# Winches on the back of a chipper.



## pdqdl (Apr 7, 2008)

I have considered mounting a winch on our chipper [it's a factory option that I declined when I bought it], but now I think it might be worth the extra money.

Any comments from those of you who have tried them out ?


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## kennertree (Apr 7, 2008)

I have one on mine and love it. I dont use it every day but when I do use it, it makes me glad I got one. Mine didnt come from the factory with one on it so I had one installed from the dealer. The total cost was around $3500. Thats all the valves, mounting plate, winch and all the labor.


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## (WLL) (Apr 7, 2008)

winches are great you should have one. you may not use it every day, but it will be there when you want it. you may end up using the winch more then you think synthetic lines are much better than steel cable imo


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## appalachianarbo (Apr 7, 2008)

Love them! They will cause more lawn damage than hand dragging if you're not careful, but they are great for saving the backs of the crew. Less pain=happier employees=faster jobs=more $$!

More control for pulling trees than a truck - works like a charm. 

I can remember feeding 80' trees through a 250XP using the winch. Soooo much easier than limbing, bucking, and carrying the material to the chipper. Also, you can make one heck of a big pile, choke it, and drag it, then toss it in the chipper. If you're good enough, you can set all the butt ends on the feed table with the winch, the all you have to do is stuff them in...And if you have too much material in the feed wheels and it won't feed, wrap the cable around the pile and pull it right on in there!

Problems...The cable would get all sorts of tangles if someone wound it in without any tension on the line. That would kill about an hour of productivity right there...And those cable burrs hurt like crazy if you let the cable run through your hand.

Although I've only done it once, you can also use the winch around a sturdy object to pull the chipper backwards (not attached to the truck, of course).


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## arbo 58 (Apr 7, 2008)

*Winches on chippers*

We have a BC1500 with a winch,it,s great.Having a big chipper without a winch makes no sense to me, If you have a 15in. stem with the brush on it who,s gonna get it to the chipper. We have a 1/2 in. Spectra line in it, won,t break, no slivers.


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## ropensaddle (Apr 7, 2008)

Winch nah, if I spent that much on a chipper it better have its own
grapple to load itself.


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## appalachianarbo (Apr 7, 2008)

That grapple will only reach so far...a winch AND a grapple - now THAT'S a chipper! But if you can afford that, you might as well just buy a Skycrane and hoist the tree back to your yard! :hmm3grin2orange:


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## pdqdl (Apr 7, 2008)

ropensaddle said:


> Winch nah, if I spent that much on a chipper it better have its own
> grapple to load itself.



I was hoping to hear from you on this ! I kinda thought that would be your opinion, though.


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## Blakesmaster (Apr 7, 2008)

We have a winch on our BC1800A at work and though we only use it a few times a week, when we do it's a lifesaver. Because it can't pull logs very easily we'll generally use chains attached to the grapple boom for them we usually just use the winch for tops. Makes for many less trips dragging brush. Someday, I'll have my own....


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## ropensaddle (Apr 7, 2008)

pdqdl said:


> I was hoping to hear from you on this ! I kinda thought that would be your opinion, though.



Time spent hooking up and waiting for the winch etc. That is my thinking
I have a big winch on my bucket to move stuff to grapple if need be!
A grapple fed chipper on tracks is a great tool, especially if it was priced
around 20 grand, instead of; the ridiculous 50 and more they charge on each piece of equipment today! I guess the winch will work for you and lots of others as well. For me, if I spend fifty, it had better be all I want it to be for the next twenty years. I have an old whisper for lite work and a grapple for removals and don't pay the bills on lite work.


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## stihljixxer (Apr 7, 2008)

I think its a must I have one on my personal work truck and the chipper and they make the difference in a safe felling or rigging job everytime. The mechanical advantage is outstanding.


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## custom8726 (Apr 7, 2008)

Our Brush Bandit 1890 has a winch and gets used almost daily. You will be amazed how much you will utilize it. Money very well spent I.M.O.


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## pdqdl (Apr 7, 2008)

stihljixxer said:


> I think its a must I have one on my personal work truck and the chipper and they make the difference in a safe felling or rigging job everytime. The mechanical advantage is outstanding.



How many of you guys are using the winch to pull a tree over ? That doesn't sound like a practical idea for most of the work we do. I don't pull over more than about 1 tree out of 15-20 removals. When I do pull a tree, I usually do it with something oversized that doesn't play around.

Do the winches on chippers have REALLY long stretches of cable ? Do they spool quickly, what is the line-pull, etc. Can you easily free wheel the cable out, and do they tangle all crazy if you don't tend the feed carefully ?


