Norse/Igland or Farmi/Wallenstein style?

[wisconsitom]

Thanks men.  Any reason a guy shouldn't hook a section of choker cable onto the end of your mainline if you need a little extra reach for a log....not winding that up on the winch of course....but just on the occasion you can't quite get to a piece?  I'm gonna have like a 30 ft. cat choker and another shorter one with nothing much to do.

[mike_belben]

Nah, be fine. 

[PoginyHill]

@g_man  where can I get that doohickie you wrap the strap around that is pinned to your snatch block? I like that you can wrap the strap around the tree without having to man-handle the pulley around the tree and through the strap loop. Or is that what you made yourself?

You type faster than me 47

I went thru a couple iterations. Like yours probably, mine came with a long strap attached to the block with a 5/8" bolt thru a bushing. It was real cumbersome getting that 13 lb block around a big tree and thru the loop while keeping it at any height. So I got a 5/8" pin and found a shackle at a local actual hardware store, Dad's 4 By in St J, that I could drill out to 5/8". The shackle and pin was much better because I could put a strap, any strap, on a tree w/o all that weight, then pull the pin and attach the block to the strap with the shackle. Used it that way for a long time. Then one day I saw an Igland block and copied their method by welding that nose made from 1/2" rod onto the shackle. Life got even easier. Nothing to take apart and very strong.
gg

Perfect! Thank you.

@g_man Great idea! Welded mine up last night. Looking forward to using it.


 

 

[Walnut Beast]

Looks good. What is the nose part doing or for ?

[Walnut Beast]

Are you putting the eyes of the strap through and over it ?

[PoginyHill]

The loop end of the strap goes through the shackle and over the "nose" to secure it. No need to hold the snatch block while I wrap the strap around a tree and no need to remove a pin. I saw g_man's and wanted to shamelessly copy it.

[Walnut Beast]

That's what I thought. I was getting thrown off by the blue part of the strap in the picture. That should be really handy 👍👍

[PoginyHill]

The blue is just a sleeve on the loop ends to protect against abrasion.

[mike_belben]

ahh... i get it now.  very slick. 

[47sawdust]

I made a change to my snatchblock.
Some of you might recognize the hook as a gutter cleaning chain.
I've repurposed them into many new life forms. One being a large sunflower.

 

 

 

[mike_belben]

i thought i posted this but went back a few pages and dont see so maybe i forgot.  not as awesome as a self release but not too bad to deal with for my infrequent use. the open end loop size is adjustable to compensate for the tree size. just wrap twice for smaller ones. doesnt bark em up too bad either being a pretty big rope. or slide to the ground like a flat strap. 





i will eventually have to make a self release block when the parts turn up in some junkpile. 

[wisconsitom]

Hey mates, as long as I'm just twiddling my thumbs here, waiting for the boatload of winches to dock in Milwaukee😂🤣😭, thought I'd pop this question;. Measured height of my PTO and it is 20".  What if anything does this say about the suitability and fit of my machine for such winches?  Thanks as always.

[thecfarm]

I would think my NH 40 hp is just a little higher. I have 18 inches clearance than the pto.
All the makers make at least one small one and then a bigger one.
I've seen ones that will fit a 20 hp tractor. Looked more like a toy, but hauling out small stuff, that thing would sneak through the woods.
As I always say, I have to plan and cut roads for the big tractor.
Wife has a 30 hp, I put a trailer on the back of that once and hauled out wood that way. Slow, but did not have to cut and plan out roads either.


Edit alert, I should have measured first.
Wife's 30 hp is like yours, the 40 hp is about 2 feet.
I would put a winch behind the wife's tractor. Yes it could not haul out a 3 foot long 16 feet long, but it would do something smaller.
Well I don't want to say it would not do it, But you could not haul it out of the woods with just the use of the winch, unless you would drive forward the length of the cable and keep winching it to you.

[wisconsitom]

Thanks Ray.  Yeah I'm 20" o.c.

