Homemade Logging Winch project finally started

[easygo]

After a long time waiting I finally got around to starting my logging winch project. I have been looking for a used logging winch for several years but they are very expensive if ever come up for sale. So. After seeing some PTO powered winches on Craig''s list I finally bought an old wrecker winch last winter. It has gear driven "in" and "out" and a freewheel option that is engaged or disengaged with a "forked dog" on the main shaft.


I decided to build it starting from a piece of steel plate as it will give me a large surface to mount the winch, drive shaft and eventually the mechanism for the control. I will put bracing on the bottom of the plate as well to prevent it from warping during welding as well as during use.

Here is the first picture with the winch positioned on the 3/8" steel plate. I made the mounting ears (or whatever they are called) out of 3/8" flat bar and the 3 point lower link connection is also 3/8" flat bar. Other then the large plate I had all the steel leftover from other projects. As you can tell some of it has been around the block a few times. But I love not having to pay for something if I can reuse old stuff. The frame that is above the winch just vaguely represents what it will look like, but it is not set in stone. I cut out a couple of pieces and then put it together like that and look at it to figure out the best way I can make the next thing happen. The two ugly looking pieces will probably be welded on the bottom of the plate to serve as bracing.

 

[easygo]

This picture is of the lower link connection and the mounting thingies for the winch.
I guess I better give the numbers on the winch as I would want to know if reading such post.

It was mounted on the old Holmes 440 wrecker bodies back in the 60's and early 70's. It is a 4ton (8000lbs) winch winch used to be a PTO drive (as mine) and later was sold with a hydraulic motor. I must say that it always makes me happy to read on the side of the winch Ernest Holmes Co. Chattanooga, Tn. It is OLD IRON and very heavy and I hope it works as I didn't have a way to test it under load.

 

[Rustyiron]

Hey Easy, I too would like to build one and have thought about using a pto winch. My concern was allways that it would be very slow (most of this type truck winches are) and I thought about running the power (pto) first through a small manual transmission (installed backwards) to speed up the winch and slow down your tractor rpm's. That then makes me wonder about how much speed the input of the winch can take, this would give you a very slow powered reverse, if I'm thinking right? It might just be easyier to use a chain and sprocket combination instead. Keep us posted!

 

[easygo]

Rustyiron, You are right that SLOW is the word to describe these because after all they were built to be very strong and very slow as to not to break vehicles into pieces. I found that most PTO winches have a 1000rpm max input speed and depending on their gearing their speed greatly varies. I hope to get about 30ft/min cable speed out of this one. That is about half of what the real logging winches' speed.

However it is a LOT FASTER then my current method:
walk out to the log with a rope, tie it and go back, tie to tractor, drive away, run out of room, untie from tractor, back up, tie to tractor again, drive forward .... and so on until the log is at the road. There can be snatch-blocks involved as well to spice things up and to have more thing to reposition.

Here are some more pix from the progress:
I cut out the plate that will hold the pillow blocks and the drive shaft. The old angle grinder worked well with a cutting disc.

I have a question about this. Do you guys think that 1/4 plate is enough to hold up those pillow blocks? It will be about 5" high and I will weld a piece of angle iron to the base plate and bolt the 1/4pillow block holders to that. Are these pillow blocks sturdy enough? The shaft is 1" diameter and will run #60 chain and sprockets.
I was given one 18tooth sprocket with the winch so I will use that for testing out actual pulling speed. I will have a 18t driver 12t driven for the first tests.

 

[Rio_Grande]

I will be watching this, I am wanting to do the same thing but i havent found a Winch yet.

 

[Rustyiron]

I'm guessing that the blue plate towards the camera will have the drive shaft attached to the shaft driving the sprocket behind it to drive the winch? I would "beef up" the plate closest to the drive shaft, even if it's something like the little bar that you have holding the plate up to stage the photo. The tractor driveshaft is not balanced but not a problem with a little "heft" there to absorb it and the other forces that will be on it.
You better get going on that winch, it might be handy after this storm on Sunday, it could be real nasty!

 

[easygo]

I'm shooting to finish the winch by late September or mid October. I usually cut my firewood around November so that gives me time for testing. I can't make up my mind if I want to bolt the blue plates to the base or just weld them. Welding would be far more simple and I could weld any bracing I wish. Any suggestions on which one I should do?

