Needing advice on small winches.

[Woodworks]

Looks like I have a small job coming up to tidy up an area of neglected steep woodland. To date I have not worked in woodland and only done farm hedge work so my knowledge around this sort of work is very limited. There is a good access track running along the hill and the first job is it to clear what is already down. I would like to winch most of the wood close to the track to avoid hand balling all the wood up and down the hill but I have not got one yet and not sure of the all the pros and cons of the various models. Also I can't get the tractor square to the track so would presumably need a pulley around a tree to direct the wire in the right direction. I am only looking at something small and don't need to move massive bits at a time so what would you recommend I should look for? The tractor it will go on is only a 55HP compact

[Stephen Blair]

You could get a petrol capstan winch, I have 1. They're excellent

[Ty Unnos]

I just picked up a second hand Igland 3.6 ton winch for my 35hp tractor.

 

Before I stumbled across the Igland I was looking at these which seem to be about the best value around:

 

Riko UK :: Winches

 

For redirecting you need a snatch block:

 

Single Sheave Snatch Blocks | Clark Forest : Lifting Chains

 

Plus some shackles and strops.

[difflock]

Except why re-direct, if only pulling small stuff, and he says a compact tractor, get her slewed round as far as possible, possibly pulling round WITH the winch ( to a high anchor point if poss) then winch at a bit of an angle.

Though skid brakes should suffice to screw her round.

Not ideal but if only light stuff should be OK

PS

Ensure your stabilizers/stabilizer chains are in good nick:001_rolleyes:

Ah:biggrin:

He realizes one wants to get the logs/timber up onto and alighned with the track.

Therefore I see the need to re-direct:thumbup1:

Edited April 23, 2013 by difflock

[Woodworks]

Thanks chaps.

 

Had a look at the Riko winches and they sound fine but £1500+ also like the sound of a capstan winch and after a quick google they look a bit cheaper and probably more convenient. Any recommends for a capstan winch? One other possible option is fitting a winch to the landy. Have been quoted £650 with a new bumper to suit but no idea if these sorts of winches are up to the task.

[Ty Unnos]

Not used one but I suspect these are good:

 

Winches | F R Jones and Son

[Craig.]

Thanks chaps.

 

Had a look at the Riko winches and they sound fine but £1500+ also like the sound of a capstan winch and after a quick google they look a bit cheaper and probably more convenient. Any recommends for a capstan winch? One other possible option is fitting a winch to the landy. Have been quoted £650 with a new bumper to suit but no idea if these sorts of winches are up to the task.

 

An electric winch would work, may be a bit slow, but their not designed with a high duty cycle, ie winch up the bank, and stright back down to pull up again, and so on, it would get quite hot.

[martin p]

Thanks chaps.

 

Had a look at the Riko winches and they sound fine but £1500+ also like the sound of a capstan winch and after a quick google they look a bit cheaper and probably more convenient. Any recommends for a capstan winch? One other possible option is fitting a winch to the landy. Have been quoted £650 with a new bumper to suit but no idea if these sorts of winches are up to the task.

 

Got a capstan winch on my s111 landy,will run all day,is quite forgiving of off line pulls as no rope storage to bunch up on one end of drum great tool just a bit slow.

[John Thomas]

Has anyone tried a hand pulled type winch; lots of gearing rapped round and round itself (like trees)?

[Chris Sheppard]

Looks like I have a small job coming up to tidy up an area of neglected steep woodland. To date I have not worked in woodland and only done farm hedge work so my knowledge around this sort of work is very limited. There is a good access track running along the hill and the first job is it to clear what is already down. I would like to winch most of the wood close to the track to avoid hand balling all the wood up and down the hill but I have not got one yet and not sure of the all the pros and cons of the various models. Also I can't get the tractor square to the track so would presumably need a pulley around a tree to direct the wire in the right direction. I am only looking at something small and don't need to move massive bits at a time so what would you recommend I should look for? The tractor it will go on is only a 55HP compact

 

55hp Compact should work really well with a 3T or so PTO winch. It will be faster than almost any vehicle mounted solution and will have enough pull to deal with most thinning work on a small tractor.

 

I've not used the portable capstan winches, though I'm sure they are great for smaller trees and occasional use. I'd expect you will wear out a rope fairly quickly though, more from abrasion/damaging it than over stessing it. Thats where the 10/12mm wire rope of a tractor mounted winch will come in.

 

Personally, I'd discount an electric winch mounted on a vehicle straight away - nearly all of them are painfully slow to use to pull timber with. I had a Superwinch Husky on a landrover and used it once and never again!

 

Tractor mounted one may seem expensive, but the extra productivity will more than justify it and the depreciation will be fairly small compared to some other kit. For the sort of use it sounds like you'll be giving it, a PTO one should last you a very long time.