Forestry winch recommendations

[Martin du Preez]

Any recommendations for a forestry winch? Don’t want to spend a fortune, just the odd assisted fell

[Whoppa Choppa]

Pointless buying a cheapy unless you're talking about trees no bigger than 40'.

 

5t or more and radio controlled. Manual clutches are pure nasty.

[Martin du Preez]

so radio controlled essential, 6 tonne enough to be pulling in some manky edge ash trees? Sorry pretty new to winches, always used a bull rope and tractor which is a pita

[difflock]

Surely part of the optitum  line pull capacity is what size/weight of a tractor the winch is for to be mounted on? Bigger aint necessarily always better. Sometimes a "wee handy" is easier lived with day to day. And if only for an occassional extra heavy pull, a snatch block might be worth considering?

[doobin]

8 hours ago, Martin du Preez said:

so radio controlled essential, 6 tonne enough to be pulling in some manky edge ash trees? Sorry pretty new to winches, always used a bull rope and tractor which is a pita

That's the route I'd so, so long as your tractor is big enough as @difflocksays.

[openspaceman]

2 hours ago, difflock said:

Surely part of the optitum  line pull capacity is what size/weight of a tractor the winch is for to be mounted on? Bigger aint necessarily always better. Sometimes a "wee handy" is easier lived with day to day. And if only for an occassional extra heavy pull, a snatch block might be worth considering?

Yes and factor in getting the tractor to site. The Eder winch pulls up to two tonnes, fairly slowly, but if the hinge is sound it gets there. Fair more sensible than a Tirfor.

 

Once you are in the realms of a single rope pull of a leaning tree with a tractor winch the art is in judging just how high to mount the rope. You want the winch to give the tree sufficient impetus such that the risk of the hinge cracking out sideways is overcome. The hinge only directs for the first 10 degrees of movement then gravity and momentum take over. Put the rope too high and the winch never keeps up with the initial movement and goes slack before the tree has speed in the right direction.

 

As I got older and less confident I took to having a 5tonne tirfor as a stay wire off to the side where the main pull was not 180 degrees back over the lean.

[woody paul]

I ve anchored some big trees with loader tractor with bucket stuck in ground and had tirfor with a double pull to pull rope, when hooked winch rope of land rover to rope and used that as main puller. 

When I work for someone he alway hung a large pulley block on were winch cable joined pull rope to give extra weight to it so if winch didn't keep up weight of rooe/pulley block took over. 

[Whoppa Choppa]

6 hours ago, difflock said:

Surely part of the optitum  line pull capacity is what size/weight of a tractor the winch is for to be mounted on? Bigger aint necessarily always better. Sometimes a "wee handy" is easier lived with day to day. And if only for an occassional extra heavy pull, a snatch block might be worth considering?

Snatch block halves the line speed. Better to have the power in the place.

[difflock]

1 hour ago, Whoppa Choppa said:

Snatch block halves the line speed. Better to have the power in the place.

Being aware of that constraint, I would only therefore climb just over 1/2 as high up the tree. Which in itself is surely a safety advantage?

Eh!

OSM

A good point about lack of line speed resulting in the force of gravity outpacing the winch line.

[doobin]

37 minutes ago, difflock said:

Being aware of that constraint, I would only therefore climb just over 1/2 as high up the tree. Which in itself is surely a safety advantage?

Eh!

OSM

A good point about lack of line speed resulting in the force of gravity outpacing the winch line.

Obvious once you've done any winching and are not a complete retard, but catches many out with often disastrous consequences!