Forestry winch recommendations

[monkeybusiness]

I’m looking to buy a forestry winch (about which I’ll confess to not knowing  a great deal)...

It’s to 3pl mount on a 150hp 6 cylinder tractor, I’m guessing it wants to be 8 tonnes plus, and carry as much cable as possible (at least 100m, ideally 120m plus if possible). 

It needs reasonable line speed - we already have a big hydraulic winch that would pull a house down but is very slow (great for individual massive pulls or recovery, but no good for production extraction). 

What’s good/bad/essential options at this size etc? Do any of you have experience of similar sized winches that you would thoroughly recommend or otherwise steer clear of? 

Many thanks in advance!

Edited November 14, 2019 by monkeybusiness

[MattyF]

Tajfun make good winches at a fair price and any issues killworth Machinary are great to deal with,we have an 8tonne , make sure you get hydraulic out feed though ,those cables are heavy !

[MattyF]

Oh and get the radio control as well , just don’t forgot to keep an eye on the tractor... would be easy to flip it if you get hung up extracting and can’t see the pulling end !

[ESS]

It would have to be Igland every time for me. Personally I don't rate rope feed out,, always found a well set free spool drum better to use, you can go at your pace rather than that of the winch.

[Gray git]

Got the karapan from Marshall logging it's the 8.5eh which has remote in and out and definitely wouldn't be without this feature now I've had it, you can adjust the out feed speed if you don't want it spitting it out too quickly, just remember to switch off the out feed or you'll end up with all your cable curled up on the floor.

[IronMike]

I can second the vote for the Krapan or whoever it’s spelt. Remote control is awesome, and it is very well made and looks and feels solid. Done a few days with Mr Git and his one and was suitably impressed.

[LGP Eddie]

Tajfun for me, but all depends on the applications.

My 6.5 tonne Tajfun was the go to winch against a top spec double drum Igland for a few reasons.

 

The Tajfun cable is absolute quality as standard, easy to handle, resists kinking and damage well until the usual idiots get hold of it and hook it back on itself.

 

The Tajfun power outfeed unit is excellent, making it easy to handle the cable and keeping a nice bit of tension on it when spooling back in.

You can just flick the remote for a short burst of cable or lock it in for continuous feed when you’re doing something like walking back down a steep slope with it.

 

Ignore the recommendation to spool out all the cable and wind it back under tension at your peril.

Greg and myself could run the Tajfun no issues, but again the seat fillers would just use and use it until it would jam up and not pay out properly.
It’s only a few minutes to get the cable out and either spool the Tractor back against something or drag something back in. We normally just hooked a machine bucket to the cable and it provided a nice bit of tension as it dragged back in.

 

I may be wrong, but only Tajfun as I’m aware have the brilliant auto stop feature.

If you’re winding back in with the remote you can do so in confidence that you’ll do no damage and the winch will stop at the correct point.

 

Lastly if you go with the 6.5 tonne, and trust me it’s got some guts, drags Tractors about for fun, you can then use the brilliant Tajfun 13 tonne lightweight snatch blocks, ticking the compliance boxes without carrying something huge about on site.

 

I don’t think Tajfun do twin 6.5 tonne, but it they did that would be a perfect choice.

 

 

Eddie.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Khriss]

120m of rope ?? Yr doing a lot of running abt ! Nice cable is 7x19 , got nothing to do with the manufacturer they just fit that. Yes to proper wind ins. K

[monkeybusiness]

I’ve had a good chat with Killworths today about an 8.5 Tajfun - it seems to tick my boxes and seems a quality bit of kit. Their cable does look good - I’d come to that opinion before seeing the latest posts here too!

I’ll be honest and say that I’d kind of discounted the smaller sizes purely from a ‘bigger is better’ perspective but maybe I’m being a bit hasty with that stance? But I have done quite a bit of varied winching over the years and it’s not often that I’d wished for less pull so I’m a bit torn now. 

In terms of cable length, there is one immediate(ish) job that has approx 100m haul up the bank of a quarry - the tractor should run up and down it but is unlikely to drag trees back up with it, and one bite will be more efficient than two. 

Not 100% decided yet but am getting towards it - thanks for all the input so far chaps!

[Khriss]

2 hours ago, monkeybusiness said:

I’ve had a good chat with Killworths today about an 8.5 Tajfun - it seems to tick my boxes and seems a quality bit of kit. Their cable does look good - I’d come to that opinion before seeing the latest posts here too!

I’ll be honest and say that I’d kind of discounted the smaller sizes purely from a ‘bigger is better’ perspective but maybe I’m being a bit hasty with that stance? But I have done quite a bit of varied winching over the years and it’s not often that I’d wished for less pull so I’m a bit torn now. 

In terms of cable length, there is one immediate(ish) job that has approx 100m haul up the bank of a quarry - the tractor should run up and down it but is unlikely to drag trees back up with it, and one bite will be more efficient than two. 

Not 100% decided yet but am getting towards it - thanks for all the input so far chaps!

Bugger ... I would have liked that  k

Edited November 15, 2019 by Khriss
* grinds teeth at endless RA MS*