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## oldirty (Apr 7, 2008)

the winch is one of the best things on a chipper. and that is no lie.


you can butt tie the winch to whatever your rigging and pull it right to the chipper without ever having a stick of wood touch the ground....if youre any good.


if you have to drag some logs cut a square in some plywood and feed the line through the bottom and then hook up the logs that are on top of the plywood. bang, wood sled.


they are worth every dollar and then some. 


yes the work great pulling trees over.......troline over a good crotch way up and pull the winch over the top of the tree and butt tie it. that way you got a pull coming from that crotch the lines through and also a pull from the butt.


done this a bunch of times.


winch is a great asset on a chipper. great asset.

so many different applications for a winch. 

put one on and find out.

rope i like you, but your wrong about the winch. lol


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## CLEARVIEW TREE (Apr 7, 2008)

A friend has synthetic line on his Bandit chipper's winch and it also free spools. I think he actually used a half inch bull line on it. Works great too! Used it to pull some 17" pine logs up a ravine behind some cabins that were about 175ft from the road. Never would've got a grapple in there!!!


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## oldirty (Apr 7, 2008)

pdqdl said:


> Do the winches on chippers have REALLY long stretches of cable ? Do they spool quickly, what is the line-pull, etc. Can you easily free wheel the cable out, and do they tangle all crazy if you don't tend the feed carefully ?



about 200 ft of line i think. they spool quick enough, and when you "free wheel" the spool it goes as fast as you can take it out. and if you put just steady pressure on the line with your left hand as it feeds back into the spool it'll coil itself just fine.

the pull is rated by the line's WLL.


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## (WLL) (Apr 7, 2008)

oldirty said:


> about 200 ft of line i think. they spool quick enough, and when you "free wheel" the spool it goes as fast as you can take it out. and if you put just steady pressure on the line with your left hand as it feeds back into the spool it'll coil itself just fine.
> 
> the pull is rated by the line's WLL.


 if the winch wont pull it just drive the truck and she should come free


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## oldirty (Apr 7, 2008)

oldirty said:


> the pull is rated by the line's WLL.





wait what? if your asking what the winch can pull over for weight, i dont have an answer for you but i havent seen any problems that a chainsaw cant cut any extra weight off with.


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## juststumps (Apr 7, 2008)

appalachianarbo said:


> Love them! They will cause more lawn damage than hand dragging if you're not careful, but they are great for saving the backs of the crew. Less pain=happier employees=faster jobs=more $$!
> 
> More control for pulling trees than a truck - works like a charm.
> 
> ...



that's how we do it. grab the butt end,drop it on the infed table,, re rig,, and pull it into the machine.. replace the wire with rope...rig as close to the end ,, to minimize lawn damage...


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## ropensaddle (Apr 8, 2008)

oldirty said:


> the winch is one of the best things on a chipper. and that is no lie.
> 
> 
> you can butt tie the winch to whatever your rigging and pull it right to the chipper without ever having a stick of wood touch the ground....if youre any good.
> ...



Well I guess my 20 ton pto winch on my bucket will handle anything
I need pulled! I don't need two winches but sometimes do need my
third snatch block! Why play around with stinking branches, I just pull the whole tree to me!


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## beowulf343 (Apr 8, 2008)

pdqdl said:


> I have considered mounting a winch on our chipper [it's a factory option that I declined when I bought it], but now I think it might be worth the extra money.
> 
> Any comments from those of you who have tried them out ?



Get one! It's like a grcs, you don't know what your missing till you have one. And once you have one, you'll be amazed at the dozens of little ways you'll come up with using it to make your life easier.


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## appalachianarbo (Apr 8, 2008)

> if the winch wont pull it just drive the truck and she should come free


it'll either come free or tighten it up so it won't ever come out! Now that's a PITA


Careful when using the winch to "speedline." Your forces change direction and can multiply quickly on your lowering point. If your groundie doesn't give enough slack and the winch man pulls too much, you can snap a rigging point pretty quickly. That said, it's really cool when you can do that and never have the piece touch the ground...


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## TreeDivision (Apr 8, 2008)

*whole tree or top*

If you take your cable and cinch it around the middle or neer the far end of the tree, already on the ground, and then make a loop and put that around the butt you can winch over the piece and when the but is on the tray take loop off and pull it the rest of the way to the feed wheels. try it, you'll do it evry time.

Then go out buy yourself a log arch or two from LogRite tools and you will be winching everything across pristine lawns and leaving them that way. With the arch big wood can be winched easily.


