I ordered my lt28 with log deck package which included log turner that was operated by hand winch which I found to be slow and not of much use so I replaced it with electric winch and was great improvement.recently harbor freight came out with a winch that had wireless remote and I switched to that and man it has been great being able to operate the turner from anywhere around the mill.it is especially good when sawing by myself just thought I would share this as it has been a big improvement.
what size winch?
Five years ago I used that winch (motor only) modified with a bell crank as a remote throttle on my mill. After a couple of years the remote got sawdust in it and sometimes it would take a couple of tries to get it to work. I had tried to buy a second remote from them when I bought the winch but they never could get it. I finally converted to hard wired, with a drum switch. It still works great and I never misplace the drum switch.
You might see if you can get a second remote for your winch while it is new.
Quote from: trapper on October 18, 2015, 09:21:31 PM
what size winch?
2500lb we sawed some 20ft poplar today and one log was 23"on little end and it turned it but that was about its limit.winch is only $50 with coupon and looks identical to the superwinch brand I had before that was hard wired.
Quote from: Larry on October 18, 2015, 09:30:49 PM
Five years ago I used that winch (motor only) modified with a bell crank as a remote throttle on my mill. After a couple of years the remote got sawdust in it and sometimes it would take a couple of tries to get it to work. I had tried to buy a second remote from them when I bought the winch but they never could get it. I finally converted to hard wired, with a drum switch. It still works great and I never misplace the drum switch.
You might see if you can get a second remote for your winch while it is new.
yea I can see keeping up with the remote could be a problem I try to keep it in the console of my truck when not using it.i like some harborfreight stuff but getting replacement parts for a lot of their stuff is impossible.
I had thought at one point of converting my old manual LT40 to an electric winch, but then I discovered the manual winch had two speeds (no documented in the handbook). That made quite a difference.
Here's what I managed to do with it ... just.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11885/NST_Aug_1.jpg)
Eventually I found a better way to load and turn logs ... a hydraulic mill ;D.
I put a 3700# Warn winch on my LT30 and it has never failed to turn a log.It is connected to the battery on the mill when I need it via a 2 pole Cole Hersee plug and outlet. No extra battery needed.I just got another matching plug to run a 12volt hydraulic unit for my toe rollers.
I see a lot of people saying that they use a winch...
How do you hook the cable to the log to make it roll ?
Quote from: Kbeitz on October 19, 2015, 07:26:03 AM
I see a lot of people saying that they use a winch...
How do you hook the cable to the log to make it roll ?
I don't use it to load logs on the mill I use a tractor.
Quote from: Kbeitz on October 19, 2015, 07:26:03 AM
I see a lot of people saying that they use a winch...
How do you hook the cable to the log to make it roll ?
Run the cable out from the mill and
over top of the log, then roll the log away from the mill, over the hook (on the cable), then pull the hook back to the mill and secure it to the mill.
Kbeitz, the LT28 can be equipped with a manual winch-powered claw turner. There's a picture of it on the WM website.
I just finished a large Western Cedar job ( well for me anyway) and half way through I came up with the idea of using my 18V cordless drill with a 3/4" deep socket to power my hand winch. The only modification was I picked up a 1/2" redi rod coupling drilled and tapped it to fit a grub screw (1/4 x 28). I then took off the nut on the handle, screwed on the coupling in its place and it now works great. I did keep the handle on in case something goes sour with it later on.