Tractor Skidding Winch Build

[Sawyer Rob]

Are you planning on changing the plate where the cable goes to the top pulley ?? If not you might be needing more cable to replace the worn out ones. A set of top rollers and side rollers rather than a hole in the plate would be preferred IMO. Just asking.

It doesn't need "rollers", a short piece of pipe would do the job, but the wire rope will wear out whatever it's riding on sooner than ruining the wire rope.

SR

 

[sean donato]

Don't think he needs rollers on his pulls, looks like it pivots side to side.

 

[OH_Varmntr]

The upper block pivots as does the guide the cable passes through. It mimics the commercially available models. I though of making a bushing out of HDPE as a sacrificial wear surface.

Ill have to grab a better pic of it.

 

[sean donato]

Hdpe or uhmw won't last with the cable it will burn it right out. We use uhmw for guides here at work, much larger winch cable and higher load, how ever the blocks are sacrificial and need changed pretty often. Where we could, we changed to rollers with urethane inserts. Much better wear character and service life is much longer.

 

[OH_Varmntr]

My American made sprockets came in today...wearing Chinese bearings.



Barring any further screw up on my part, I should have a functional winch to try out tomorrow morning.

 

[OH_Varmntr]

Well it is now functional but I'm adding some things to make it function a bit smoother as recommended by guys on another forum.


Added a hitch receiver.


Here it's loaded with 250' of 7/16 cable wrapped under tension. I went to install my log slides and terminate the cable with a thimble but it was too small so it slides through the log slide. So I have to make a bushing. I may also have to modify the upper block to make it so the cable wraps more in the center of the drum, but I may be able to remedy that another way.

 

[dave_dj1]

I put a hockey puck on the end and then a thimble with about 4 chain links in case I ever wanted to hook a chain to it.

 

[OH_Varmntr]

I put a hockey puck on the end and then a thimble with about 4 chain links in case I ever wanted to hook a chain to it.

Here's the bushing for the thimble to sit in to. I like the hockey puck idea though!

 

[OH_Varmntr]

Had a minor setback with my welder last night. Had to bypass the Low/High Range selector switch as it was bad yet again. Before I just cleaned up the contacts but since I cannot remember using the low range I just bolted the leads in high and I'm back in business.



Added a dig plate to aid in anchoring the winch for pulls. Now the winch won't set on the ground by itself so a kickstand of some sort is in order.

Also added a box to hold my chains.

 

[OH_Varmntr]

Others on another forum had advised me to add a cable tensioner that would help guide the cable on the drum but also keep the cable from slacking on the drum and creating a birds nest in the event the cable suddenly loses tension. It's just a spring loaded stainless steel bar.

 

[sean donato]

They help, it will still bird nest if the cable snaps or there isn't enough tension on the slider to make the cable wrap nice. Most of the issue with getting nice wraps is the first layer not being tight and tensioned. I'd think about changing from a slider style to a roller style. They don't wear nearly as fast as sliders.

 

[ericm979]

My Uniforest winch has an externally adjustable brake to stop the spool when you stop pulling.

 

[OH_Varmntr]

My Uniforest winch has an externally adjustable brake to stop the spool when you stop pulling.

Mine isnt necessarily adjustable but I have one as well. This is a spring loaded foot with friction material epoxied to it. It's constantly applying pressure whereas I believe commercial winch brakes disengage when you pull the rope to engage the winch.

 

[lwmibc]

h/t to your welds, nice work.

 

[dave_dj1]

That looks nice. When do we see a video?
Now you'll have to make kickstand legs for the rare occasion you have it off the tractor.

 

[OH_Varmntr]

h/t to your welds, nice work.

Thanks!

That looks nice. When do we see a video?
Now you'll have to make kickstand legs for the rare occasion you have it off the tractor.

I just finished editing it but it's a large file and will take all night to give to YouTube. I'll post a link when it's done.

I just finished my stands last night. I just insert them into the pockets.


She works though!

 

[dave_dj1]

"She works though!"

Great feeling isn't it?
waiting for the vid on the edge of my seat

 

[OH_Varmntr]

"She works though!"

Great feeling isn't it?
waiting for the vid on the edge of my seat

It sure is. As mentioned in the video, the engagement mechanism isn't finished. It's anything but safe operating it the way it is but for now I wanted to check the overall function.

 

[mark3885]

Nice build , you will adjust and tweak along the way , but it’s got what you need. May I suggest that when you start to pull in a log , that any way you can put a load on the cable to help it spool nicely will help in the long run . Pulling a log hard with loosely wrapped cable will allow the tensioned cable to bury itself down into the drum , wedging the cable, making it difficult to pull out the cable on the next pull. Nice video

 

[OH_Varmntr]

Thanks Mark, point well taken. Once she gets a few hours of run time on her, I'm hoping the cable will relax some. She's pretty stiff as of now.