Lewis or Rule chainsaw powered winch anyone on here use them??/

[jocco]

Been looking at them for tree work (residential where machines can't get) : Herd the rule had some problems >:( The lewis can be horribly exspencive Whats the thoughts here? Many years ago Mculloch had one with a 100cc engine on it ;D  Guess it was a machine becaus  you needed a machine to move it around!!!

[North River Energy]

I have a Rule, with an older Homelite powerhead. 

Slow, noisy, and not particularly strong.  For daily work there are better options.

[Jay C. White Cloud]

I like Capstans over Winches.  Winches loose power as the real fills up, Capstans don't and pull as long as your rope is long.  Attach to a block and tackle and they pull even harder.

Regards,

jay

[Jasperfield]

Look at the "Portawinch" portable winch. It is a capstan type, 2.5 hp, Honda powered, portable winch. It is the winch you want. No other winch (relative) compares to the Portawinch.

Portable Winch.

Contact Logrite or portablewinch.com

[loggah]

My brother has a lewis,they use it once in a while on an ocassional tree, i haven't heard him say anything bad about it,so it must be alright ! ;D Don

[dboyt]

I've had good luck with a Lewis winch on a Husq 365.  Good pulling power, and handy for pulling logs out of tight places, or tractors out of the mud.  Hate the rat's nest that the cable makes on the reel, thinking about stringing some Amsteel Blue on it to reel in easier and save weight.

[isawlogs]

 Lewis might be $$, it is also bullet proof. A friend of mine has one and its been tested many times, it is also only as strong as the saw you put behind it  ;)

[Offthebeatenpath]

If speed isn't an issue and you don't mind cranking on a handle,  I would recommend a Griphoist hand powered continuous feed wire rope hoist.  I think it's most versatile hoist out there. The 4000# version pulls vehicles out better than my 9000# electric Warn winch.  I have pulled hundreds of trees over with these powerful little buggers.  I have four of them.  You can buy them from Trail Services, LLC in Maine.  I could go on forever about how much I love them...

[Offthebeatenpath]

If I didn't mention it, the Griphoist feeds in one end and out the other, like a capstan, so there's no spool to mess with...

[loggah]

We used to get them at the ski area whenever a new Stadeli lift from switzerland a few were included. They were called Harbeckers from Switzerland, There was one made in the U.S. called a Clydesdale griphoist,i have one and they do work well ,but you have to keep the cable absolutely clean and no kinks or they wont work !!! Don

[Offthebeatenpath]

You're spot on Don,

The Clydesdales were an earlier US made version of the now Tractel (Tirfor) Griphoists. The Habeggerrs work exactly the same way too. There are actually a bunch of rip off versions now, but I prefer the Tractel ones.

The wire rope must be clean, kink free and a 4x26 or 5x26 nonrotaional warrington seale wrap construction.  Not the readily found (and cheaper) 6x19 construction found in shops.

If you ever get the hankering to sell your Clydesdale, give me a shout...

Jed

[loggah]

I had one of the big Harbeckers i sold last spring with the 75 ' cable ;D im keeping my 3 ton clydesdale.

[Offthebeatenpath]

Don't blame you one bit...

[Jay C. White Cloud]

This is the one I use most of the time.  I even use it to haul my old keester up into big trees when I don't feel like jugging myself up another tree at the end of the day.

http://www.capstanropewinch.com/

[kelLOGg]

I have a Rule but it doesn't have enough pull, even as a double line. Thinking about switching to electric but then I have tote batteries. Never gave much consideration to a capstan winch. Should I, JC WhiteCloud? You seem to like them.

The surprise about sizing any winch is that logs are rarely cylindrical so at some point in their rotation you are doing a partial dead lift for some of the time. Makes me want a big honking winch to cover these eventualities.
Bob

[Jay C. White Cloud]

Hey KelLOGg,

I guess I would have to say it is all about the application.   I love rigging and messing with ropes, pulleys and the related tackle, so my perspective might be a bit jaded.  If I have a stationary pull that happens in the same way every time, a good hand winch (like on a boat,) can work really well.  However, if I want something that, with some basic rigging knowledge, can generated over 6 tons of force, (or more,) than I go with my Capstan rope winch.  Whether I have to haul a 900 lb Moose carcass up into a tree, or unstuck a Ford 350 from the mud, this tool does it in spades.  It's limitations are your imagination and rigging skill.  Hope that helps, if not, let me know what you want to do, and maybe I could think on it further.

Regards,

jay

[kelLOGg]

Thanks for the reply, JC. I got a Rule winch to parbuckle logs up a ramp to my trailer and now needs have arisen to pull and/or roll logs to where I can get them with my arch or tractor. I have never used a capstan winch but I don't think one would do well parbuckling since you have to stop the pull to reposition the rope and then the log rolls back down. Maybe that's my ignorance; how do you get a moose up a tree without the same problem?

[Jay C. White Cloud]

Morn'n KelLOGg,

Capstans are meant for "par-buckling" and as for the "Moose in the tree," (or deer, elk, bear,) they are perfect for that too, you just lock off the rope with a few extra raps or a "locking hitch" of some type...many different ways depending on application. 

What I really like about them, (especially the Simpson) is it is less expensive than many on the market, and runs on a chainsaw engine.  Plus, winches loose power as the spool fills, capstans don't.  If you have 600 feet of rope than you can pull 1500 lb that far, or 3000 lb 300 feet and so forth.

Hope that made sense. ??? :-\

Regards,

jay