who's got the best Winch?

arboristt · June 03, 2013, 01:34:34 PM

Hello Everyone,

My name is James and this is my first time posting on this forum. And i am looking for some advice from you experts.

I am in the Market for a portable Winch. Right now i have it narrowed down to a website called www.westcoastwinch.com, more specifically the PCW5000.

Has anyone used this type of gas powered winch before? any comments on its quality? do you have any suggestions on different types of portable winches that you have and like?

thanks, i will post and wait for your responses.

beenthere · June 03, 2013, 01:43:46 PM

Welcome to the forestry forum.
That capstan winch is the one I would go for and have come close to buying one like it, or the same. Usually manage to get by without the winch when pulling trees down or out of a tough place to get the tractor. So far, a long cable and the tractor have managed.
The capstan style gives a lot of control, and no need to worry about a cable getting twisted out of shape. IMO

giant splinter · June 04, 2013, 01:29:39 AM

I have been looking into the 5000 also, I like the specs better than its competition and the Honda motor is strong and quiet. I plan on using mine to yard trees off a slope. the capstan is a great way to go and you can use as much line as you need.

Jay C. White Cloud · June 04, 2013, 09:12:18 AM

Have owned one of these for about 15 years. Love it and use it often. Most on the market are great tools to have around.

http://www.capstanropewinch.com/

arboristt · June 05, 2013, 10:51:36 AM

On the website, the work cycle says that it is continuous, but does anyone know how long that will actually last?

For my application, most uses will be in remote locations (where i wont have access to truck or chipper) and carrying gallons of gasoline with me will not be very efficient.

Does anyone know what kind of work load i would get out of one tank of gasoline?

beenthere · June 05, 2013, 11:49:22 AM

Should be continuous, as long as the gas engine doesn't run out of fuel.
Not like a battery powered winch that might need cooling off.

arboristt · July 18, 2013, 11:28:27 AM

Just an update for those who are interested.

I purchased the PCW5000 from westcoastwinch.com. it is a sharp unit, i will follow up with pictures shortly.

Thanks for the feedback!

thecfarm · July 18, 2013, 09:53:01 PM

arboristt,welcome to the forum. Is this for your business or your own use?

arboristt · July 19, 2013, 10:55:24 AM

Hey thecfarm,

I have purchased it for personal use. My father in law has a property in Washington State and we are planning on doing some work to it to make it ready for sale (one day...), many trees and stumps along with much dead-fall needs to be removed, but it is so dense that bringing in any vehicles will be close to impossible.

Hopefully this equipment will give us a fighting chance!

DR Buck · July 19, 2013, 12:22:17 PM

HEY GUYS! Our very own FF Sponsor Logrite offers that same winch.

http://www.logrite.com/store/Item/capstan-winch

I've had mine for a few years now and love it. It's paid for it's self a couple times already.

Martha White Nelson · July 21, 2013, 12:07:49 PM

Hi James!!! Welcome to the forum. Contact Andy White on the forum. He has lots of knowledge on this topic.
Have a great day!!!

arboristt · July 30, 2013, 12:09:33 PM

Ok, Thanks.

I will contact Andy, I could use some pointers on blocking/redirecting the line. I'm sure he would be a good guy to talk to.

Vance in AK · July 30, 2013, 01:09:16 PM

Quote from: arboristt on July 30, 2013, 12:09:33 PM
Ok, Thanks.

I will contact Andy, I could use some pointers on blocking/redirecting the line. I'm sure he would be a good guy to talk to.

It would be great if you guys could have that discussion openly here on the forum. I'm sure many of us would benefit.

Ed_K · July 30, 2013, 08:21:57 PM

If you can,back your tractor around to the side to keep the line as straight as possible. I have pulled the back tire off the ground ,pulling at a 15 deg offset.
I have used a pulley hung up in a tree to get more lift pulling up hill to keep from hanging on stumps.Make sure the tree is one that will be cut tho.

arboristt · July 31, 2013, 10:36:46 AM

Martha,

I am having a tough time making contact Andy, what is his member name?

thecfarm · July 31, 2013, 09:15:16 PM

We have a member that has a user name of Andy White.

https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?action=profile;u=20359

I went to the menu bar and clicked onto members and find this name. good luck.

beenthere · July 31, 2013, 09:23:24 PM

Andy White was on Monday around noon-ish. If you send him a PM, he will get notified it is there as soon as he signs on again.

