Does Anyone Use A Portable Winch For Yarding?

[Ductape]

This weekend I was helping a friend remove several blow overs from a storm we had a few weeks ago. The worst hanger took us several hours to get down using my come-alongs. Though I'm happy we did it safely, i can't help but think there is a better way. I think I'd be looking for something very portable...... carry in, carry out. Something I could justify the cost on.... preferably spending hundreds not thousands. I met a guy who sells these:

http://www.globalforestrysupply.com/proddetail.php?prod=PCW-5000


But other thoughts i have, are chainsaw winches ............ or maybe even a smallish AC winch, that i could power with my Honda EU200i generator.


Anyone got some good ideas, or pics of your own set-up??


P.S. I do not own an ATV, so a winch on an ATV is not a possibility. No way possible I can slide that past my wife at this point in time.

 

[avalancher]

This weekend I was helping a friend remove several blow overs from a storm we had a few weeks ago. The worst hanger took us several hours to get down using my come-alongs. Though I'm happy we did it safely, i can't help but think there is a better way. I think I'd be looking for something very portable...... carry in, carry out. Something I could justify the cost on.... preferably spending hundreds not thousands. I met a guy who sells these:

http://www.globalforestrysupply.com/proddetail.php?prod=PCW-5000


But other thoughts i have, are chainsaw winches ............ or maybe even a smallish AC winch, that i could power with my Honda EU200i generator.


Anyone got some good ideas, or pics of your own set-up??


P.S. I do not own an ATV, so a winch on an ATV is not a possibility. No way possible I can slide that past my wife at this point in time.

I use a warn 3700 and a 1500 winch, and I have no idea what I would do without them.I can move the winch where I want to pull stuff up and into the trailer,haul the winch out to the woods to pull stuff up hills etc.I use a deep cycle marine battery,and under continuous pulling it will often last four hours or so. I have found that with the winch, I can pull trees down that otherwise might be a risky manuver if there are buildings or power lines around.Throw a line up into the tree,attach to the winch, and pull it on over to where I want it to go.
I also use it to unload the trailer of full length logs, vehicles into the trailer, you name it.
The 3700 was four hundred bucks plus 60 for the battery,but considering how much work it has saved me over the years it was worth every penny. If you decide to go this route,Im sure you will never regret it.Besides pulling firewood, it has gotten my butt out of some pretty nasty mud holes out in the woods, move the winch up to the front of the truck,hook to a nearby tree, and ten minutes later you are on your way.

 

[avalancher]

Here are a few shots of the 3700 doing its job.





With a snatch block you can double the pulling power.More than enough to pull anything I might want to pull into the trailer.



Sometimes I pull stuff right into the back,but more often I manuver the winch and ramp to pull stuff in over the sides.Works great when you are on a road with steep hillsides,allows you to pull stuff right up the hill and into the trailer.

 

[Ductape]

The deep cycle battery / 12V winch is probably going to be the easiest way to go for me. Actually, I already have a Harbor Freight 3000lb ATV winch. I was initially thinking that lugging a battery around would be a pain, but I suppose no more of a pain than my generator. I'd just need to come up with a mounting plate to bolt it to...... something i could slip over a ball hitch, or put a couple shackles through. Hmmmmmm.................

 

[avalancher]

This is what I use
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200317459_200317459

Kinda spendy for 70 bucks,but I figured after I dinked around and scared up some plate,bent the fairlead mount,attached some chains and hooks it wasnt worth the effort.

 

[pdhowell]

Another winch useful in the woods

Hi folks,

This winch, note link, http://www.4by4connection.com/blacrat4wdre.html, is not inexpensive, but absolutely reliable, and is rated at 3500 pounds lift, not pull.

With some effort it can be carried anywhere by hand. It pulls vehicles out of holes and ditches, pulls trees down that are snagged up, pulls logs up grades and out of the muck. With a pulley on a branch, it lifts a log for loading on to a trailer. It is slow, but gives you great control of both forward and backward motion. The winch grabs the steel cable directly , and is not dependent on the variable pull force/speed dynamics of spools.

It can be usually purchased at offroad suppliers. These winches have different names, although generically, they are called Tirfor winches. Mine is called "Black Rat", from Australia. I have used it for a number of years, and they are seemingly indestructible.

Maybe this is useful.

 

[stihl sawing]

I use three winches, use them for pulling a log up a hillside or out of a swamp. I have used these winches for every thing you could in wood cutting, even pulling up stumps. The one on the trailer i use for pulling bigger chunks up.

