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My log arch build with pics and action shots :)

Started by Piston, August 16, 2010, 04:31:37 AM

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Banjo picker

Nice topic.. don't know how I had missed it earlier on...but I did...Tim
Never explain, your friends don't need it, and your enemies won't believe you any way.

John Mc

If your tractor is running when you run the winch (at good rpms, so your alternator is putting out decent amps), and if you really are only winching short distances (like just lifting the log up off the ground, or dragging it a few feet), you will most likely not hurt your battery. The heavier the drag, and the longer the time spent dragging, the more you risk sucking the battery down too far.

Sooner or later you will be tempted to use your electric winch like a logging winch, or do a bunch of shorter twitches one right after the other, without letting the tractor top off the battery between hitches. That's when you'll toast your battery. You might not kill it the first time, but each time you do this, you'll shorten the life. Adding a dedicated, deep cycle battery will protect your tractor's battery. Whether you need to do this or not depends on how disciplined you are in using your winch.

John Mc
If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.   - Abraham Maslow

sealark37

Nice piece of work.  I know that you will get  great use out of your arch.  On the other hand, I suspect that your shop is in reality a Hollywood set.  It is far too clean and uncluttered to be a real shop.  All that light, and nice, clean walls and doors.  Thanks for posting.  Regards, Clark

Ford_man

I would use a Hydraulic Winch If you still need one I have a 10 ton winch that I took off My equipment trailer because I don't have hyd on my truck. It will work off your tractor with no ill effects.

pineywoods

Electric winch on a tractor beats no winch, but not by much. Don't think you would be happy with it. Hydraulic is the way to go. Look around the truck bone-yards for an old pto type winch. Add a hydraulic motor, a couple of sprockets and some roller chain. I spent about $250 on mine. Used it today to snake a 24 inch 25 foot pine log out of a briar thicket.
1995 Wood Mizer LT 40, Liquid cooled kawasaki,homebuilt hydraulics. Homebuilt solar dry kiln.  Woodmaster 718 planner, Kubota M4700 with homemade forks and winch, stihl  028, 029, Ms390
100k bd ft club.Charter member of The Grumpy old Men

Piston

QuoteAs far as the winch goes, that is my first priority, as the log arch right now is very inconvenient to use, and I find myself not using it just because I don't have a good winch.   

So that is my first modification to work on.   

I had some spare time and decided to work on the winch. 
First thing I did was lay out all the parts I had.  I already attached the winch to a bracket that would allow me to mount the winch in a standard 2" receiver hitch.  I did this thinking that I will also be able to use it with my truck, or weld a receiver hitch on my trailer and use it to load logs with. 




 


The directions stated to mount the solenoid, switch, and most of the parts, near the battery.  Well, I really wanted to be able to use the winch on other vehicles and if I mounted the solenoid and circuit breaker on the tractor, I would only be able to use the winch with the tractor. 
So my idea was to mount the solenoid, circuit breaker, and remote switch plug, right next to the winch, or better yet on the winch.  So that is what I did. 

I started by welding a small piece of flatbar to the winch mount.


 

Then I attached a piece of plexiglass to mount the solenoid on.


 



 


Then I added a little more support and a top piece of plexi glass. 


 

I drilled a hole for the small, round female plug for the handheld remote to plug into, and then mounted it in the plexiglass.


 



 



 


You can see from the pic below that I had way too much wire, the winch was provided with about 6' of relatively small gauge wire, I only needed a few inches. 


 


So I cut out a bunch of excess and spliced the wire back together.  I also added my main power wires, which were two lengths of welding lead cables.  These work really well since they are rated to 200amps and are very flexible.  It certainly doesn't look like a professional job, but I never claimed to be one.  :D


 




  

These are the connectors I used which I found online, they were very simple to use.  I installed this plug with about 6' or so of cable from the winch.  This is how I will plug the winch into my tractor. 


 


I also used welding leads on the tractor, along with another plug of the same style, I wired the welding leads directly to the battery.  Then snaked them to the back of the tractor, and mounted the plug right on the inside of the left rear fender, out of harms way. 


