Fransgard or Farmi?

[macpower]

I've had limited experience with both. Anyone have an opinion as to one having any real advantage over the other?

[thecfarm]

macpower,I see that you have a Thomas bandsaw.Hope you like it.Had my for 4 years now and I really enjoy using it. Sorry can't help you with the winch question,I have a Norse.The only reason we bought the Norse over the Farmi was at that time the Farmi did not have a pivoting butt plate like the Norse did.

[twistedtree]

I've had limited experience with both. Anyone have an opinion as to one having any real advantage over the other?

I looked at both and ultimately decided on a Farmi 351.  I couldn't fnd anyone with anything but great things to say about them, and they appeared to me to be more solidly built than the Fransgard and the Norse models.  That said, both Fransgard and Norse have great reputations too.

[Corley5]

We've got a Fransgard 4000 and have been very satisfied with it.  I've never heard a bad word about a Farmi 8)

[BBK]

We've had a Farmi since 1984. It has served well with no problems and regular maintenance. In fact I'm wondering if it will ever wear out. ;D
Don't know about Fransgard.

[Woodhog]

One thing you may want to consider on your winch purchase is the angle formed by the PTO to winch
driveshaft...

If you ever use a forestry trailer with a pintle hook on the underneath drawbar the PTO shaft to the winch may hit the pintle hook when the winch is lowered in a hole or low spot in the woods..

On my Norse 400 (norse 450) the PTO shaft is offset to the right when viewed from the back of the
tractor, this allows the winch to be interchanged with the trailer without removing the underneath drawbar assembly, which can be another aggravation you may not need...

I cant remember if the Fransgard and the Farmi have an offset drive shaft???

[Max sawdust]

I cant remember if the Fransgard and the Farmi have an offset drive shaft???

My mid size Farmi does not have an offset drive shaft.  Your points on a forestry trailer are good ones to consider.  I wished I had a 3point hitch on the front of my tractor to mount the Farmi so I could pull a forestry trailer with a grapple in the back.  That would be a very functional set up in my mind.  Skid the logs to the trail then load them in the trailer to stack back at the landing.

Macpower,
I like my Farmi, do not have experiece with the other one.
max

Max

[Burlkraft]

I'm gettin' a Farmi.....real soon now. Just waitin' for it come in 8) 8) 8)

[slowzuki]

Both are respected up here.  A new player, Tajfun is selling a lot of units in Maine too.  They have some remote control winches too.

I've only used Farmi but a neighbour has a huge Norse and does commercial logging in the winter with it on a 90 hp New Holland.

I would like to get a small farmi winch of my own but I think I'll be building one due to the price.

[farmerdoug]

I purchased a used Farmi 351 last spring for $1000.  It has a receiver built right into it so I can install whatever type of hitch I need and when in the woods just pull the pin and I am free to use the winch as a skidder.

Farmerdoug

[Reddog]

I have a Farmi 601 and am happy with it. No exp. with the others.

[macpower]

Well I drove up to J.S.Woodhouse in Waterville today and brought home the Fransgard V-3004. Hard to beat the price when you are technically a dealer. If I like it, it may be easier to sell my customers on them, if I don't I'll have a "demo" to sell. I used a Farmi years ago in the woods, but the only experience with the Fransgard was to set one up for a customer.
I don't see a problem with the pto unless I really drive the blade into the ground, but we'll see.

thecfarm.. how is life in the big city? Did you blow away or drown today? If we get any more rain I'll drive my logs out, won't need a winch! The Kennebec was mostly open water above the Richmond bridge up to Waterville today, bit early for ice out!
I love the Thomas, does just what I want it too. Sets up quick, tows easy and cuts as fast as I need it to. I swapped Jon a Jonny Red 2171 for one of their arches last winter too, makes for a nice set up behind a 4 wheeler. I can get a decent size log out with it and the log stays pretty clean. I would like to come up with something for a debarker on it, I've been pressure washing logs when the weather is warm enough. Looks like our winters are becoming mud and ice now so I may just stock up on blades.
If you ever get up Augusta way, stop in and say hi. My shop is out on rt17 just east of the VA.

[maple flats]

The Fransgard 3004V must be a newer model. I used to sell Fransgard, sold a couple of V2800, a small one and a bunch of V4000. They also had a V6500 but I never sold one. The numbers were the pull in KG, not sure if a V3004 would be the same but might. They worked real good. The only one we ever had any service on was one that a logger used (V4000), don't remember tractor HP but they were rated for 40-80HP. This one the logger winched a log or logs up real close to the winch, locked the cable and drove out winding as the skid road turned, in doing so he had the load so close that the load could not swing sideways as he turned and apparently tried to swing the far end around with the short bite. In doing so he actually bent the main winch shaft which the factory had never heard of. They did buy the winch back from the logger and had us rebuild it and sell it as a rebuilt machine. Never had any other problems. They would have fixed it for the logger and did tell the logger what caused it but he wanted out and they gave him all of his money back. We got the machine free, bought the parts needed and sold it for a real good price, sold real quick and the new owner was happy too. I think that shows that Fransgard stands behind their equipment. We did have to send them the bent shaft for them to analize, they found no flaw in the shaft steel. (if I remember correctly it was over 2" very high grade steel) I stopped selling them when I retired and sold my business.

[macpower]

maple flats,
The v3004 falls between the 2800 and 4000. Has the blade on the bottom, weighs about 80-100 lbs more than the 2800, and pulls about 400 lbs more,(6600). 3004 kg = 6608 lbs, so there may be a correlation between model number and pull.