Rustyiron,
That storm does scare me and I sure hope it blows most of it's fury out before coming to far North. The western side of Maine is forecast to get about double the rain as the eastern side.

 

[MarkV]

Do you plan on a slip clutch or at least a shear bolt to protect the tractors PTO for when a log get snagged while pulling?

MarkV

 

[easygo]

Do you plan on a slip clutch or at least a shear bolt to protect the tractors PTO for when a log get snagged while pulling?

MarkV

Valid question, but I will not have either one. The winch has three positions. Power in / neutral / power out. There are return springs from both power in and power out positions to neutral. So my plan is that if the log gets hung up I just let go of the rope and it will stop pulling. I do not have first hand confirmation of the winch operating in such way but that is what the previous owner told me. I guess I will have to find out. The plan is that when I have all necessary pieces cut I will tack the minimum number of parts together to see if the winch is in fact operating as it supposed to. I have a couple of #40 sprockets and a piece of #40 chain I can hook up just to test it out. If it works properly then I will start welding things up and will buy the proper #60 sprockets, idler and chain. Those things alone will cost me another $120 or so.

 

[Rustyiron]

I bet ya that a good (big) 1/2" drill would operate the winch good enough for testing. Might save you some expermentation and give you some ideas or save some bucks?

 

[markct]

i have the exact same winch from an old wrecker that i made a 3pt mount for, i will try and get some pictures

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

I got all the old used winches you could ever need.

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

Hey Easy, I too would like to build one and have thought about using a pto winch. My concern was allways that it would be very slow (most of this type truck winches are) and I thought about running the power (pto) first through a small manual transmission (installed backwards) to speed up the winch and slow down your tractor rpm's. That then makes me wonder about how much speed the input of the winch can take, this would give you a very slow powered reverse, if I'm thinking right? It might just be easyier to use a chain and sprocket combination instead. Keep us posted!

Those winches are slow, but a pto winch on a truck usually had a small sprocket on the pto and a large one on the winch to slow it down even more. When you are using a winch in the oilfield, or extracting a vehicle, the slower the better. Usually you are lifting things with someone trying to guide or help hold it, so slower is safer. Running directly off a tractor pto, they are plenty fast. One thing I would do is put a transmission in there somewhere. I had one tractor like that. IF you ever tie the front of the tractor off and get the winch in a bind, it is kind of hard to back off, unless you make yourself a manual crank handle of some type. I had a one way winch on an old willys truck that ran off the harmonic balancer, and when it got tight, since there was no reverse, you had to get the handle out and back it off a little. Let's say for example, the winch was tight and the engine choked down because you were driving and winching at the same time. That winch was disassembled a long time ago, was kinda dangerous.

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

This picture is of the lower link connection and the mounting thingies for the winch.
I guess I better give the numbers on the winch as I would want to know if reading such post.

It was mounted on the old Holmes 440 wrecker bodies back in the 60's and early 70's. It is a 4ton (8000lbs) winch winch used to be a PTO drive (as mine) and later was sold with a hydraulic motor. I must say that it always makes me happy to read on the side of the winch Ernest Holmes Co. Chattanooga, Tn. It is OLD IRON and very heavy and I hope it works as I didn't have a way to test it under load.

Those winches are stout. I have had many trucks with winches behind the cab. I have pulled out severely stuck tractors, two ton trucks, and even a log skidder, but it wasn't stuck all that bad, it just had to come out forward, and its winch was on the back. I have seen mine snap a 1/2" cable at just an idle. Your outfit will work better if you put some type of reverse blade or some spikes so when you are pulling, you can let your lift down and let the blade hit the ground and dig in a little to keep from dragging the tractor back. This also keeps you from having to tie the front of the tractor off. Also, if you can raise the pulling up by mounting a pulley, roller, or snatch block a few feet above the winch will help to make things pull down against the ground and you will be pulling up on your log. Advisable to not pull on your lift arms. Make your winch bracket to fasten to the rear of the tractor and pivot there. Put a couple of pins to attatch your lift to, and just use the lift to raise and lower the winch, but the lift arms will not have any pulling force on them, because that is transferred to the rear end by the winch frame. When you connect the pto on your tractor to the winch, you will have tremendous power, enough to break some expensive things if not careful.

