# Building a chipper mounted hydraulic winch.



## fpyontek

I'm wondering if anyone has had experience building a chipper mounted hydraulic winch. I'm considering building and mounting a winch on my Brush Bandit. I know Brush Bandit offers one as an option, I don't know the price. But, since I have all the hydraulic components lying around, and have steel tubing, I could fabricate a boom/fairlead. What I don't have is a drum. Does anyone know if a drum can be purchased separately, new or used, and where to go. Otherwise, what winch, with hydraulic motor, to use. Again, new or used and where to look. I can weld and pipe the hydraulics, but have had no experience with winches. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks, Fred.


----------



## DDM

I'm Thinking of doing the Same except i got a good deal on an electric Winch. I was thinking of fabbing up a short say 2' boom that would swivel and have a stop at the edge of the chipper opening.With a pulley in the end of the boom. I'm not to keen on an exposed Winch cable. This unit would obviously be mounted on the Top ov the chipper infeed.


----------



## fpyontek

I believe there are limitations on the length of time an electric wiinch can be used without overheating?


----------



## DDM

I would only use it on smaller jobs That i didn't take a Bobcat. Which wouldn't be very often.


----------



## fpyontek

Makes sense. Sure beats draging the branches.


----------



## fpyontek

Tom Dunlap said:


> I talked with a Bandit sales rep yesterday. He said that a hydro winch costs about $1,500 extra on a new chippper. That seems like a really reasonable price to me.
> 
> Before I found out the price I think that I might have gone ahead and fabricated one with components that I had on hand.
> 
> If you have a hydraulic motor you could probably find specs on the Net. Or talk with a supply house and find the specs. Speed and power can be changed by gearing the motor with chain drive.



The Bandit I putchased dosn't have one. For $1500.00 it would be worth the time and aggravation to purchase it.

Thanks for the info, Tom.


----------



## alott

*Winch*

Hi guys as for hyd winch they are great tons of power . i personaly have an eletric winch that i use quite regularly . as for them overheating havent had a problem and let me tell you i winch some pretty big stuff. what i use it for is pulling logs up and on to my equipment trailer . Largest one so far has been 20ft long and 7800lb it grunted but it did it . hope the info helps


----------



## Proj Eng

Why not just buy a hydraulic aftermarket winch? You only need to fab up a mount for the winch and fairlead. Hydraulic motor and reservoir are already on the chipper. T into the lines and go. I think you could build and buy enough (new) parts for one for less than $1000. Even add the nylon line instead of cable if you wanted. A lot lighter and no need for gloves, though not great UV characteristics. Might get worn down fast as well.


----------



## Acer

How's the hydraulic winch project going? I've suddenly acquired a couple of motors which used to drive the rollers on a 6" chipper. The drive splines are in poor condition, but the motors seemed to work fine. I'm hoping to use it to power a capstan winch. Do you think such a motor would be ok?


----------



## earthwerks

*winches*

From my years of off-roading experience, electric winches work best for Jeeps etc. Hydraulic winches (MileMarker was one manufacturer) that ran off the vehicle's power steering systems were much over-rated and tended to stall easily (a supposed 9,000lb winch acted like a 5,000lb. electric). A company called Bailey Manufacturing (same Bailey advertiser on this site???) (www.baileynet.com) sells a 9000lb. winch without the hydraulic motor for $499 (P/N 375-010) Ph no. 1-800-800-1810. One of the reasons the motor is separate is, it depends on the pump volume and pressure input and "hydraulic horsepower" the input engine can input. Typically the HP output at the hydraulic motor is about 80-85% of the input from a gas engine spinning the hydraulic pump for example. Like electric motors, not all hydraulic motor are designed for the same purpose. Some are high-speed/low-torque, and some are high-torque/low speed. If you notice the chipper set up, the hydraulic pump spins very fast but the hydraulic motor spins at a very slow, and usable speed. This is no accident. 

If you don't know what the specs are for your hydraulic motor either call the manufacturer and ask them what it is rated for, or take a chance a build something and test it and see how it works. Most winches--hydraulic or electric-- increase the torque by using gears--- either planetary, worm or spur gears. (Most 5000-8000 lb. electric winches only have HP ratings between 2-4HP) 
Depending on the right hydraulic motor size, it's rated top speed and/or torque, type of end bearing construction (will it take a side or lateral load without destroying itself?) it may be possible to just install the motor in fabricated bracket and then extend the shaft to another bracket supported by a bearing--a "poor-man's winch". Then you can use that shaft extension as a "drum", or, if the "shaft" is large enough it could be used as a capstan. 
Using an electric winch is also a good idea, providing you use a winch that is much overrated for the job--a 5,000 winch will pull double the amperage and burn up quicker and kill the battery quicker compared to an 8,000lb winch that is working half as hard and pulling half the amperage which on a winch this size, under full load can be 400-700 amps and more. (Note: these numbers are from my experience 10 years ago--there may have be advancements in technology and other things to consider, and are generalized, rough figures)


----------



## fpyontek

Acer said:


> How's the hydraulic winch project going? I've suddenly acquired a couple of motors which used to drive the rollers on a 6" chipper. The drive splines are in poor condition, but the motors seemed to work fine. I'm hoping to use it to power a capstan winch. Do you think such a motor would be ok?



A local guy did just that. He mounted a hydraulic powered capstan on the back of his Morbark. He swears it works better than a winch.


----------



## earthwerks

Older Land Rover 4x4's used PTO-powered capstan winches, some of which are centrally located in between the truck rails and accessed through the vehicle floor. Some mounted on the front bumper. From time to time you'll see them on e-bay. And of course large boats and ships use them for anchor lowering.


----------



## dayman

What is the advantage of using a capstan rather than a spool winch?

The only one that I can think of is that full power is delivered to the winch line since there aren't any wraps on the capstan. I've read winch tests before that show how much the pulling power decreases as the wraps go up. 

It seems to me that having a spool on the chipper would be easier since no one would have to tail the winch rope.


----------



## Acer

earthwerks said:


> Older Land Rover 4x4's used PTO-powered capstan winches, some of which are centrally located in between the truck rails and accessed through the vehicle floor. Some mounted on the front bumper. From time to time you'll see them on e-bay. And of course large boats and ships use them for anchor lowering.



I,ve seen one in action for handling smaller logs..so simple, yet really effective. The advantage of the capstan is that your length of pull is only limited by the length of rope you care to use.


----------



## treefitter

*Re Capstan Winch on Wood Chipper*

A good point is that you can use one end of winching rope to pull in brushwood and then the other end. The theory being a sea-saw.You would run the Capstan winch in one direction under constant power making it a more efficient operation thus producing more £ $ 's !!!


----------