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## kennertree (Apr 8, 2008)

TreeDivision said:


> If you take your cable and cinch it around the middle or neer the far end of the tree, already on the ground, and then make a loop and put that around the butt you can winch over the piece and when the but is on the tray take loop off and pull it the rest of the way to the feed wheels. try it, you'll do it evry time.
> 
> Then go out buy yourself a log arch or two from LogRite tools and you will be winching everything across pristine lawns and leaving them that way. With the arch big wood can be winched easily.



Never thought of looping the butt like that, thanks for the tip. Here is a pic of the winch in action pulling a walnut tree here at the house.


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## kennertree (Apr 8, 2008)

*one more*


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## TreeDivision (Apr 8, 2008)

Yeah then you are only rigging it up once, you take off the butt loop and through it goes.


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## teamtree (Apr 8, 2008)

I could not live without my winch. It is awesome.


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## md_tree_dood (Apr 14, 2008)

Winches are great, most of the chippers we use have them, however, they do considerable damage to lawns when you're pulling logs and brush. If you're working in an area with high end clients with nice lawns, I'd say its not worth the money, however if you've got alot of clients who aren't worried about their lawn and would rather their lawn suffer than their wallet, they are definitely the way to go.


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## CLEARVIEW TREE (Apr 14, 2008)

*No winch yet*

I d:monkey: on't have a winch, but try using one of the new plastic nose drags or a plastic snow disk under the butt end of the log and back that up mid log with a modified dolly with the handle cut down. This should take care of most of the lawn damage, allow you to glide right to the chipper in most cases and can easily be set under what's being drug and cinched tight with a tie-down!!


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## treemandan (Apr 14, 2008)

Yes, I use cheap plastic toy sleds to skid logs. Get them from the dollar store or the trash.


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## NORTREE (Apr 15, 2008)

The winch was the best option I got on my 250 Bandit!! Especially now that I have the crane. We pick the piece with the crane lower it and attach the chipper winch to guide the piece as we set it down. Last week I got the chipper and 1 ton stuck crossing a field.The winch wouldn't pull both of them out put after disconnecting the chipper I was able to drive the 1 ton out(wished I had a set of ARB air lockers in it) We then were able to use the winch to get the chipper back on solid ground and recoonect the 2. The hydraulic winches are faster than electric winches but there have been jobs where I have used my Jeep with it's 8000lb Ramsey electric winches(1 front,1 rear). I would like to build new winch mounts like on the newer Bandits to weld on my machine but I don't know of anyone close by(recently moved to another state) to make a set of templates from. I may have to just fab up a set which is what the Bandit dealer suggested. I would like to switch to synthetic line over the current wire rope. We now have a venue for our wood chips so we try to chip as much as possible.


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## CLEARVIEW TREE (Apr 15, 2008)

TreeCo said:


> Do any of the chipper winches allow them to be directed towards the chipper truck for loading as in my crude drawing?


 I saw your drawing and looks like you read my mind. I def think that's a great idea, and have often contemplated the idea/design. A friend has a hyd winch on his chipper ,but thinks the upper horizontal beam of the dump above the gate is too weak. I see it different tho. If the beam can support say 2.5 tons of box, then a 300 lb log for example should be no problem. Go for it man, keep us posted. Good luck!


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## md_tree_dood (Apr 16, 2008)

The bandit chippers i have seen have static winches so you couldn't run the cable towards the truck.


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## a_lopa (Apr 11, 2010)

Winches on chippers are da BOMB!


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## Ax-man (Apr 11, 2010)

*GET THE WINCH YOU WON'T REGRET IT*

We have had one for two years now. Best money spent. 

My chipper is almost like A Lopa's. Morbark 2400 with the hydraulic winch that has a neutral for free running the line out. 

We tried feeding our chipper with our grapple truck. Didn't work so great but the winch is much more productive and easier to work with. It won't be like having a mini loader on the job with a grapple but it comes close if you have the right set-up. You don't have to trailor a loader either because with a winch it is always there on the job.

A large grab hook and a line like Amsteel works the best.

You would be surprized what you can do with one.

You can driftline large leads right onto the back of the chute and then rehook unto a smaller limb and feed the whole mess into the chipper if your chipper has a forward ,reverse and neutral functions for the feed wheel. Driftlining really works good if your using a GRCS. We have literally floated large pieces over the top of hedges and small valuable ornamental trees without ever touching them.

You can pull over smaller multi stem trees in one cut. Just encircle the whole mess with the line. Tension your line a little. Make your notch and back cuts but don't cut all the way. Let the winch pull the whole mess over using the last of the hinge wood. Works great if your down in a steep ditch. You can pull everything out and up onto level ground in one shot. Snap cuts or z cuts work better for the smaller stuff but the principle is still the same.

