Capstan winch experience?

tree-farmer · October 05, 2013, 08:00:58 AM

Anyone own or have experience using a Capstan winch with small gas engine? Pros / Cons. Any information appreciated.

beenthere · October 05, 2013, 11:13:05 AM

Member quebecnewf uses one I believe, and has posted several times over the years, with pics in his gallery.

Member Kevin has a video using one. I think Jeff helped once or twice too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFx3gaBpVmQ

Wouldn't take much of an excuse for me to buy one, as it being portable, light weight, and not requiring a cable (just a rope) make it a smart choice... the way I see it.

giant splinter · October 05, 2013, 11:55:10 AM

Tree-Farmer,
I have used them before and they work very well, one was made in Oregon and the other in Canada. Not having used them at the same time I could not tell you for sure but I remember the Canadian capstan winch as being a little bigger and more powerful, coupled up with a few self releasing snatch blocks it is capable of dragging fairly large logs out of the woods with out causing a lot of damage and does this at a good clip (slow walking pace).
The Oregon built one might have been just a bit smaller and perhaps a smaller motor but the power to weight ratio was well engineered and the capstan winch with 300 ft. of line is easy to carry into the woods and I think it might have been a little quicker as far as the traveling speed of the log on similar
Ground conditions. at the end of the day we had a nice trailer load and set out for home just as it started to rain on us, I was in front and my buddy behind me pulling his trailer when I looked back i could see he had stopped and I figured he was checking his load but after a few minuets I backed up to see if things where ok and found him stuck in the mud so we hook him up to my truck and give it a few good tries, by now its really pouring and we are not out of trouble so he comes up with the idea to hook the winch up to his bumper and my hitch and see if that would work .. it did work very well with the only problem being it was pulling my rig towards him ...... we both look at each other and think lets just unhook and head home, we can come back in the morning and bring some better equipment to get the trailer out ..... then his 12 year old (girl) and gearhead @ that rolls her window down and says "why don't you hook it up to a tree like the logs" , he says back "well Prin we wanted to get you home in time for your tv show" she smiled and said ok Dad but if you hook it to a tree we will have it out and you can get right with it on the way home and Mom won't even know what happened ... she rolled up the window and left it up to us (grin). he set up the capstan on a tree and we got it out of the mud, she smiled and gave me the thumbs up when they got to the winch ...... her dad and I put everything away and headed home in the rain. I will get one of these capstan winches at some point and highly recommend having one handy in the woods or in the winter months.
Our sponsor Logrite is a dealer for captsan winches
GS

tree-farmer · October 13, 2013, 08:09:26 AM

Thank you for the feedback. Found out one of my forester friends has one and is supposed to bring it by on the 18th for show and tell. I don't post often but I check in a couple times a week to continue my education, really appreciate having this resourse.

thecfarm · October 13, 2013, 08:14:42 AM

Maybe you can post about the winch and educate some of us. ;D

Kevin · October 24, 2013, 11:43:50 PM

It depends on the purpose really.
It works good for winching logs out of the woods with the skidding cone.
It has load limits and will stall out but if the motor was any larger you wouldn't be able to carry it around.
I primarily use it for skidding in the winter and stacking logs in a pile.

Ed G · April 13, 2014, 03:56:36 PM

Capstan winches work really well. One key is using low stretch rope and a rope that does not melt easily. Rope that stretches can store a lot of energy. If you don't use low stretch rope and the rope slips on the capstan you will be left holding the stored energy of the stretched rope in your hands. It will jerk the rope right out of your hand and can do serious damage to your hands in the process. Always use a low stretch rope like amsteel blue and wear gloves. Never use a capstan winch to lift objects unless the winch has a rope slip safety device (keeps the rope from slipping backwards). Its also a good idea to put a jacket or blanket on the rope midway between the winch and the load. If you use amsteel blue or another similar low stretch rope they are very safe and are amazing tools.