Fordson Major winch

[rgeparker]

Hi mate offers there we have 7)8 of them thanks Jon

 

Ok great, I'll certainly bear that in mind. Do you have any pics at all?

[TimberCutterDartmoor]

Hi TimberCutterDartmoor. What would be your winch recommendation for said tractor, for assisted directional felling? (tonnage etc).

 

Cheers. Rob

 

Same; Uniforest upto 5.5t. A slow winch is fine if you want to land a tree in the fan between 9 o'clock and 3 o'clock but for bang-on 12 o'clock you want the faster line speed.

[rgeparker]

Same; Uniforest upto 5.5t. A slow winch is fine if you want to land a tree in the fan between 9 o'clock and 3 o'clock but for bang-on 12 o'clock you want the faster line speed.

 

Ok, thankyou. Thats sound advice.

[openspaceman]

Hi Openspaceman. Yes, I agree the Boughton/cooks would suit the age of the tractor, and I have seen many pictures of these types of set ups, which I'm sure work very well. But as you mention, lack of safety features etc draw me more towards the more modern equipment.

 

As mentioned, the winch will be predominantly used for assisted directional felling. As far as skidding goes, I'd most likely use the traditional method as you suggest (winch in, pay out, then winch in again). How does this affect the winch size?

 

Many thanks. Rob

 

The thing about the old winches is once you engage pto they keep pulling, if for any reason you don't declutch they can have you over very fast, especially if a heavy tree breaks out the hinge sideways and snatches the wire.

 

I don't know how they happened as I was not there on either occasion but in about 1981 a tilhill contractor was pulling a big beech, the feller left too large a hinge and the spades gave out, driver bailed out and fordson winched itself up the tree and snapped the rope.

 

Other occasion was at Shabden park, slightly older contractor than me, far more experienced and I had only worked with him pulling elms out of the Thames with one of freddy gear's matadors, he was felling a beech when the tractor (with no safety frame), flipped and crushed the lamb dead.

 

I had come late to the trade so started out differently with County and double drums, in order to get a bigger payload and more speed. The old guys looked on me with disdain, they wouldn't consider anything less than 100Hft as a tree and they only needed 3 trees to a lorry load, so driving forward 100ft and winching the log through all the mud with a little 2wd didn't worry them, often the lorry driver would parbuckle them onto the trailer.

 

I was not able to pull quite as much and travel with it but self loaders were picking up my timber and then the biggest they could load was 50Hft and my wages were often paid by the bit of firewood or pulp hanging on the back of the sawlog, which we converted at roadside. The big boys just left the tops to rot.

 

The igland winches were also fast enough for assisted felling but in truth you can only winch a tree nearly opposite its lean as once it has moved 10 degrees the hinge has strained too far to resist a sideways lean, so if the momentum isn't going in the right direction by then it will crack out sideways.

 

I would say 3-5 tonne was sensible for the fordson but the pull comes from much higher with an A frame

Edited January 20, 2016 by openspaceman

[mendiplogs]

Ok great, I'll certainly bear that in mind. Do you have any pics at all?

 

Hi MATE NO pics just text me mate on 07870 570 448 thanks Jon

[rgeparker]

The thing about the old winches is once you engage pto they keep pulling, if for any reason you don't declutch they can have you over very fast, especially if a heavy tree breaks out the hinge sideways and snatches the wire.

 

I don't know how they happened as I was not there on either occasion but in about 1981 a tilhill contractor was pulling a big beech, the feller left too large a hinge and the spades gave out, driver bailed out and fordson winched itself up the tree and snapped the rope.

 

Other occasion was at Shabden park, slightly older contractor than me, far more experienced and I had only worked with him pulling elms out of the Thames with one of freddy gear's matadors, he was felling a beech when the tractor (with no safety frame), flipped and crushed the lamb dead.

 

Hi Openspaceman. Thanks for sharing this. Very interesting and informative post. Couple of winch related horror stories there too... certainly pays to 'play it safe' as best you can. I've definitely been put off the older type units now, at least until I have sufficient experience to get the best out of one safely.

 

I would say 3-5 tonne was sensible for the fordson but the pull comes from much higher with an A frame

 

Would you consider the higher pull of an A frame type unit to be an advantage or disadvantage for assisted direction felling?

 

Many thanks. Rob.

[openspaceman]

 

 

 

Would you consider the higher pull of an A frame type unit to be an advantage or disadvantage for assisted direction felling?

 

Many thanks. Rob.

 

Well the top pulley means the tension in the rope is acting as a lever with the fulcrum being the butt plate on the ground and the load is the tractor, it's conceivable you could winch the tractor off the deck and over onto its back, in fact with a 1164 and Farmi 8 tonne it never happened but one should route the wire through the bottom pulley for a big pull.

 

Also to keep the load low you should hook any lengths you are skidding to the slots in the butt plate. Again, in practice this wastes time and the high pull lifts the timber clear of the mud so we tended to pull up high on the butt plate and travel. We had water ballast in the 1164 front wheels.

[rgeparker]

Well the top pulley means the tension in the rope is acting as a lever with the fulcrum being the butt plate on the ground and the load is the tractor

 

Makes perfect, logical sense when you think about it.. hence why more weight on the front is preferred when winching I guess. Thanks

[openspaceman]

Makes perfect, logical sense when you think about it.. hence why more weight on the front is preferred when winching I guess. Thanks

 

Yes but you can over do it and end up with the belhousing giving way

[mendiplogs]

Yes but you can over do it and end up with the belhousing giving way

 

Hi man you do the same on mf135 and MF loader night mere thanks Jon