namesray
Platinum Member
i have a firewood business and use a 3ph pto winch on my tractor instead of a skidder. i work on some very steep hills in northern pa and when i heard of such a thing as remote controled winches, i have thought about how one could work for me while i have been winching and i have come up with this. NO. my first thought when i heard of it was no, that is dangerous. then that is just something else to go wrong. it over complicates things. i personally don't want one, ever! as i have done my winching and thinking about this, i still come to the same conclusions. you have to return to the winch anyway to either hook the chain up to tow bar, or get cable for next pull. no remote will help you with that. second, i carry the chains/chocker and pull the cable down/up with me to the log to be pulled and the heck if i want something else to carry on those steep hills through some brush and over other logs at times. just something more to weigh me down and get dropped or in the way. third, i like to be at the tractor for the pull. i have had some snags that would take the tractor backwards, and on your steep hills you talk about, that would mean in the event of an electric malfunction, there goes your tractor down the bank. i actually had my rope pulley get caught once and the log slammed into the back of the winch even after i let the rope go and the slip clutch just kept clicking for a bit until i killed the tractor pto by pushing the tractor clutch in with my hand. (i was in a hurry hooking up the winch to 3ph and got the top link over the rope and that had the rope pull out of one of the pulleys causing it to get stuck and not release.) my bad, but if that was a big log on a big snag and the tractor wasn't bit in good, the tractor would have been history. no way i would want an electrical device to complicate it more. and finally, with the power of the winches, i have gotten pretty good at setting up the pulls so they don't snag. even on steep hills with narrow logging roads cut out of them=not much room. even if the log hooks something, usually the winch will just bust through it or bring it along too. the percentage of time i have to go back to the log to re adjust for a snag is low compared to carring around that dang remote all the time. i run my winch most everyday and do more then 200 face cord of firewood a year mostly by myself. my winch is my favorite piece of equipment and no way will i use an electric remote control device until forced. and the way my winch is built, i don't think it is going to break down much. (fransgard v3507) this is just my opinion and i don't mean to come across as abrupt or so. i have heard of the farmi winches being fitted with the remote control, but probably all makes can be fitted. it just isn't worth it to me at all. if you do get one, i hope it works for you and you like it. stay safe and good luck.
