# Edumacate me - winches



## flashhole (Jun 26, 2013)

I own a small farm in Upstate NY. Lots of firewood harvesting and recently taken up chainsaw milling. The terrain is hilly and I need to outfit my tractor with a winch to help retrieve logs out of the forest. The question is ... electric or hydraulic. Looking at winches in the 10,000 lb class and have an opportunity to pick up 10,000 lb Ramsey winch listed on Craigslist. Could also go the hydraulic route, just don't have any experience in this area. Comments and opinions?


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## mdavlee (Jun 26, 2013)

Hydraulic will be better on a tractor depending on how much actual pulling you'll be doing. Electric will get warm and then cool off. You may want to check into the duty cycle rating on the electric good before you buy.


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## bert0168 (Jun 26, 2013)

If your going to put it on your tractor (assuming it has hydro) I would get a hydraulic unit hands down. Easy hook up and will last way way longer than any electric unit.

It will run cooler and won't overheat like an electric will. I have a 12k on my truck but it's electric and if I'm using it hard for any period of time the safety will shut it down when it gets too hot.


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## dooby (Jun 26, 2013)

flashhole said:


> I own a small farm in Upstate NY. Lots of firewood harvesting and recently taken up chainsaw milling. The terrain is hilly and I need to outfit my tractor with a winch to help retrieve logs out of the forest. The question is ... electric or hydraulic. Looking at winches in the 10,000 lb class and have an opportunity to pick up 10,000 lb Ramsey winch listed on Craigslist. Could also go the hydraulic route, just don't have any experience in this area. Comments and opinions?



check out the 3-point hitch winches thread that has some good stuff on it . For what its worth i'd do hyd. or pto for sure.


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## flashhole (Jun 26, 2013)

What can I expect to pay for a hydraulic winch?


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## dooby (Jun 26, 2013)

flashhole said:


> What can I expect to pay for a hydraulic winch?



not real sure but out here the kubota dealer can do a locate on used accessories a lot like a junk yard can. It doesn't sound like you need a new one. Out here we can even lease the attachments, maybe that would suit you for now. Just another idea. uttahere2:


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## madhatte (Jun 26, 2013)

Oh... w*I*nches. 

Never mind.


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## northmanlogging (Jun 27, 2013)

Mile marker makes a hydraulic winch, current use on military trucks. I've heard good stuff about them, and they are reasonably priced $700ish used on par with a new warn or ramsey.


Go with the hydraulic by the way. Batteries die and then tractors can't be started in awkward locations. 

If you have the coin to spare pick up one of them three point PTO powered winches. They can be a tad spendy however they will make your life easier for it.


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## ropensaddle (Jun 27, 2013)

Neither I've used both and my pto winch is better a hydraulic stalls just when you needed it to pull lol and an electric too slow to me. My braden it either comes or sumpin breaks usually the cable! It also stores pull making it excellent as a feller winch. Mine is 40k lbs but I also have a 20k one!


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## 2dogs (Jun 27, 2013)

Electric winches are designed for self recovery. They pull very hard for a short period of time. A 10k electric winch pulling at say 7k line pull might be able to pull a turn to the tractor but the have to cool for 20 minutes or more. This means roughly 100' of pull in 30 minutes.

Hydraulic winches use the low pressure-high volume hydraulics of the tractor. Mile Marker uses high pressure-low volume like a power steering pump. It will not work on a tractor.

To pull a turn with an ag type tractor the winch fairlead has to be at or below the axle centerline. Otherwise you can pull the tractor over backwards. It is also quite easy to pull the tractor over sideways. A winch mounted up front in place of the weights can only pull straight in front. The European winch systems seem to be a good system (I have never used one). They are PTO driven and reasonably priced at around $4,000 dollars. This would be your best bet. But, dragging logs on the ground is never a good plan. There are some crazy vids on youtube of expedient winching methods.


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## ChoppyChoppy (Jun 27, 2013)

I'll have to ask my brother about this. His friend has a winch system for logs that hooks to the 3pt hitch. The winch is powered off the PTO. I just can't remember the company that builds them.


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## ChoppyChoppy (Jun 27, 2013)

I'll have to ask my brother about this. His friend has a winch system for logs that hooks to the 3pt hitch. The winch is powered off the PTO. I just can't remember the company that builds them.


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## Dave Boyt (Jun 27, 2013)

There's another recent thread on this forum regarding tractor winches: http://www.arboristsite.com/forestry-logging-forum/239177.htm

The PTO winch is by far the best solution for my application. It has outriggers that stabilize the tractor, and I have never had a tractor wheel leave the ground on the heaviest pulls, as long as they were fairly close to straight back. Even though it drags the logs on the ground, sometimes ya gotta do what ya gotta do. I winch the logs to the log arch and carry them to my band saw mill from there. Most PTO winches have a way to hook on below the axle for skidding.

Consider a Lewis chain saw winch-- it doesn't need to be attached to the tractor.


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## dooby (Jun 27, 2013)

try these sites
JL501HD - Farmi Winch
JL 351P - Farmi Winch
Log Winches « Davis Forestry Ltd.Forwarding Trailers - Professional and Semi-Professional Knuckleboom Loaders and Forwarding Trailers
Portable Sawmills | HUD-SON Forest Equipment
Forestry winches - Uniforest d.o.o.


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## ChoppyChoppy (Jun 27, 2013)

It's a Farmie winch that he has. Works really well I guess.


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## flashhole (Jun 28, 2013)

Good inputs ... thanks ... can anyone comment on a Braden LU4 PTO Winch. I have an opportunity to pick one up for $300. No cable on it and it appears to have a 1" drive.


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## dooby (Jun 29, 2013)

flashhole said:


> Good inputs ... thanks ... can anyone comment on a Braden LU4 PTO Winch. I have an opportunity to pick one up for $300. No cable on it and it appears to have a 1" drive.



take em' to $225.00. Loock around. R u trying to totally cheap this together? A $300.00 winch can become the cost of a skidding set-up very quick. And watch the ratio's. some are as sloe as snail snot in jan.


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## ropensaddle (Jun 29, 2013)

dooby said:


> take em' to $225.00. Loock around. R u trying to totally cheap this together? A $300.00 winch can become the cost of a skidding set-up very quick. And watch the ratio's. some are as sloe as snail snot in jan.



Mine is two speed actually 3 step on gas lol! Also if gears are slower add cable fill that spool helps btw braden winches are not cheaply made!


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## flashhole (Jun 29, 2013)

A few pics


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