Handheld petrol powered winch

[monkeybusiness]

I want to buy a petrol-powered lightweight winch for assisted fells and general pulling timber around on pedestrian-access sites.
What do you have, what do you like/don’t like about your setup, what would you recommend, what would you buy today?

All input gratefully received! 

[Stihllymok]

I got the 1200 version of this;

EDER Powerwinch 1800 - Portable Capstan Winch

TREADLIGHTFORESTRY.CO.UK

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With a max rated capacity of 1800kg the EDER Powerwinch 1800 is the most powerful portable capstan winch on the...

 

From @Treadlight Forestry top bloke very helpful. Well worth a chat with him.

It's a bombproof bit of kit, never ceases to amaze what it will drag up the hills.

 

[5thelement]

I have an Eder 1800, lightweight and compact, runs on the same Aspen as the saws. I can carry winch, strops and 50mm dyneema rope at once, unlike the Tirfor. 
Add a snatch block and you can pull and move some decent size lumps. It has two speeds, set up to pull differing weights. 
Set at 900kg it pulls considerably faster than at 1800kg, I usually set it to faster for assisted fells.

 

@Treadlight Forestry

Edited October 21, 2023 by 5thelement

[monkeybusiness]

They look very good - saw them demo’d at the APF and was impressed. Will they work on various rope thicknesses or are they limited to 13mm (I’m thinking of how the rope brake and throttle mechanism operate)? 

[Stihllymok]

42 minutes ago, monkeybusiness said:

They look very good - saw them demo’d at the APF and was impressed. Will they work on various rope thicknesses or are they limited to 13mm (I’m thinking of how the rope brake and throttle mechanism operate)? 

 you need to stick to their dedicated rope for best results. 

[Mr. Ed]

VF105 RED IRON | DOCMA S.R.L.

WWW.DOCMA.IT

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The VF105 Red Iron is the latest addition to the ForestWinch winches series: increased power, maximum...

I have one of these which is pretty good - despite some clumsy design around the integration with the engine making it hard to tune the engine (and in fact hard to stop - which could be serious). 
 

They do pull fairly well. 
 

[AHPP]

I’ve got one without a clutch. You want a clutch. I’d buy the Eder 1800 if I was buying now. 

[Suffolk Dave]

I agree eder, winch great been running one for about 12 years, and yes run it on there own rope, as most others will slip

[Spruce Pirate]

I got a Portable Winch version.  Great bit of kit, really useful in the right situation.  I got it from Jones before they went bust, don't know where/if to get one now.  I like it, but if I had my time over I'd get one with a clutch if possible, although the Portable Winch does have the advantages that it's (relatively) cheap and runs on any rope, normally a retired climbing rope.

[John Shutler]

Portable Winch PCW5000 | Winches & Accessories UK

WWW.WGMLTD.CO.UK

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Superb Value - Check out Portable Winch PCW5000 - Experience Excellent Service from Winchester Garden...

owned one of these for the best part of 10 years.

never pulled a tree over with it or really skidded much with it either but used it a lot on technical rigging jobs back in the day to drift lowered sections over obstacles or back to a drop zone in conjunction with my grcs.

we mainly use it now when we have to winch stuff off islands in lakes to pull the 9 tonne winch cable back over to the island for the next pull