If you have pull across a yard and can get the butt ends of several large limbs or leads going the same way, then using a series of half hitches on individual leads with the final lead hitched with the hook you can pull the whole mess to the chipper. The trick is to keep the butt ends up especially the first one. Live limbs dragged on the tips do little damage if the butts can be dragged off the ground, dead pieces will put marks in a lawn. 

Another trick is if the tree can as a whole can be winched but is too big to get to the chipper in one piece. You cut it in half but leave enough wood so when it folds in half your winching two pieces at once instead of two.

We have done other crazy stuff with the winch but these are the highlights. 

Even though a winch has it's limitations. It definately is a labor saver and when it comes to resale time it makes your chipper bring a higher price


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## outofmytree (Apr 11, 2010)

Ax-man said:


> *GET THE WINCH YOU WON'T REGRET IT*
> 
> Another trick is if the tree can as a whole can be winched but is too big to get to the chipper in one piece. You cut it in half but leave enough wood so when it folds in half your winching two pieces at once instead of two.
> 
> ...



We do something similar with mid sized trees where you know that the feed rollers wont have enough pressure to snap the crotches. I walk down the trunk cutting the larger leaders about 2/3 through. When the winch pulls the trunk in the leaders fold back and the whole tree goes through in one run.


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## oldirty (Apr 11, 2010)

a_lopa said:


> Winches on chippers are da BOMB!



bout time you put that thing back together.


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## a_lopa (Apr 11, 2010)

Ax-man said:


> *GET THE WINCH YOU WON'T REGRET IT*
> 
> We have had one for two years now. Best money spent.
> 
> ...



The infeed on the 2400 is perfect for winching its suprising how much bushy material WILL go thru without to many issues,I want another one!

Ive just had that chipper on hire for 3 weeks doing a chain link fence clearing job around a lake where there was no access for a machine to feed it just winched all day long the client was very impressed.


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## Mass tree guy (Apr 11, 2010)

I figured they all come stock...

All of our chippers have winches on the back....very handy and I tell you the guys love it..

Nothing beats bringing a Giant top right to the chipper in with a few actions...

signed 

Loves a winch


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## a_lopa (Apr 12, 2010)

My fairlead rollers had worn the chrome off and were doing the rope no favors so i got some stainless steel rollers made up.


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## Ax-man (Apr 12, 2010)

Those are purty fairlead rollers. Look like they cost some bucks. I haven't needed to replace ours. 

When winching at the bottom of a steep hill I always feel like one of the guys off that show the Axemen. We got smart on some of those first hill jobs. Instead of going up and down the hill we either tie a haul back line to the hook or run out enough line and throw the hook and line down the hill to the guy at the bottom.

Playing with redirect pulleys using a winch is always fun and challenging to get things lined up for a straight pull to the chipper.


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## a_lopa (Apr 12, 2010)

Ive got some nice rigging blocks im looking forward to using,Just ordered 150' 8mm dyneema.

Rollers cost me $180 a hotrod shop and steel sales around the corner from my depot made them up,Was good as the town im from isn't that big!


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## murphy4trees (Apr 12, 2010)

Lots of good ideas here.. 
I've had a winsh on my chipper since 07, and wouldn't buy a chipper without one... 

Its a huge improvement in productivitry and time and energy savings.. 

Had a meduim evergreen last year, no room to drop the whole thing, so I tied off the winsh line to the trunk about 20' up and made a little snap cut, just under the line. I came down and let the winch pull it off the snap cut. Set it up so the top would hang up in other tree on the way out, the winch pulled it over, then sucked the top right out to the drive.

Since I got a skid loader, that gets used mostly for pulling power and feeding big limbs etc, so the winch doesn't see nearly as much action, probably less than 10% of what it used to... STILL worth the money for the time it is needed. It gives the climber a lot more options, knowing that 1500 lbs of pulling power is right there and no time be needed to set up a MA rigging system..


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## a_lopa (Apr 13, 2010)

What make of chippers are you running now Daniel?


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## murphy4trees (Apr 13, 2010)

1590 xp bandit, with 140 hp...


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## ForTheArborist (Apr 15, 2010)

I was wishing I had the electric remote control winch on my truck today while I was using just a power puller to ratchet in the trunk. I'll use that power puller to topple trees when there is property damage even slightly in question, and the angles don't look 100%.

Harbor Freight sells a $60 winch that is remote control. I must take a look at it soon.


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## a_lopa (Apr 15, 2010)

murphy4trees said:


> 1590 xp bandit, with 140 hp...



Do you find thats big enough with having the skid steer to load the wood?


