Portable winch

[DoubleD]

I'm interested in buy a self propelled portable winch that have this feature: 330 feet of 9/32 inches steel cable, 6.5 hp Honda gas engine, speed 1 foot per second. Any thought please?

[Kevin]

What do you need it for?

[DoubleD]

Well I have a small woodlot that had some tree damaged due to heavy snow. The tree are larch, now they are topped and they are good only for firewood now. The woodlot is situated in a very steep terrain maybe 30-40% I don't know for sure. The portable winch seems to me a good thing because my tractor hasn't a power take off nor electric source. I don't want to use it for heavy logging operation but only for a private use

[Kevin]

Can you go with one of these ...

http://www.portablewinch.com/

[DoubleD]

I am in Italy....so I am looking at this onemini winch leonardo (look at mini winch Leonardo I don't know how to post a pdf file on the FF)
What do you think about this type of winch?

[beenthere]

Something similar that is powered by a chainsaw from  Madsen's and is a Simpson capstan winch (nearly identical to the portable winch).  This one I am sure I will get and add it to my Stihl 041.

[Kevin]

proclimber

Someone else may have a different opinion but a rope winch is better for a small woods operation unless the cable is on a skidder in my opinion.

[Quebecnewf]

Double D

I really like the look of the small gas winch on the page you had a link posted to. Maybe change the cable for good braided rope. Do you know if they sell in North America

Quebecnewf

[DoubleD]

Quebecnewf I am sorry but on internet there aren't informations  about importation in North America.
I don't understand if you are concerned for safety of the steel cable. I will use this winch during summer and with a corner block

[Kevin]

That winch is heavier, it has a limit as to how much cable it will hold and cable gets pinched , distorted and requires replacement not to mention it has a habbit of getting bird nested or locked on the drum.

A rope on the other hand can be as long as you need and can be dumped in a plastic pail.
The tensile strength of synthetic rope today is very high.

[beenthere]

Kevin
Would you have a recommendation or suggestion for a capstan winch rope (size and material). I'll look at Bailey's first then check out Proclimber if they ship to the US.
I agree with the advantages of rope and the 'mess' that seems to come with cable winches. The cable ones always look so neat and tidy when they are brand new, then knarl up when used just a few times. Maybe there are some good tricks members know about to keep them from 'nesting'. And maybe it's partly due to the cable that is used.

[rebocardo]

Undo the cable completely from the winch drum when new, then pull it back on under slight tension from a rolling load. A roller fairlane helps as does a tension plate.

[DoubleD]

What are roller fairlane and tension plate? ??? ??? ???

[Murf]

Il mio amico,  lascilo aiutare un piccolo ......

roller fairlead = passacavo del rullo, per guidare il cavo

tension plate = dispositivo di tensionamento, per giudicare il cavo stretto quando rotolano

;D

[DoubleD]

Thank you Murf  ;D ;D ;D

[Kevin]

Been;
The maasdam hand winch works good with 1/2" tree master rope.
You can add a mechanical advantage to the load if needed.
I think Baileys has that one.

The gas winch in the other message can be bought in the U.S, check with Kevin at LogRite, he was selling them at a show in Wisconsin a couple of years ago.

For a tree winch the GRCS is expensive but can't be beat.

[Part_Timer]

Those capstan winches are the same thing as a tugger for electrical use.  Go to the greenlee site and find the tugger rope.  It is made for pulling and abrasion.  Pulling large wire loads through metal conduit.  Just a thought.

I use rope on my hand crank winch for what it is worth.


Tom

[rebocardo]

> What are roller fairlane and tension plate?

Looks like a box with a metal roller on each edge set in front of the winch. It allows better winching at angles. So the cable does not drag across a solid surface and get flattened or destroyed by going over an edge. So, when pressure is applied the roller allows it to glide back into the winch.

A flat piece of spring metal over the winch drum that presses the cable back on the drum in a uniform manner.  Most important when winching the cable back in without a load.

[Dan_Shade]

are tension plates available for different types of winches?

I have a milemarker, and would love to have one of those things, getting cable to spool up right can be a real pain, even with a roller fairlead

[DoubleD]

Thank you for the reply

[rebocardo]

You are welcome DD.

> are tension plates available for different types of winches?