I'm curious if Andy White has that capstan winch that you (arboristt) purchased. Maybe Martha knows he does, so suggested contacting him.

We'd be interested in how it is working for you. And we like pics... ;D

Quebecnewf · August 01, 2013, 08:23:40 PM

I bought one of these a few years ago. Best money i ever spent.
Go to my gallery and I think there are some pics of it being used.
I log in winter and this unit starts up real easy in the cold. It has a small tank but most days you will not use a tank.

This unit works best if you have a good knowledge of rope and tackle work. I had this when I started but you can learn as you go.

Send me a PM if you have any questions???

Quebecnewf

Aussie.firewood · August 21, 2013, 07:34:36 PM

Ive been looking at the 50cc models, anyone else think these are a little weak for pulling logs. I don't want to run pulleys, i would rather use the rope length for single set ups and tow longer distances.

what about making one out of an old generator? any idea about the gear ratios? or is this unrealistic?

my plan would be to attach it to the trailer and pull logs straight on, anyone foresee a problem with that.

(im still a newbie)

arboristt · August 23, 2013, 01:06:52 PM

Hey Aussie.firewood,

I am a newbie too but i may be able to provide some insight as i recently went through the buying process.

The pulling power of the 50cc model is rated for 2200 lbs. on a single line and my experience with it so far is that it basically meets those rating. i have yet to see the unit struggle with any payload however i am not sure exactly how much weight i have been pulling, somewhere around 1000-1200 i think.

Not sure about you generator idea, but i know the gear ratio for the 50cc is 110:1.

The idea of attaching on to trailer is a good one in principal but to my knowledge there is no way to anchor this winch to the back of the trailer. The best you can do is anchor it to the ball hitch but that only gets you to the trailer, not on it. has anyone else ran into this issue?

arboristt · November 27, 2013, 02:28:36 PM

Hey all,

i thought i would add a photo to this thread of the a close up of the winch making a pull up an embankment.

i got it from that website a while ago and have some other photos that i could put up. if you like this i will add others.

thanks for the feedback.

beenthere · November 27, 2013, 03:18:46 PM

More pics would be great, and a video even better. 8)

That you doing the "pulling" ?

Kevin · November 27, 2013, 05:00:23 PM

I built a shelf for my winch that straps to the tree and frees up your hands to operate the rope.
I use the skidding cone and when you add a little snow to skid on it really improves things.
You can tie one end around the tree below the winch and put a roving block at the load to double the pulling strength if you need it.

arboristt · December 10, 2013, 12:59:41 PM

i am holding the Camera,

Video coming. if i can figure out how to add it to this thread...

Quebecnewf · December 13, 2013, 07:30:11 PM

I see your getting the hang of it.

We use our winch mostly in winter. To keep the winch from drawing down in to the snow when the strain comes on we just use a 2x2 ft pc of plywood . Throw that down next to the tree , put the winch on top of the plywood ,strap around tree and your good to go.

We do most of our pulling with just a straight line. If we have a real big log or tree in a bad spot we will add a snatch block to double the pulling power.

Our system for winter logging

1. Find a bunch of logs to cut.

2. Select a tree in the middle of the logs you plan to cut.

3. Climb tree with spurs ,belt and axe to cut limbs on the way up.

4. Attach snatch block up 20 to 30 ft of the ground.

5. Attach second snatch block at base of same tree.

6. position winch attached to another tree base approx 20 ft away from "yarding" tree.

7. Cut all the logs that your rope can reach from you "yarding tree"

8. Pull them and stack them next to the " yarding tree".

9. Cut a hauling path to the yarding tree and your ready to go.

10. after all the logs are hauled away cut down the yardin tree and recover your snatch blocks and move to the next location

This is what works for us. Kind of a different logging operation. Very small scale. Iwould not go in the woods now without the winch.

Quebecnewf

thecfarm · December 13, 2013, 10:53:49 PM

Quebecnewf,how's the ice road going? We have been below freezing here for a while and a while more too. Going to start a thread. I hope so. Makes for some good reading.

