2ft side boards loaded down with green oak and the truck breaks through and sinks to the frame in minus windchill temps and we had to unload it all and use a jack and spend a couple hours digging out to go home empty handed after a long cold day of hard labor..that will never happen again and is the reason I decided overkill was in order.
Coming from a guy who requires a 6 liter plus motor in a 1/2 ton truck. Lol yes obviously 12k is overkill in akmost all situations but other than cost there is no downside to going large.
But i have a parkinglot that i might wont to pull a log across. LolI would downgrade my winch too if I could skid logs in a parking lot
Ashful
Minister of Fire
lol... there is sometimes one downside. I find most winch manufacturers come up with a frame size, with comparable motor, and then develop two or three gear ratios within that frame size. So, going with the lowest-capacity gear ratio within a given frame size actually yields best speed.
At least that's my case, I got a sweet deal on a S7500 from Superwinch, but they also have the S5000 with the same motor. It just has a shallower gear ratio, to give better speed at lower max capacity.
Ashful
Minister of Fire
Most of my skidding is in a field, but that was the photo I had handy. But yes, in almost all cases I skid the log out of the woods with a tractor, and then hook to the winch to drag it onto the trailer. The downside to that is an extra trip to deliver and retrieve the tractor, but most of my recovery is within 15 minutes of my house.I would downgrade my winch too if I could skid logs in a parking lot
Two trips would get old for me, But if you're that close it works. I did the ramp and plywood thing for awhile, but logs would roll and just destroy the expanded metal on the ramp, ended up taking ramp off and making an A-frame to pick logs up and set them on trailer, much better and no more snagging the ramp.
I do a lot of this..there are no large tracts of timber close by and as result the logging consists of small tracts of land in which includes ravine edges and otherwise hard to navigate ground....the pickup just makes the most sense to me....many times I take the older beater truck in with the winch and do what I have to do to get the wood out to my other truck and dump trailer..I am soon to retire the old dodge and I am entertaining the idea of air bags and a detachable skidder winch plate and winch for the rear of the truck....
Yes in that case there would be a down size. But for me i rarely use my winch i would rather have the power over speed.
Ashful
Minister of Fire
I usually haul at least 4 cords in a given day, often 6 cords. Can’t imagine doing that in Amy pickup truck!
I regulary do 4. I could probably do 6 but dont want to. And mine is all cut to lenght already and i just push a button to unload.
Ashful
Minister of Fire
I love those A-frames, might go that way someday. They’re great for stacking logs, on occasion when what you’re hauling isn’t so large as to max your weight in a single layer.
The extra trip for the tractor isn’t a big deal. I always cut close to home, and my trailer only hauls 1 - 2 cords (depending on species and age = weight), so I’m usually doing multiple trips on any day of cutting, anyway.