 

[easygo]

Hey all, Excuse the late response but we were the last ones to get power in the area after Irene screamed her name for most of Sunday. No electricity for about a day... not so bad. It blew over a good bit of corn and all the green beans. Hopefully will have a harvest tho. As far as trees we only lost a couple and no other damage, so we got away very easy compared to some folks west of us.

Rustyiron,
I spent some time trying to fuigure out how to connect my 1/2" drill to power the winch temorarily but could not come up with anything. The shaft is 1" diameter and I have no way of attaching the drill. Then the power went and I got busy with other stuff.

MarkCT,
If you could give me any pointers on this winch I would be very happy. What is your input RPM? Gear (sprocket) ratio? Do you use PTO drive or hydraulic motor? What is the cable speed? (is it fast enough?) How did you set up the in-out control? Pictures would be just outstanding, along with any other suggestion!!! :drink: I don't ask for much do I ?!

Roustabout,
Thanks for the word of caution about these old winches. I found a website that is dedicated to old Holmes winches and wrecker bodies. I read there that the company most likely rated these winches at a lower capacity then they could actually pull. One post stated that the 4ton rating was on the top wrap of the winch as opposed to nowadays winches are rated based on what they can pull with the first wrap on the drum. So. It would be rather easy to break the tractor in two or more pieces without half trying.

I will weld up a whole structure under the base plate to dig into the dirt while winching, but that will be the last thing to get done. I want to get it going first and then work out that stuff.

 

[easygo]

I had a sudden windfall of time and I was able to get the winch to an operating level just so I can test it under load. The first picture is just the basic frame. At this point I just tacked most of the parts together with the exception of structural sections I really didn't want to fail during the test. I'm pleased to report that the winch is FUNCTIONAL :thumbsup: and I pulled a small 30' pine log with it. Lots of welding to do and I will have to get the bigger chain and sprockets, make a fairlead, and build the part below the plate that will dig into the dirt. If anyone have suggestions let me know.
The thing is so heavy that I need the tractor to move it out of the garage when I want to weld on it. I'm guessing it will be #350-400 by the time It's finished as the winch alone weighs around #150.

 

[plumbstraight]

easygo,
You need to create a triangle frame for the toplink to the baseplate of the winch.
If the winch is pulling the line in over the top of the spool it is going to really put a lot of leverage on you frame. Even if it is an underwind it will tend to try to tip the floorplate of your winch to the rear bending your supports to the toplink.
I tell you this out of experience as I have built many units with this type of winch.
One thing to remember with this type of unit, always give yourself the ability to slack the cable as you will not be able to release your jawclutch under a strain.
Good luck with your build, having a winch is a wonderful acessory to your tractor.

 

[Travelover]

easygo,
You need to create a triangle frame for the toplink to the baseplate of the winch.
If the winch is pulling the line in over the top of the spool it is going to really put a lot of leverage on you frame. Even if it is an underwind it will tend to try to tip the floorplate of your winch to the rear bending your supports to the toplink. ...........

Right. The winch will want to twist the bottom plate. You need to attach a support to the top of the winch to counteract this twisting force.

 

[easygo]

Thanks for the advice guys. As I go along in the process I plan to add much more bracing. I had a chance to work on it a bit more over the past several days. I welded up the structure that will act as a support and dig into the ground when the winch is under load, hopefully taking most of the strain instead of having to rely on the tractor tires' traction. In the pictures it is mostly upside down but I rotated one image to help illustrate my idea.

I picked up a few parts to make the fairlead for the winch cable as that portion is next. and then the final bracing and welding up all the bits that are only tacked at this point. The process goes rather slow because most all the steel that is going into this is salvaged from leftovers of a salvage trailer project.

 

[davygp38]

I think it looks great. The only concern I had, was the brackets holding the two pillow blocks. I realize you just tacked everything up, but you might want to think about bracing the mounting plates, to each other, in effect making a one piece mounting bracket for both pillow blocks. I would think you might get some stress on those brackets in field conditions, under load, on uneven ground.