A winch for getting firewood

[ropensaddle]

what size cable are you using?

5/8 I need a new 300 footer!

 

[stihl sawing]

It comes or something breaks usually the cable!

That's a winch, That monster hydro or electric

 

[ropensaddle]

I also have a 10 ton on a flatbed 78 f350 pto winches are strong and speed up with acceleration.

 

[ropensaddle]

that's a winch, that monster hydro or electric

pto

 

[MontanaMan]

pto

That sucker is massive ... that is one bodacious winch right there

 

[ropensaddle]

That sucker is massive ... that is one bodacious winch right there

I can up root a 20" oak cable at 20' high! :jawdrop:

 

[ropensaddle]

here is the 10 ton one on a one ton lol

I am looking for drill stem to make a gin truck outta this ole boy! If you can find an ole set up like this get it. This one ton when I get the poles built should easily load a 12' log in the 30" range and it will skid it to you easily because the pulling is done from an elevated position. I have around a grand sunk into the truck counting the brand new tires the motor needs some tlc but runs ok. I plan to rebuild it then set it up to be a log getter!

Oh and paint it too lol

 

[ropensaddle]

My latest project is done!

Early variable speed m 600 bobcat can you tell I hate loading anymore? I put a new 35 hp vangaurd in this puppy painted it and then scratched it up fierce!

 

[ridgerunner97]

There is really only one disadvantage to a pto winch and that is you need to be in the cab of the truck to power it in and out because most you have to use the clutch in the truck. I don't know how your setup is but that is how most i have seen are. Personally most of the offroaders around my parts are starting to use the Smittybilt XRC winches, they are good quality for the money, they make them in 3 different flavors as far as i know an 8k, a 10k, and a 12k pounder, If your goin to use it to recover your truck also, you need at least a 12k pounder. The safe formula to calculate your winch requirements is take your gvw and multiply by 1.5. That will give you your single line pull winch capacity. I recommend using a snatchblock regardless of your winch choice, it will double your pulling capacity and take strain off your winch. Just my .02 cents.

 

[ropensaddle]

There is really only one disadvantage to a pto winch and that is you need to be in the cab of the truck to power it in and out because most you have to use the clutch in the truck. I don't know how your setup is but that is how most i have seen are. Personally most of the offroaders around my parts are starting to use the Smittybilt XRC winches, they are good quality for the money, they make them in 3 different flavors as far as i know an 8k, a 10k, and a 12k pounder, If your goin to use it to recover your truck also, you need at least a 12k pounder. The safe formula to calculate your winch requirements is take your gvw and multiply by 1.5. That will give you your single line pull winch capacity. I recommend using a snatchblock regardless of your winch choice, it will double your pulling capacity and take strain off your winch. Just my .02 cents.

Well you have a point there however pulling logs requires muscle my set up is two speed plus variable accelerator feed too, so 3 speed. My single line pull on my smallest is 20000 lbs or 10 ton the other is 40000 I have never had to double either! In slow speed idling I have loaded cars logs etc. out of the truck but you have to make sure nothing catches. I also have an old hope log loader on a f500 it has a string pull to master cylinder remote and will skid a log faster than you can run. My best firewood gatherer is my old mack grapple truck it will and has loaded a 56" oak log 10 feet long but it wont skid.

 

[Steve NW WI]

I agree on the long cable and snatch block(s) if you want a cheap, reliable system. It will also be safer if you are pulling downhill to your truck as stated in the first post, truck and you will be out of the line of fire if it takes off down the hill toward you.

Steve

 

[Ol' Brian]

Hey folks:

I get firewood here in Western Montana with an F250 ... usually on old logging roads cut on the side of steep slopes. I'm really tired of seeing fantastic-looking 25" snags 70 or 80 feet away up a steep slope where it would be impossible to take my truck, and a PITA to roll the Firewood rounds down the hill.

So ... I'm thinking of getting a winch. I only do about 6 cords a year, so I don't think the winch would get a lot of use. Just for firewood, recovery, and the occasional odd job. It's one of those things where It's just really great to have it when you need it.

I saw a 10000 lb "Gorilla" brand winch on eBay ... anybody ever use one of those? I can fab a mount for it on the front of my truck, and install a second battery if necessary.

I've never used a winch before, so any advice about selection, mounting, using to skid logs, etc would be much appreciated. Any links to more info on the net would also be appreciated.

PS: I've searched and searched, but still have lots of unanswered questions.

Thanks!!

MontanaMan, I was once in the same pickle that you're in... so I built this:










Works like a charm! :greenchainsaw:

 

[SINGLE-JACK]

I agree on the long cable and snatch block(s) if you want a cheap, reliable system. It will also be safer if you are pulling downhill to your truck as stated in the first post, truck and you will be out of the line of fire if it takes off down the hill toward you.

Steve

:agree2:

You could just buy some cable, good snatch blocks, and tree straps and use the truck as the winch . It would take some rigging but it would be much faster .
Truck winches are not designed for long sustained pulls , you will burn out the motor pretty fast using it that way, not to mention the battery or altenator won't keep up ( Hard pulls take 300-400 amps of continous power) .

