Winching Kit

[twsread]

Morning all,

 

I was hoping to get some advice regarding winching and the kit I need. I work for a wildlife charity and whilst I've done a fair bit of felling work I've not done too much winching.

 

We tend to only take down trees of 15" or less and use winches to assist with directional felling. I am planning on getting a Tirfor 516 (for the larger jobs) and a Lug-all (for the day to day).

 

I thought I knew what I needed until I looked at a supplier and saw the range of ropes, strops, slings, pulleys etc. available! I am working to a budget but obviously want to be sure that the kit I get is suitable and safe for the work we are doing. Any advice anyone can give would be really appreciated!

 

Thanks!

[Ty Unnos]

Hi

 

We use a 516 - its a great winch but a tad heavy for some jobs - but it has always been up to the job when we have got something stuck!

 

We have 4 ton snatch block:

 

4.5" 4 Ton ( 4000 kgs ) Heavy Duty SNATCH BLOCK Swivel HOOK - Pulley Lifting | eBay

 

A couple of these:

 

3 TON ( 3000 kgs ) 4 METRE Duplex Web Sling Strap - Lifting Strop Reinforced | eBay

 

And a couple of these:

 

8 Metre x 5 Tonne Endless Round Tested Lifting Sling (4m EWL) | eBay

 

And a bunch of these:

 

3.25t Blue Pin Tested Shackle | eBay

[Old Mill Tree Care]

I bought a Jet Winch instead. Almost the same as a Tirfor, works exactly the same, cost a lot less.

 

 

Sent with my iPhone from me, to you!

[twsread]

Thanks Ty, really helpful!

 

Thanks Old Mill too, I'll be looking into Jet winches!

[AlexB]

Look at ap or it maybe ab lifting. Their websites pretty poor but they're bloody good value and will have everything you could need. They're based in the west midlands and will ship things to you.

[Mat]

Morning all,

 

I was hoping to get some advice regarding winching and the kit I need. I work for a wildlife charity and whilst I've done a fair bit of felling work I've not done too much winching.

 

We tend to only take down trees of 15" or less and use winches to assist with directional felling. I am planning on getting a Tirfor 516 (for the larger jobs) and a Lug-all (for the day to day).

 

I thought I knew what I needed until I looked at a supplier and saw the range of ropes, strops, slings, pulleys etc. available! I am working to a budget but obviously want to be sure that the kit I get is suitable and safe for the work we are doing. Any advice anyone can give would be really appreciated!

 

Thanks!

 

Hi there.

 

If it were me, as well as the winch, I would get some webbing slings, steel shackles and a decent steel pulley.

 

However, when purchasing kit, the important thing is to make sure everything is strong enough in relation to the other bits.

 

As basic rule of thumb, all your kit needs a higher SWL (safe working load) than the winch (so the winch stops pulling long before the rigging starts breaking).

 

If you are using a pulley, the strop (and associated connectors) attaching it to its anchor may need to be double the SWL of the winch (that's just the effect that pulleys have).

 

If you are chokering strops around trees to act as anchors, this may reduce their effective SWL by 25%.

 

That's about the most basic rules I can thing of for purchasing. When it comes to using it, you have a whole new ballpark of things to consider.

 

Be carefull / enjoy yourself.

 

Matt

[Ty Unnos]

http://www.forestry.gov.uk/pdf/fctg001.pdf/$FILE/fctg001.pdf