Wallenstein FX90 Skidding Winch

[Sawyer Rob]

Several weeks ago we were hit by a tornado,

It just plain devistated many of the tree's in my woodlots. It took two of us two full days of chainsawing to open the road to my back field and get the tree's off about 100 yards of fence.

Anyway, rather than cutting roads in everywhere to skid them out with a tractor, i figured i'd buy a skidding winch and just pull them out into the fields that way.

Anyway, we had a week of on and off snowing by the time i got the winch and secured some help, here's the winch on my loader tractor,

This thing has HUGE power, with 24,130 pounds of pulling power on the first wrap on the drum,

and just about 9,000 on the last wrap,

There's really no "pull" on the tractor, as the winch blade just digs in, if the pulling get's tough,

Anyway, today we pulled out a nice pile of saw and firewood logs and i'm VERY happy with my FX90! I'll post more picts when i get to some big logs, and i WILL get to some big logs!

SR

 

[Dave Boyt]

Wow, that is some serious damage-- I sure hate to see those trees all torn up. Cleaning up after a tornado is some of the toughest work there is! Lots of residual stress in trees where you normally don't find it. Be careful, and watch for those spring poles! Looks like a great winch and a good size tractor to put it on. Keep us updated on the clean-up.

 

[hamish]

Wish my 8N had a live PTO!

 

[Dave Boyt]

Hamish, a PTO winch works just fine on an 8N! I've been using one for years.

 

[Beefie]

Wow Dave that is a well used old Farmi, looks like you have gotten your moneys worth.

Sawyer Rob , Turkeyslayer I think has the same model as you . He has had is for must be 4 years now. There was a thread in the firewood section on it. I think most of the pictures are gone now but it is amazing what those winches can do. Its on my bucket list of toys........... I mean tools to get. You will have lots of fun using it and your back will thank you.

Beefie

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Wow, that is some serious damage-- I sure hate to see those trees all torn up. Cleaning up after a tornado is some of the toughest work there is! Lots of residual stress in trees where you normally don't find it. Be careful, and watch for those spring poles! Looks like a great winch and a good size tractor to put it on. Keep us updated on the clean-up.

Yup, lots of tension in some of them, but we are slooowly, making our way through.

The winch is working out great! You should of seen how deep a ditch i winched a van out of today! lol

A neighbor with a MFWD tractor bigger than mine couldn't pull him out, so the guy walked to my place to see if i'd try with my tractor. I didn't even try to pull him out with the tractor, i just spooled out some winch line, wrapped a skidding chain around his frame hitch and started winching...

SR

 

[hamish]

Hamish, a PTO winch works just fine on an 8N! I've been using one for years.

Using the 3PT to raise the wheels off the ground, thus having a live rear?

You have me thinking now Dave.

Jeremy

 

[Dave Boyt]

Do you, by chance have a 9N or 2N? The PTO of an 8N can spin when the tractor is in neutral. That's all you need. I believe there are kits you can get for the older N Fords. The wheels never come off the ground. Mind you, it isn't as easy as some of these high-dollar, new-fangled (post-1960) units, but it gets the job done. One of these days, I'll shoot a video of the process.

 

[hamish]

Thanks Dave now you have me rebuilding my carb so I can fire up my 51 8N to see how I can get the PTO to spin in neutral! I never tried or though to use it in a stationary application.

 

[hamish]

Thanks Dave now you have me rebuilding my carb so I can fire up my 51 8N to see how I can get the PTO to spin in neutral! I never tried or though to use it in a stationary application.

Great time for a brain fart, my pto only disconnects when the clutch is depressed, when I got to the end of the lane on Saturday with the blower on I put it in neutral till the auger housing cleared out in the deep stuff!

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I had an 8N for a time, no problem getting the pto to spin, for a winch, when in nuteral. I found them to be a bit light duty, but if used careful, i don't see why one wouldn't work with a skidding winch to pull logs...

SR

 

[Dave Boyt]

Last summer I used the 8N to winch out a 30" dia by 8' oak log with no problem. As long as the log doesn't hang up on anything, it will surprise you. The tractor can winch much more than it can drag, and it is safer, too. One of these days, I'll get a 40 hp 4wd tractor.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

We are getting a real "old time" winter here, so i'm going through more wood that i normally would. SO, i decided to skid out a couple of the logs i had set aside just for an occasion like this!

There's a LOT of firewood in this log,

The skidder makes short work, of even big logs like these!

I also skidded out a second, slightly smaller maple,

Looks like i have some cutting/splitting to do! lol

SR

 

[Dave Boyt]

Rob, it looks pretty cold up your way-- good to have the right equipment to do the job. Hope you've got a good log splitter. Do you have an outdoor wood furnace?

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Dave,

I have an "add on" wood stove in my basement, so it gives me central heat..... It was in the 40's here yesterday, but the cold will be back this week! I managed to block up the two big logs yesterday, i went through 5 chains before i was done, actually, i just sharpened them and put them back on.

This is the biggest saw that i have, it has a 24" bar and it's been a GREAT saw!

Here's the bigger log, all sawn, of course i had to cut it from both sides to get all the way through it,

Then i moved the blocks with the tractor to over by the log splitter,

to be sawn again with a chainsaw into managable sizes,

then to be finished up with my "splitter"...

SR

 

[johnzski]

Slid my tractor off the road and down a steep hill today , real close to a rollover . The only way it came out was the skidding winch ! That is still my favorite attachment ever for the tractor !

 

[Beefie]

Slid my tractor off the road and down a steep hill today , real close to a rollover . The only way it came out was the skidding winch ! That is still my favorite attachment ever for the tractor !

What no pictures? Well At least you are safe, any damage to the tractor? Got to love a winch.

Beefie

 

[Greenland South]

Since no one has asked yet, what was the damage$.

 

[Dieselshawn]

Sawyer Rob: good to see the winch is working good! I live only 10 mins away from the manufacturer of these machines in ontario.

I've never seen the winch in action yet but seen new ones that were just built in the yard.

I've used their Wallenstein stump grinders for tractors on some stumps.

 

[Dave Boyt]

Rob, that chain saw ought to do the job. Put a 42" bar on that bad boy & cut some slabs!

Johnzski, glad you're OK! Thanks for the reminder of what can happen. If that tractor had gone over, it would have taken more than a winch to set things right. I'm sure a lot of people on the forum can relate to your incident. For me, it was on a D2 Cat (no roll cage) sideways on the mud. It didn't roll, but I was shaking so hard I couldn't even shut it down for a couple of minutes.