:agree2:

We use a 100' cable with a Walingford Choker. Pull the logs out without a winch. Use the Front tow hooks or rear hitch. We probably have the luxury of more area, so a winch is not necessary. I have experience with Ramsey winch. I would recommend Ramsey.

:agree2:
I got a portable Warn for the Truck and frame mount Warn on the ATV, plus 250' of cable with a flemished eye on each end. The only time the winches get used is when I can't get traction with vehicles. Vehicle/cable staight pull, or snatch block redirect is first choice. Sometimes use the block and an anchor for a 2:1 MA.

That being said: If you gotta have a winch, buy the best! It's cheaper in the long run.

 

[ropensaddle]

MontanaMan, I was once in the same pickle that you're in... so I built this:










Works like a charm! :greenchainsaw:

Me likes:monkey: What tonnage is that winch? PTO I assume you can skid it tight to blade lift and load? Pretty slick tractor gin sort of

 

[MontanaMan]

MontanaMan, I was once in the same pickle that you're in... so I built this:

Works like a charm! :greenchainsaw:

That's an awesome setup you built there. Is it possible to do a PTO on a pickup?

I'm really amazed at some of the ingenuity I've seen on this site.

I'm starting to lean toward the simple cable and snatchblocks. 100' of 3/8" cable is only $55.00, compared to at least ten times that much for a decent winch & cable.

Those of you who do that, can you tell me how you keep the cable on your truck? Do you just throw it in the back? Keep it on a special coil? I wish I could go out and cut wood with someone who can do this in their sleep. Anybody know of some "how to" videos or writeups on the web ... how to use cable and snatchblocks to pull out logs? Most of it is obvious ... but there are always those little tricks that make a huge difference.

My hat is off to all of you ... I've been doing things the hard way for the past 4 years. First I tried rolling the rounds down hill ... most hit the road and kept right on rolling hundreds more feet down the mountain.

Then I started rolling them one by one ... me backing down the hill, rolling the rounds backwards. Finally I just started passing them by.

 

[gilraine]

I have a 6000 pound warn on the trailer and a 15000 warn on the front of the truck, both have been flawless, except for breaking the 7/16 on the M15000 trying to recover a truck.. that stuck required a bulldozer..

 

[ropensaddle]

That's an awesome setup you built there. Is it possible to do a PTO on a pickup?

I'm really amazed at some of the ingenuity I've seen on this site.

I'm starting to lean toward the simple cable and snatchblocks. 100' of 3/8" cable is only $55.00, compared to at least ten times that much for a decent winch & cable.

Those of you who do that, can you tell me how you keep the cable on your truck? Do you just throw it in the back? Keep it on a special coil? I wish I could go out and cut wood with someone who can do this in their sleep. Anybody know of some "how to" videos or writeups on the web ... how to use cable and snatchblocks to pull out logs? Most of it is obvious ... but there are always those little tricks that make a huge difference.

My hat is off to all of you ... I've been doing things the hard way for the past 4 years. First I tried rolling the rounds down hill ... most hit the road and kept right on rolling hundreds more feet down the mountain.

Then I started rolling them one by one ... me backing down the hill, rolling the rounds backwards. Finally I just started passing them by.

Yes Its possible for pto on pickup if it has the plate just order the right gear set and take plate off put pto on and your in business! For the cheap route I agree cable and blocks will probably suit your needs but you will get tired of coiling it when done.

 

[Ol' Brian]

Me likes:monkey: What tonnage is that winch? PTO I assume you can skid it tight to blade lift and load? Pretty slick tractor gin sort of

Thanks! I think the winch is a 20,000 pound model... got it off of eBay for about $150, and went from there. It's only limited by the tractor it's attached to... it's got more than enough power to completely flip the tractor over backwards. I've got 100' of 7/16 cable on it... it makes recovering logs out of unreachable places easy. Right now it's still PTO powered, but I've already got a hydraulic motor out in the shop that I'm going to use to convert it to hydraulic drive. That will make reversing the winch much easier than it is with the PTO drive.

 

[JAL]

I like to use ½” rope with a boat deck cleat mounted on a receiver hitch. The rope I use is rated for 9,500 and some times I just double it up for extra pull. The boat cleat makes it easy to just go forward with the truck, back up and adjust the slack out of the rope and repeat. Another thing I found is that it is easier to pull the log "top out first"…. and yes I know this is opposite of the way that you would regularly skid logs but it does work better when rope skidding long distances out of the woods. A large selection of snatch blocks makes it a lot easier for turning corners.

View attachment 103797

I am in the process of collecting parts to make a either a hydraulic or pto capstan winch mouted to my dump truck. My truck now has a pto drven hydraulic pump for the dump bed and it just depends on what parts I find as to what I end up with.

 

[swanny]

I've had a couple of the el cheapo $300 winches from ebay...9000# electric in the past 10 years. Have been nothing but wonderful...not a problem with either and I have abused them...made lots of long dead pulls (no pipes underneath) on logs...some 36" x 17' with a snatch block of course.

Both have been mounted to the front of my dumper trailers (I can raise the bed high...helps in the pull). Been fortunate I guess, unlike others here that have bought them.

My next one will be hydraulic.