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Building a pto powered logging winch Finished

Started by Banjo picker, November 27, 2010, 08:32:42 AM

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GDinMaine

Hey Banjo picker that is great!  How is the pulling speed of the winch?  Are you happy with that.  Also.  How long is the cable you have on there?  Not teasing just curious so I know what might be too much.
Thanks
It's the going that counts not the distance!

WM LT-40HD-D42

thecfarm

I have 150 feet on my winch. But saying that it's hard to walk out through the woods with 150 feet of cable in a straight line.Seems like I always have to unhook 2-3 times to get the log to me.Not really worth it most of the time. But last winter and I'll be doing it again,I was hooking on another 50 feet of cable to get the trees out of a bog,but I'm cutting everything so there are no trees in the way.Kinda better to have too much and not use it,than to need more and not have it.  ;D
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

GDinMaine

I finally had time to figure out the attaching process as well as nurse my half dead computer back to life.  Here are the pictures I talked about earlier.  A bit more bracing needs to be done and I have to mount the winch and put chain and sprockets on it.  The cable on the drum is only about 40ft long so I will get new.  I decided to go with 100ft of cable as not to have too much or too little.  The chain and sprockets in the bottom picture were used for test purpose only to see if the winch is functional.  If it had not been I would not have gone any farther with this particular build.









It's the going that counts not the distance!

WM LT-40HD-D42

beenthere

GD
Good on the pics and good on the winch.

How is the speed with those sprockets? Going faster or slower than you want?

Looks like you'd be trying it out shortly.

Is it to be rope control through a clutch, or the PTO clutch on the tractor?
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

Banjo picker

Quote from: GDinMaine on November 13, 2011, 05:53:38 PM
Hey Banjo picker that is great!  How is the pulling speed of the winch?  Are you happy with that.  Also.  How long is the cable you have on there?  Not teasing just curious so I know what might be too much.
Thanks

I'll have to get back with you on how much line...I guess about 200' or more...Its a little slower than I would like, but about as fast as it needs to be safety wise...I can get it out of gear if the tractor starts to slide backwards or the front end comes up....So far it has slide the tractor backwards when the log hit a stump or other object...Tim
Never explain, your friends don't need it, and your enemies won't believe you any way.

thecfarm

Don't look bad at all. Much better than spending a couple grand to do the same thing.I would prefer to run the winch on the ground myself,if possible. Just see more things that can go wrong. I know you are just trying it.Put some more braces to the top link on the 3pt hitch. Winching is hard on equipment. What kind of tractor and hp you have?
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

GDinMaine

Thanks for the comments.
When the picture with sprockets and PTO shaft was taken I made the basic frame just so I can connect it to the 3pt hitch and hook up to the tractor PTO.  I puled a small log to see if the winch is all right  and then took the whole thing off and snapped some pictures.  During the testing it was a 1:1 sprocket ratio and it was rather slow running the engine at 2000 rpm (I get 540 RPM pto speed at 2600 rpm engine speed) but I do not plan on running it like that.  The tractor is small Kubota B7800 with 30hp engine and 22hp pto.  It's fine for my hobby farming needs.

The #60 sprockets I bought are 18 tooth driver and 12 tooth driven so I will get a better pulling speed.  I estimate about a 25-30 ft/min pulling speed with that.  It is slow compared to a Farmi winch but I'm all right with that.  I will have the option of buying a larger driver sprocket, but I'd rather start slow.  

There is power in-out and neutral on the winch. You can see the control lever I made up in this picture. When pulled away from the winch it spools in when pushed in it spools out when I let it go the springs push it into neutral and the winch holds the load.  It is an old tow truck winch.  I have to figure out how I'm going to convert that control so I can use it from a safe distance with ropes.  You can see the "silver" handle on both pictures.  It just has not had itme to rust up to standard.  As you can tell I also have to trim the shaft that is under the winch drum.

I bought 100' 3/8" skidder cable after reading posts here and talked to my neighbor who uses 75' of cable on his skidder. I actually tried to copy the fairlead from the one on his Franklin.  He said he can get to most everything and if it's short he hooks a few chains together.  I used a 100' piece of rope before and only needed to add chains two or three times in the past four years.  
When it's all said and done I will have about $500 in the project and a bunch of time.  Still FAR cheaper then the cheapest of used Farmi winches I have seen for sale around here.




.
It's the going that counts not the distance!

WM LT-40HD-D42

John Mc

I'm not sure I'm looking at this correctly, but if I understand it, your winch control lever is on the side facing the logs being skidded. I understand that when it's done this may be protected behind a steel plate or screen, but I'm thinking if you flip things around so it's on the tractor side of the winch, you'll have more room to fiddle with options for a rope control. This will probably bury your chain and sprockets between the winch and the shield plate, but it looks as though it wouldn't be too much of a hassle to get to it for maintenance or repair.

Spooling out is not something you need to be protected from, so you can concentrate on figuring out the rope control to pull the lever out away from the winch. However, if you are concerned that you can't rely on the spring return, you might want to add something (extra spring, another rope or ?) to force the lever back in when you release. You'd hate to be in a situation where you release the rope, and it keeps right on winching.

Last comment: 25-30 feet per minute is S-L-O-W. A moderate walk is 3 MPH, or a bit over 250 FPM. I'm not saying you have to match Farmi's speed, but 25 FPM could be so slow as cause your mind to wander on a longer pull. You might want to actually measure your speed just to be sure where you are.

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

GDinMaine

John,  The idea of flipping the winch around would require the cutting off of all the mounting pieces including the shaft mount in the center.  The thing is not symmetrical so flip-flopping is not an option.  As for the winch speed.  You are right I will not win any race with it.  But I will take this slow winch many times over compared to what I used to use before.  That was the definition of pain in the ... (name your choice of body part).

In any case.  I'm pretty much done.  I wrestled the winch into the frame (imagine a bloody battle for that one) and put on all the new sprockets, chain, pto shaft and winch cable.  My four-year-old was so happy that he went into a complete fit and wanted to see the winch pulling logs.  I had to give in didn't I  ;D.  It worked like a charm and my boy was happy (so was his dad).
I have a little tiny more welding to do and off to the woods I go tomorrow by noon.   8) 8) 8)
I just had to share my giddy, childish happiness with people who understand.  I will post pictures of the contraption in action.
It's the going that counts not the distance!

WM LT-40HD-D42

John Mc

If it works, and you are happy with it, that's what matters.

Is there anything to protect your control lever from the logs being winched in? This might not be much of an issue when winching. You can always stop when the logs get close. Might be an issue if you are skidding logs behind the tractor once they've been winched in?

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

Banjo picker

Well I finally broke my third arm off the winch....I was pulling a jeep out of its resting place of about 25 years and hung a tree....didn't have my chains on the rops....But its fixed now ...bigger and better.

  

 

I have to replace the grader blade across the bottom...it snapped on both sides...Banjo
Never explain, your friends don't need it, and your enemies won't believe you any way.

lopet

 Yes it looks a little beefier now. All you have to do now is  slop some used motor oil on that roller chain and you are good to go.  :)
Make sure you know how to fall properly when you fall and as to not hurt anyone around you.
Also remember, it's not the fall what hurts, its the sudden stop. !!

mike_belben

Just wondering whatever happened to banjo picker?
Praise The Lord

John Mc

It appears @Banjo picker  hasn't been on since Feb 2021. His last post was in Late Jan 2021. Hope he's OK.
If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.   - Abraham Maslow

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