Skidding winch

[Stomper]

I found the below video on a home made 3PH skidding winch. I have often wondered how these winches are designed. The one in the video seems to be real simple but yet effective. Are the commercial made winches using the same type of belt drive system or something else.

homemade logging winch - YouTube

 

[Sawyer Rob]

That's a home made tinker toy compared to my Wallenstein...

There are NO belts in real skidding winches, they are chain drive with a real clutch...

SR

 

[MNBobcat]

I would go to Harbor Freight and buy a &10,000 pound electric winch and get a good invertor for your tractor to power it

 

[4570Man]

That's a home made tinker toy compared to my Wallenstein...

There are NO belts in real skidding winches, they are chain drive with a real clutch...

SR

Maybe they didn’t want to spend more than the tractor was worth on a commercial winch. It’s a far better option than the HF electric winch mentioned in the above comment. Your tractor and winch is a joke compared to a real logging setup.

 

[Gordon Gould]

I found the below video on a home made 3PH skidding winch. I have often wondered how these winches are designed. The one in the video seems to be real simple but yet effective. Are the commercial made winches using the same type of belt drive system or something else.

homemade logging winch - YouTube

The drum and cable set up is similar to comnercial winches but lighter duty than most. And as said commercial winches have a heavy duty pressure plate clutch on the drum face and the speed reduction is gears and chain rather than pulleys and belt. But I must say he gets good control with that belt type clutch and it handled that log just fine. Seems clever and just right for that little old tractor.

gg

 

[John_Mc]

I would go to Harbor Freight and buy a &10,000 pound electric winch and get a good invertor for your tractor to power it

Well, then he'd be limited to the 65' cable on the winch, a maddeningly slow speed, and the 5% duty cycle of the winch (run 45 seconds under full load, then rest 14 minutes), he also wouldn't have the butt plate that anchors the winch during operation (and doubles as a grading blade in a pinch). Electric winches certainly have their place - emergency recovery operations, for example, but they are not really well suited to logging. Sure, you can make it work if that's what you have, but it's an exercise in frustration if you have any significant number of logs to deal with.

 

[Industrial Toys]

That's 10,000 "chinese" pounds. Probably less than half that in REAL pounds. And I don't get the inverter suggestion.

Regardless, not a big fan of doing heavy work with transistors at the consumer level.

How FAST does a 3ph logging winch go anyway? Do you run them mostly at idle or throttle them up to get more speed?

 

[Stomper]

I would go to Harbor Freight and buy a &10,000 pound electric winch and get a good invertor for your tractor to power it

I assure you that won't happen. I've pulled logs out of the bush with the winch on my quad and it way to slow for my liking.

 

[4570Man]

I would go to Harbor Freight and buy a &10,000 pound electric winch and get a good invertor for your tractor to power it

That’s got several flaws. No ground anchor, slow, pitiful duty cycle, charging system couldn’t support it even if it didn’t burn up, and you don’t need the inverter.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

How FAST does a 3ph logging winch go anyway? Do you run them mostly at idle or throttle them up to get more speed?

Fairly fast at idle and FAST when you speed the pto up to pto speed.

SR

 

[Industrial Toys]

How fast. roughly? And what sets the pull, enough to pull a big log but not do some damage if the log gets caught up?

 

[Sawyer Rob]

80 to over 100 fpm depending on pto speed and there's a clutch in the system that you operate with a rope long enough, so you are safely to the side.

You let go of the rope and the load stops, you let up on the rope and the clutch slips enough so there's no problem if the load hooks on something.

BTW, that doesn't happen often, as most times the log will roll enough to come free.

SR

 

[Industrial Toys]

Thanks. I wonder if you could get that speed and power out of a hydraulic (affordable) winch.

 

[davedj1]

Here is mine I built last winter. It works great, very similar to commercial made units, I have refined the engagement mechanism since the "first pull" Homemade logging winch first pull - YouTube
I have 200 ft of cable, a 6-1 gear reduction via chain and sprockets, a clutch between the large sprocket and drum, I estimate it at about 80ft/min, it could be faster but it works as is. I started with a budget of $500. I ended up at a little over $700, still not bad for what it is. I pulled out about 8 cords this spring with it and it worked great once I got the bugs worked out. My build of it can be found here https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/build-yourself/386238-diy-logging-winch-build.html?highlight=
Any questions feel free to ask and good luck, it was a fun learning experience.

 

[Gordon Gould]

How fast. roughly? And what sets the pull, enough to pull a big log but not do some damage if the log gets caught up?

This will give you the idea of a Farmi winch speed at about 1500 rpm engine speed - a little above idle.

RockyRdCut 2 - YouTube

gg

 

[Gordon Gould]

That works pretty good Davedj1 !!! Especially considering it was your first pull.

gg

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Thanks. I wonder if you could get that speed and power out of a hydraulic (affordable) winch.

Power, yes...but not the speed...

Every one I've seen in action, was like watching paint dry...

SR

 

[John_Mc]

How fast. roughly? And what sets the pull, enough to pull a big log but not do some damage if the log gets caught up?

The spec on my winch is that it runs 3 feet/sec (180 FPM) with the spool wound halfway full. It does not specify at what PTO RPM. I'm just guessing they spec'd it at 540 RPM. I generally run it at about 60-65% of rated PTO speed (1600-1700 RPM) However, most of my pulls only use about the outer half of my cable. So the spool is more than halfway full, meaning the speed will be a bit higher. So I'm guessing about 125 FPM is probably typical for me. I'm generally not in a rush. I could crank things up and run faster if needed, but I find it's easier to keep an eye on things at this speed.

 

[John_Mc]

This will give you the idea of a Farmi winch speed at about 1500 rpm engine speed - a little above idle.

RockyRdCut 2 - YouTube

gg

Just eyeballing it, I'd say you are pulling at about 100 FPM in that video, maybe a bit more. I also noticed your self-releasing snatch block - I consider one of those a must-have for working in my woods. (I have the same brand, plus another one I bought years ago from Labonville.)

An electric winch is probably going to run at about 1/10 or 1/20 that speed, and for most electric winches, if fully loaded you have to stop to let the winch cool every 10 feet or so (you can go a lot longer if pulling significantly less than full rated load). That's OK if you only have one log to pull, but it truly is like watching paint dry if you've got a lot of work to do.

If I weren't going with a 3pt hitch mounted logging winch, I'd consider a gas powered Portable Capstan Winch. 2200# single line pull at 40 FPM (4400# pull @ 20 FPM if you use a snatch block to double the line). Length of pull limited only by the length of your rope. They sell a "forestry kit" as well, which includes the winch and a bunch of accessories handy to use in the woods. I've seen one demonstrated before by a Game of Logging instructor during a storm damage clean-up class. Not the power of even a smaller 3 pt hitch logging winch, but it still seemed quite handy.

The same company also recently released an 80/82 v battery powered portable capstan winch with similar pull and speed specs as the gas powered winch. Interesting idea, and it can run off of the 80 volt batteries that come with some cordless tools (such as Greenworks, Briggs & Stratton, Stiga, etc.) An interesting idea, but I don't think it's something I'd go for in a logging application with any volume to move. It might be an interesting option for those who already own several compatible batteries and want something for an occasional log pull or for storm clean up.

 

[plumbstraight]

I would go to Harbor Freight and buy a &10,000 pound electric winch and get a good invertor for your tractor to power it

Been there done that. It is slow and not really a good use for logging, but is great for that pull you need now and then. I have it on when I am not using the tractor for something else. Keeps the arms from beating up the tires and with the receiver is handy for pulling a trailer. Having it compact and close to the arms it has better lift.