PTO winching, the right&wrong

[motownbrowne]

That is a nice size log, ever notice that they pull easier on the white stuff.............

I LOVE skidding on the white stuff!! Nice cutting on it too, plus working without all the sweat and bugs is great. Of course having a chainsaw with heated handles makes it even better.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I had that old log quite a long time, it was old when I brought it home, anyway it was frozen down, so it was a hard pull breaking it free!

Once I got it out, I cut it up and split it, as I was running low on firewood and needed to get it ready for firewood duty! lol

Here's another one,

SR

 

[brown40]

I think the idea is to keep the load tight and as clean as possible. Cable drags wander, roll, and load with debris. A big load with a chance to gain momentum can break traction that a static load can't.
Whether the time is better spent tossing the big chains in the slots or sharpening the teeth on the small ones more often is the other thing.

 

[Baby Grand]

Whether the time is better spent tossing the big chains in the slots or sharpening the teeth on the small ones more often is the other thing.

Yes. For me, that's "the trade."

 

[Gordon Gould]

I do it both ways. Some times it doesn't matter sometimes it does. If I know that I will have to drop the hitch to get thru a bad spot and then winch it back in I will leave it on the cable. On the other hand if I am pulling up hill and have to make a turn so the tractor is side hill in the turn, even just a little, I put the hitch low as possible and in the slots. Nothing can dump you over side ways quicker then a high hitch that gets 90 degrees to the tractor.

Leaving a hitch of several good logs on the cable where they are free to roll around or pause then surge forward during the skid often leaves you with such a tangle of logs, cable, and chains up at the landing that by the time you get them all unhitched you wish you had taken the time to get them off the cable and into the slots before you started the skid. When you use the slots unhooking is usually very easy.

gg

 

[CobyRupert]

I discovered a wrong way for PTO winching this weekend:
I forgot that I'd been pulling haywagons a couple weeks ago and still had the tractor drawbar in the extended position.

I wonder why when I lowered the winch it didn't go all the way and set on the ground. Thought it was just because the back tires were up on a mound. Then I turned on the PTO and the winch jumped (?) Dooh! Then curse words! That's when I figured out that the PTO shaft was sitting on the drawbar, holding up the full weight of the winch!

It has the slightest of wobbles to it now, but still slides.
Should I replace it? Thinking I don't have to if it slides?

 

[Oldpath05]

I discovered a wrong way for PTO winching this weekend:
I forgot that I'd been pulling haywagons a couple weeks ago and still had the tractor drawbar in the extended position.

I wonder why when I lowered the winch it didn't go all the way and set on the ground. Thought it was just because the back tires were up on a mound. Then I turned on the PTO and the winch jumped (?) Dooh! Then curse words! That's when I figured out that the PTO shaft was sitting on the drawbar, holding up the full weight of the winch!

It has the slightest of wobbles to it now, but still slides.
Should I replace it? Thinking I don't have to if it slides?

That's an interesting miss fortune, I can see how that would happen. I think the pto shaft should be replaced, a slight wobble might put more stress on the pto shaft bearing. I've heard some winches come with a trailer hitch, my Fransgard didn't so I installed a 2" square receiver tube for a hitch when needed, take out when not in use, just like on pickups, also my hitch is made to fold/swing for temporary out of the way and to make hook-up trailers a bit easier.