 

[smokinj]

Thats sweet got a hickory and a black walnut to go to the mill that would make life better!

 

[cowtipper]

Take a look at the follwing link

http://www.harborfreightusa.com/usa...o?itemid=66409&CategoryName=&SubCategoryName=


Tomrrow I wil take some pic of my setup using the above.

 

[Ductape]

I started working on my portable winch today.........

I had bought a 3000lb ATV winch at Harbor Freight for another project, but what the heck, I'll use it for this and buy another one when they go on sale again.

I took a look at the winch mounts Avalancher posted a link to, but thought I could come up with something a little cheaper. I found a 2 in. hitch reciever meant to be bolted to the bottom of a step & tow bumper at the local made-in-China store for $24. This should work well. It'll allow me to attach it to the back of my truck with a male to male adapter, and I can use any accessory made to fit a 2 inch reciever. Most towing accessories are clearly marked with their rated capacities, so overloading won't be any problem.

Now to mark if for the mounting holes on the winch, and put it on the drill press.........

Had to run to Tractor Supply for some grade 8 hardware, then bolted the winch to my new winch mount. I hooked it up to the battery in my dump trailer to test it. The winch has a wireless remote, so it should be pretty handy. Now I need to find a couple slip hooks or shackles for it, so I can run a nylon strap around a tree (or whatevers nearby) and hook the winch to the strap.

To be continued............................................

 

[stihl sawing]

Nice job, Can't wait to see the finish.

 

[Hddnis]

Really neat set up you have getting started there.

For a male to male adapter are you going to use a piece of 2" tube with some holes drilled in it? 1/4" should be plenty heavy, and you can get it heavier all the way up to solid bar.



Mr. HE

 

[coog]

I have winches on just about all of my vehicles.When I leave the vehicle, I have this:
http://winchbin.com/images/lewis-chainsaw-winch-product-photo.jpg

Very handy for large, dead critters, also.

 

[Ductape]

For a male to male adapter are you going to use a piece of 2" tube with some holes drilled in it? 1/4" should be plenty heavy, and you can get it heavier all the way up to solid bar.

Yeah, I have some 2 X 2 3/8 here left over from another project. I figure maybe a foot of it and drill two holes for the hitch pins and I can have the winch on any reciever.


I'm debating whether or not I'll buy a new deep cycle battery to run the winch, or just pull the battery out of my trailer when I need to. Guess it'll depend on how often I end up using this contraption.

 

[Hddnis]

Yeah, I have some 2 X 2 3/8 here left over from another project. I figure maybe a foot of it and drill two holes for the hitch pins and I can have the winch on any reciever.


I'm debating whether or not I'll buy a new deep cycle battery to run the winch, or just pull the battery out of my trailer when I need to. Guess it'll depend on how often I end up using this contraption.

I have a portable winch and for short projects I run it off a booster pack. One time when loading a bunch of logs on my trailer I took a deep cycle battery along and ran it off of that, the booster pack probably would not have lasted that long. You also don't want to use a booster pack if you are going to be pulling heavy as you can burn it out, or so I've been told anyway.


Mr. HE

 

[Ductape]

..

 

[olyman]

Here are a few shots of the 3700 doing its job.





With a snatch block you can double the pulling power.More than enough to pull anything I might want to pull into the trailer.



Sometimes I pull stuff right into the back,but more often I manuver the winch and ramp to pull stuff in over the sides.Works great when you are on a road with steep hillsides,allows you to pull stuff right up the hill and into the trailer.

PLEASE!!!!! unwind that cable--and respool it like it was when you bought it----when you have one lay of cable over the top of the other like that--it will crush the lay under it--and you will not only put a kink in the cable--but strands will start to break----------serious---cable is wayyy strong--but start to break a few strands, and the strength starts to go to h fast--

 

[cowtipper]

Take a look at the follwing link

http://www.harborfreightusa.com/usa...o?itemid=66409&CategoryName=&SubCategoryName=


Tomrrow I wil take some pic of my setup using the above.

A little slow but here they are....

 

[DJ4wd]

this is what I use when I cant get my tractor to it. I removed the handle and it comes with a plate that slips on the bottom and hangs on any sized ball on the back of your truck or whatever. It is loud and not very fast and is only power out, but it pulled my 25hp MF diesel up a steep hilll this past snow storm.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=39997

 

[AKDriveSprocket]

Does any one know the RPM on the spool piece on the windlass?