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## murphy4trees (Apr 15, 2010)

Yes, It's very good... pretty much works out, though I did demo an 1890 with 250 H.P. I AM sure that after chipping with that for a week, not much would make me go back to the 1590... The 1890 is just too heavy for my truck... 

I AM a big believer that you should get the biggest chipper you can tow... The chipper is so central to tree work and bigger machines save so0o0o0 much time and energy...

I've got some video shot of the skid steer moving wood and brush, loading the chipper etc.. might get that up for a little more "showing off" on youtube..


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## GilaShot (Apr 16, 2010)

The only way to go!


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## wravenant (Apr 18, 2010)

*Amazing*

We had a Vermeer with a winch up in Alaska, and used it almost every day. Definatly worth the money, but need an experiences operator to get out its full potential.


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## outofmytree (May 13, 2010)

I have had my 1590 (140hp) for 18 months and love her today as much as day 1. Load that girl with a skid steer and she eats it all up.

I have the same experience as daniel in that the more you use a skid steer the less you use the winch. The biggest differnce is the winch is available 100% of the time where the skidder has to be there and be unloaded. I vote for owning both!


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## mooseracing (May 13, 2010)

arbo 58 said:


> We have a 1/2 in. Spectra line in it, won,t break, no slivers.




Using a synthetic type rope for dragging is about the quickest way to break it down from the inside out. Dirt gets into the fibers and slowly cuts them, that is the one advantage steel/wire rope has. 

But saftey and the lightweight of synthetics are nice.



a_lopa said:


> My fairlead rollers had worn the chrome off and were doing the rope no favors so i got some stainless steel rollers made up.



Hawse fairlead is recommended for syn rope applications by many rope makers. There are some Delrin rollers, but the rope makers state that the rope can get cuts when in the corners of the rollers. Also for those switching from steel to syn, sand the drum smooth, and replace your fairlead for the longest life of your new syn rope.


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## treeman75 (May 13, 2010)

Has anyone put a winch on them selfs? I have seen a thread some where but forget where.


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## fishercat (May 14, 2010)

*everyone I know ..................*

with a winch on their chipper uses it all day everyday.they are a HUGE time saver.


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## oldirty (May 14, 2010)

you are a complete moron if you buy a brand new chipper without a winch.


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## pdqdl (May 14, 2010)

Not if it is one of those little bitty 6" chippers.


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## Blackdog (Nov 13, 2010)

Wouldn't get a chipper without it in the 10-18inch range. Use it everyday to bring material to chipper, bring line into tree and sling line to chipper (the butt of your branch falls right on the bed and all your man has to do is throw the branch in the chipper.

Pull is rated at 2000Lbs, so I know exactly how much force I'm applying, know I won't break the line rated at 8000, should be able to pull any tree over if pull line is placed properly.

I would never recommend pulling with winch and then pulling forward with a truck or machine to gain pulling power. You have no way of gauging how much tension you are putting in the line with a truck or machine. Would never pull with a truck or machine period! A winch, a man, two men, a fiddle-block assembly, etc. all have very measurable amounts of force. If you don't know how force is applied how can you know if your rope is maxed! How come you don't know how much it takes to pull the tree over?! How could you safely use that line again?! A line might hold at it's maximum tensile strength one time, but will it ever again?

I have a couple of essential tools with our chipper winch:
*synthetic line*-never kinks, lightweight, never burrs, spools nicely
*single-shear block*- that serve as redirects around a yard and automatically pop out the line when the lead/choker reaches them.
*chain choker* with quick release attachment to end of line. Synthetic line will abrade easily when being choked around a butt and dragged across the ground. Just bought a chain choker with three chains and teeth attached to each link to grab brush, vines, briars, and other groups of small diameter material.
*Log cart*-can roll logs, brush piles, butts of trees felled into supporting trees, and many other things across manicured landscapes.
*Heavy duty canvas tarp*-pile your trash on and winch it to the chipper!
*Wheel barrow*-weld a loop down near the wheels and winch your wheel barrow up the hill to the chipper.

Your guys will always be finding ways to use the winch and increase productivity!

One more thing, my winch is stronger and never complains like employees, and never asks why its paycheck isn't bigger!


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## Bowhunter01 (Nov 17, 2010)

I was thinking of adding one to my chipper. Was thinking of fabbing one and tying into my hydraulics. I might check with the local hydraulic shop and see what ideas they have. They're a pretty "git er done" type crowd, I think I'd end up with winchasaurus rex if I gave them free rein to build one. I use my bobcat on almost all removal jobs, but a winch would come in handy sometimes cause its always with the chipper.


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