Depends on OEM, some do, some don't.

[Dan_Shade]

so most are only available from the winch manufacturer?

hmmm

[Minnesota_boy]

I made a tensioner plate for an old winch that had had a brake to keep the cable taut.  It worked well as it kept the cable neat and pulled out easier than with the brake and didn't slip when in snow as the brake often did.  I curved a piece of mild steel plate, about 1/8 inch thick for the tensioner.   It lasted about a year before the wear of the cable on it wore through.  I'm back to using the brake now.  Those tensioner plates need a hardened surface for the cable to slide on.  >:(

[sandman2234]

Since you have a tractor, how about making one of these to fit the PTO shaft?

  Sorry guys, got my hand slapped for posting those pictures. I will try to repost them when I get time to figure out the posting rules.
   For those who didn't see it, it is simply a cathead with a coupler to fit my pto output shaft. It was made out of a piece of 6" diameter 12L14 and the minor diameter is 2.125. I used it to pound down some pipe at my last house for a well. The surface rust is a product of not being used for the last 15 years, but I try not to throw anything away. Never know when it will come in handy.

Pictures aren't real clear, but I was in a hurry.


David from jax

[Kevin]

David, is it difficult to control the speed using the PTO and is it a one man operation?
Does the rope stop pulling when you remove tension from the running end?

[beenthere]

sandman2234
Wha Hoppen? : ??? eh?
Photo's are already missing from the --Photos MUST be in the Forestry Forum gallery!!!!!--.  Guess that explains real well why da Boss want's em posted in the gallery. 
I'm curious as to what the pics were, as sounds like they may have been a capstan powered winch for bringing in lines.

[breederman]

 I spent yesterday wondering if you could make a capstan work safely on a pto. If we could get the pics posted to the board it would be great.

[sandman2234]

I removed the pictures, not --Photos MUST be in the Forestry Forum gallery!!!!!--. I was not aware of the rule about posting. I will try to take some better pictures, and post them the correct way.



   I used this one at idle on my tractor, with one lap around the capstan. Any more and it would tend to want to catch sometimes, and I wasn't into getting a drill rig pulled over on top of me. I don't remember the weight of the piece of steel I was picking up, but it was 5" and about 5' long, with a 1" rod welded in it, another 4' long. Not something you would want to put on your shoulder and walk around with.
    David from jax

[sprucebunny]

I've hardly used my new winch on my snowcat and I hate the cable already  :( Today I spent a couple hours and some $ getting ready to make a tension plate for it but maybe I'll just replace the cable with this stuff.

http://www.rockstomper.com/catalog/recovery/ropes.htm

What do you think ??? Will the abrasion wear it out too fast ? This cost less than replacement cable ;D

[Dan_Shade]

I read something one time about the cable helping with heat dissipation on an electric winch, the rope wouldn't help that.

I don't know how much heat a cable can really dissipate either, so it may be a bunch of bunk...

[Kevin]

That rope is very strong.
The only problem is it takes up too much space on the drum unless the winch is designed for it.
They make a capstan for a chain saw that you could use off the front or back of the atv with unlimited length of rope.

[sprucebunny]

Kevin - a little ways down the page they list my winch and thier rope for it which is the same diam. and length as the cable that I have .  My winch is hydraulic.

What do you think about abrasion ? How much abuse do climbing ropes take ? How often do you buy new ones ?

[Ed_K]

I've been reading about the Amsteel Blue rope in Western World, the test they have been doing using it for winch line on skidders and high line rope on the yarders. It sound like its holding up well. I'd like to try some 1/2 or 5/8 but it is expensive.

[Kevin]

Amsteel is strong rope, I would be worried about the strands getting pulled in the woods.
For a strong rigging rope it's hard to beat.
I use 1/2" poly/dacron three strand and it holds up well.
Joan, what about webbing?

[sprucebunny]

Kevin, I would be interested in webbing if it has the strength. Say.... over 10,000 pounds ??? and behaves well ;D

I will probably never really need that much strength but I like the safety factor  ;)

Do you have a link to anything like that ? What would one call it ?

[Kevin]

I think you can only get them in a  m a n u a l winch like a boat winch.
I have a similar winch on my log arch and it pulls thousand pounders  and more with a mechanical advantage.