Today maybe I'll call dealers (again) in Massachusetts, Vermont, Ohio... let's see, who else...but they don't even answer the phone anymore.

[Ed_K]

 If your putting it on a 3 pt hitch it won't matter as to the height of your pto. The length of the pto shaft is what matters. you may have to cut it to a certain length to fit. The dealer should help with that.

[g_man]

Listen to Ed. 

But just for an example of difference - the pto on my L3010 tractor is 24", the pto on my JP290 winch about 12". That's a one foot difference and I have ran the combo for 20 years w/o any trouble at all. 

The Farmi JL501 is at 22".

gg

[wisconsitom]

Yeah, on my postage stamp, it's going to be pole-sized conifer thinnings from fairly dense planting that only began in 2008 and then more in 2013, so not huge material.  Maybe bits of other stuff, but not a priority.

Does not sound like pto height/angle is a big concern.  I just saw it mentioned somewhere in something I read.  

[Otis1]

@wisconsitom  I just saw a CL ad from Park Falls for a tractor winch. Not sure if the size or HP matches up to what you're looking for. Just a heads up.

[wisconsitom]

Thanks Otis 1, I'll check that out.

Should point out in above, despite youthfulness of my planted material, it is the larch that is sizing up so rapidly that a nearly 66 yr old man can continue to plan for significant early thinning/harvest during his time on earth.  Things like white pine and Norway spruce ain't no slouches either when it comes to growth in that area, but no comparison to that hybrid larch-it's getting big already.

Edited to add:. I found that ad, it's a big hydraulic winch.  Thanks anyway Otis 1.

[wisconsitom]

Man, I gots to tell you guys, might have found the route to ending up with the winch I'm really after, the Igland 2501.  Over on tractorbynet not sure how I missed this, but member there mentioned vendor right up in Irma, not too awful far away at all.  Shows favorable price but like all vendors, no stock.

Still, he spies some units on the horizon, maybe late spring.  Just can't predict which models, also similar to all other vendors I've spoken with.  Still, best lead so far!  

As always, I'm not so much in a hurry as I'm wanting to end up with the right unit, sized to tractor, scaled to intended work (pole-sized softwoods), and price/ value ratio.

[wisconsitom]

Quick question for you winch users....tractor brake on or off?  My tractor shuts off if I leave the seat and don't set the brake.

Bucket or forks on the ground, elevated, stuck in the ground?

I guess that was two questions 😜.

BTW, most of the time, I'll be in snow, not bare ground.  Thanks

[PoginyHill]

The winch should provide its own braking against the pull, so long as you lower your 3-point hitch all the way down to allow it to sink into the ground as you pull. Personally I apply the parking brake only if the tractor will roll without it set. And that is a small percentage of the time. Looks like you have no choice. There is very little downside to applying the brake. On the bucket question, I normally have my FEL removed when I am in the woods winching.

[wisconsitom]

Thanks Pog.  I can probably defeat that seat switch, but maybe someday out of warranty.

[g_man]

It all depends on your situation. I work in the winter and keep my tractor on the trails as much as possible. The trails become hard pack snow or ice so the winch does not dig itself in very well at all. Likewise on frozen ground or ledge . So I have to depend on the ice chains to hold the tractor.  I just got in the habit of setting the brake and putting down pressure on the bucket cutting edge when ever I use my winch.

gg

[wisconsitom]

Good to know Gordon-that's how I now envision using mine-fairly similar situations I think.

Speaking of "mine", after much wailing and gnashing of teeth about lack of local vendors for these things,I now find myself having to choose between two nearly identical offerings-a Norse 250 about 105 miles from home, or an Igland 2501 about 130 miles away.

Is there one darn reason, as far as product, to choose one over the other?  Price spread is $25.  The one a bit of further away is the slightly cheaper one.  Both are awaiting shipment in next two months, the slightly higher priced one with red blade instead of black, seems the more likely to actually show up.