 



 


Unfortunately, I'll have to wait to finish the install.  The next step will be to weld the 2" receiver hitch to the top of the log arch, then I'm off and running.  I did plug the winch in and try it to make sure it worked, and so far so good.  The main test will be to see if it works well by lifting the logs.  It will probably be a month or so before I can get my hands on the welder I borrow.  After that, and after some use, I'll post some pics and let you know how it works out.  I sure hope it works better than the broken come-along I've been using!  :D
-Matt
"What the Lion is to the Cat the Mastiff is to the Dog, the noblest of the family; he stands alone, and all others sink before him. His courage does not exceed his temper and generosity, and in attachment he equals the kindest of his race."

John Mc

A nice looking installation. One thing to think about, however:  The reason for mounting the circuit breaker near the battery is to protect the battery from shorts between the battery and the winch. As you have it mounted, you are only protected from problems in the winch itself, and the short length of wire between your circuit breaker and the winch.

I'd suggest you consider mounting a circuit breaker or fuse of some sort near the battery. You should do this on whatever vehicle you want to mount the winch on, so that vehicle's battery and wiring are protected.
If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.   - Abraham Maslow

SwampDonkey

I had a winch on the trailer hooked up with the same coupler and 4 gauge wire and I used the breaker on the battery end. I used the wince to skid logs up onto the bed of the trailer. The back had a flip down ramp. It was 2500 lb winch. It's still on the trailer, but I sold the truck. ;D
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

westyswoods

This thread has been very helpful in that I am in the process of fabbing a new front plate to fit on a T190 Bobcat. I did not like anything out there as my purpose is to make it multipupose and adaptable while being wide enough to cover front of both tracks.

I am going to mount a 9,000 lb hydraulic winch on the front. Have been struggling on the mounting, but decided to make it removable via two receiver mounts on both ends slipping through front of plate 24" apart.

This a used winch which i got for free came off a Tool Cat with Beaver Squeezer. Free spool out one directional on the wind.

Question is when winding the cable is it better to wind over the top, under bottom and or does it not make a difference?

I have many pics I can post of various projects done. Problem is my learning curve on how to post here is DA. Example being my wife and I just spent countless hours, literally attempting to produce a video on CD for her father. I know you all like pics and am willing to share just not sure how?
Stay Safe and Be Healthy
Westy

Piston

Westy,
I don't know if it's different for the type of winch you have, but in the instructions for my winch, it specified that I must mount the winch and spool the cable so the cable spooled on from the bottom, as you can see in some of the pics. 
-Matt
"What the Lion is to the Cat the Mastiff is to the Dog, the noblest of the family; he stands alone, and all others sink before him. His courage does not exceed his temper and generosity, and in attachment he equals the kindest of his race."

ForestMan

Very nice, heavy duty log arch you built.  Well done!
There is nothing like the natural beauty of wood.

myarsman

I am in the process of building my own log arch.  If possible could you share with me the dimension(H, W, L) so that I could have a better idea as to how to build mine.  I will be using 2x4 box steel.

If possible, I would like to be able to load my Wood Mizer LT15 bed with the log arch by backing the arch with log over the end of the bed and lowering it onto the bed.

Does that sound like it would work?

Bob

Gearbox

Don't worry about the battery . I am running 3 HF 2500 winches as 12 v drive motors on my home built processer . The battery stays up with a 13 Predator charging . One winch runs in short bursts the other 2 are tied together on the live deck and lift 1/2 cord at a 45degree angle . Nice job on your arch . Search BT6870 for my processer .
A bunch of chainsaws a BT6870 processer , TC 5 International track skidder and not near enough time

MiamiCityboy

Hi Piston I just jointed the forum  I saw your post from 2010 of your log arch on pinterest  and I followed the lead to here. I need to build one for myself , but is got to  be a big  one since I have  big  logs to move, so if  is not  much  to ask I would like to  know the dimensions between the wheels and I go from there. I  built my own saw mill down here in Miami Fl and I am  starting little business. Thanks in advance.   

Blackcanyon

Nice build and article. My arch is virtually identical and I cut/ welded the pieces individually. I wish I thought to leave the back strap and bend one piece as you did. Very clever! They are quite handy and work well if your not in a hurry. Nothing works better if your milling and need one more beam etc. again, nice build!

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