Quebecnewf · December 14, 2013, 06:11:45 AM

No ice road yet. Very cold here for the last few days. We do have snow so you can now travel on some sections of the mainland.
Shipped my snowmobile to the mainland a few days ago . Hope to go across on the chopper in the next day or so and drive in to the log path. This will just be for a little fix before we go to Montreal for Christmas.
I hope that by the time I return in early Jan we are in full winter mode. I sawed all the logs I cut last winter so if we get a bad winter like we had last winter I will have little to no logs o saw.
Keep your fingers crossed. I will start a thread here when we start traveling on the ice hopefully it,s earlier than later
Quebecnewf

dpown · June 26, 2014, 04:10:45 PM

I was going to post a new topic on this before i saw this post. Thanks arboristt for the detailed questions and answers on this thread! I too was looking for a winch for business usage.

So the PCW5000 is my best bet for a Winch? I like the weight to power ratio on it. Quebecnewf you have the same Winch?

Where did you buy it? I live in Canada.

Magicman · June 26, 2014, 07:02:49 PM

Hello dpown, and Welcome to the Forestry Forum. I am of no help with your winch search, but I wish you the best.

arboristt · July 01, 2014, 12:52:05 PM

Hey dpown, welcome to the site!

It has been a while since I have been on here. Yes, in my opinion it is the best bet for a nice compact winch that you can bring with you anywhere. It's very powerful, lightweight, and dependable (so far).

I bought mine from West Coast Winch. They have the lowest prices for the units and accessories i have seen so far, and they are great to work with. The buying experience was very personal.

Here is the link to the site - http://shop.westcoastwinch.com/gas-powered-winch-PCW5000.htm

Good luck in your search!

dpown · July 02, 2014, 10:15:54 AM

Thanks for your help arboristt! I'll post some pictures when if I get the unit!

chester_tree _farmah · July 04, 2014, 09:55:28 AM

Quote from: Quebecnewf on December 13, 2013, 07:30:11 PM
I see your getting the hang of it.

We use our winch mostly in winter. To keep the winch from drawing down in to the snow when the strain comes on we just use a 2x2 ft pc of plywood . Throw that down next to the tree , put the winch on top of the plywood ,strap around tree and your good to go.

We do most of our pulling with just a straight line. If we have a real big log or tree in a bad spot we will add a snatch block to double the pulling power.

Our system for winter logging

1. Find a bunch of logs to cut.

2. Select a tree in the middle of the logs you plan to cut.

3. Climb tree with spurs ,belt and axe to cut limbs on the way up.

4. Attach snatch block up 20 to 30 ft of the ground.

5. Attach second snatch block at base of same tree.

6. position winch attached to another tree base approx 20 ft away from "yarding" tree.

7. Cut all the logs that your rope can reach from you "yarding tree"

8. Pull them and stack them next to the " yarding tree".

9. Cut a hauling path to the yarding tree and your ready to go.

10. after all the logs are hauled away cut down the yardin tree and recover your snatch blocks and move to the next location







This is what works for us. Kind of a different logging operation. Very small scale. Iwould not go in the woods now without the winch.

Quebecnewf

Very interesting quebecnewf. What type of jobs r u hired for with this system? Bogs and wetland harvesting where heavy equipment can't go?

dpown · July 10, 2014, 11:07:33 AM

Hey guys,

Just wanted to post an update. Finally went to purchase the winch. Got it from WestCoast Winch as arboristt suggested. Their shipping was fast and the prices kept low.

arboristt · July 15, 2014, 11:09:06 AM

Can't see the pictures, but good to hear you're happy with the services. Have you used it in your work yet? How do you like it?>

thecfarm · July 15, 2014, 12:06:02 PM

Since dpown has not been on for a while,here's one of his pictures.

dpown,this is how I posted your picture,

I like to go to whatever post or start a new topic first to include a picture.Go to your gallery,it will open in a new window.Click onto your album,then click onto whatever picture you want,it will get bigger,than scroll down a little to find,Insert Image In Post,click onto that,click Yes and that is it. Some have to copy/paste the link to work.I like to hit the enter key at least once or twice to move the picture down away from what I am typing. The enter key really helps to leave some white space if posting more than one picture. Somewheres I think it says to add 10,000 to your user number or something like that to make a clickable icon to your gallery under your user name. Use the preview button to see how it looks and modify it if needed