Skidding winches

[Saitcho]

I am a very proud owner of a brand new Kubota B26 TLB and I am looking to buy a skidding winch to do some land clearing. I recently bought 15 acre of land next to a river and want to do some selection cutting and get rid of the pines and poplar that have grown up, the trees are around 12-18 inch diameter. The land is about half flat and half steep. I will need to build a few access road to gain access to the far end of the property. There are a few wet spots but its not that bad. My plan is to cut the trees drag them to a landing, cut them to manageable pieces and burn them in the winter. I think a winch will speed up the process and cause less damage to the land. I have searches alot on the subject but still have a few questions I hope you guys can help me with.

1-PTO vs Hydraulic winch

The B26 has 20 PTO HP and the hydraulics are at 11 GPM. Whats the benefits of one vs the other. If I want to run the tractor at idle is one better than the other? Is one easier to control than the other?

2-I know I can hook a cable to the draw bar and drag the log on the ground but how does a winch compare to that strength wise? Lets say I am on a flat dry hard ground and I pull on a log and I compare that to winching it. Will the winch give me the same pulling force or will it be stronger? If so by approximatly how much? Just to give me a rough estimate.

3-What do you guys think about synthetic rope? I like the fact that its lightweight, less chances to snap back at you if stuff breaks and easier to work with but seem to need more maintenance vs steel cable.

4- So far I got quotes of about 3400$ CDN for a fami JL290 or a tajfun EGV 35A. Of the two I am leaning toward the Tajfun. I keep looking for used one but they are rare and the one I see are either too beat up or too big for my tractor. Any opinions on this?

Farmi JL29 Skidding Winch | JL29 | Products | Tractor Mounted Winches - Farmiwinch.com
Winches Tajfun

5- Anyone has experience with logging with a 4000lbs tractor? I know winches can get you in trouble pretty fast thats why I plan to take it easy.


Thanks for your help, I cant wait for the land to dry, put the backoe back on and scratch some paint off in the dirt.:cool2:

 

[CalG]

1) PTO

2) A winch will out pull a wheel tractor

3) rope is nice , keep it clean, and DON'T underestimate a breakage.

4) You can't go wrong with either.

5) follow safe practices. Read up. It's not the tractor that makes the mistakes,

 

[Gordon Gould]

Agree with Cal, added comments .....

1) PTO - Hydraulic winch will be very slow

2) A winch will out pull a wheel tractor - The winch digs into the ground and pulls. Draw bar needs traction.

3) rope is nice , keep it clean, and DON'T underestimate a breakage. - Rope is nice, strong, light too. But it has limited abrasion resistance. It will not hold up like a cable for winching and skidding logs.

4) You can't go wrong with either. - Both are good. I have a Farmi 290 - great winch for a small tractor.

5) follow safe practices. Read up. It's not the tractor that makes the mistakes,

Also get a snatch block if you are thinning so you can protect your keep trees and keep your tractor in a safe position when winching.







gg

 

[turnkey47]

i have a farmi 351 on my kubotaL2650 and love it..i agree with getting a snatch block for the time when you can't get a straight pull as i did that once and had my tractor on two wheels before releasing the winch!!!!

 

[Saitcho]

Thanks for your input, I plan to get two snatch block to do some redirect and get the mechanical advantage going for me. What do you guys think of the self release snatch block? They seem pretty nice. Whats wrong with hydraulic winches, is it better suited for bigger tractor?

Nice pictures Gordon your place looks pretty much like the kind of forest im working in.

 

[Gordon Gould]

Self release snatch blocks save a lot of work and time. Here is a short video og mine at work.

Big Pine - YouTube

Hydraulic winches are very slow - at least the ones I have seen. Hydraulic motors are pretty inefficient. That and the relatively small flow rate of a small tractor means the winch will be slow if it has decent pull.

gg

 

[Rustyiron]

A winch will save you a lot of road building also!

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Synthetic/rope is to fragile...

Snags, rub points put bad spots in it and the sun degrades it too. I would never have it on my winch...

SR

 

[Sysop]

Not to sidetrack things, but has anyone used a Hudson? Opinions?

 

[204saskman]

There are pto winches made by woodland mills also. Look like decent quality and sold in Canada.

 

[Greenland South]

Wallenstein makes one that will fit your tractor. Canadian made, pretty much right in your backyard. Ditch the idea of synthetic cable. It's an expensive upgrade you'll be replacing a lot sooner than good old steel.

 

[Baby Grand]

Just got a Fransgard V3507, back in late January.
I had been using a boom pole for the last 8 or 9 years, but doing that safely takes a lot of time & prep.
Even then, I was always working with a quickened pulse, knowing that if anything went wrong, it might not end well.
Having to get the tractor to the log also complicated things.
Pulling the log, with chains or rope, from the drawbar always seemed to challenge available traction.

After a lot of use, I'm very, very happy with the new winch and how it performs.
Great value & well matched to my L3240 Kubota (in the 4000 lb neighborhood).
I think it's already paid for itself by allowing me to remove 5 large hemlocks, firs & a maple, by myself & on my terms.
The trees were to the North of & way too close to our house.
They towered over the roof ridge, causing chimney draught problems the wood stove whenever the wind picked up.

I'll echo the usefulness of having a snatch block or 2.
As already mentioned, it lets you position the tractor in a safe location.
Also, it allows you to get farther out of the line of fire of a snapped cable.
I broke one of my two $20, "10,000 pound" TSC snatch blocks, yesterday.
Guess it's time to pay for some better quality snatch blocks ...
-Jim