tractor log skidding winch for mill

[Durf700]

is anyone using a log skidding winch on a tractor to help get logs to the mill that are out in the woods and stuff?  I am looking for your opinion if they are worth adding to the attachments.. they are expensive but look to be quite useful skidding your own logs from the woods to your mill! 

any good sources to look for used??

thanks

[thecfarm]

I worked a 40hp tractor and a 3 pt winch in the woods for 3-4 years. We did stop when snow got deep. Twitched out a lot of eastern white pine with that winch.
Them things are really pricey now. But not much can go wrong with one. Had mine since ' and have spent no money on parts. But the sprocket is looking kinda worn on it. Did have the chain come off last year.
Any of them will do the job. 
The Norse that I have has a higher pulley than some and the butt plate plates pivots and has boxes for the chains.

[Southside]

Given you recent window excursion you may really want to think about where you put that Kubota.  The winches work great - but if you are not beyond careful a lot of really expensive, very exposed pieces, tanks, lines, etc will manage to find every stump, stick, hole, and other woods hazard you never imagined existed.  That and there is the whole hazard from above to be leery of.  

Forestry gear has a full ROPS and FOPS for very good reason, I have said it before on here but more than once I have bumped, grabbed, or somehow managed to brush a not so healthy pine and had the top break out.  A 16' long, 8" diameter, log falling from 40' up will crash onto my 40,000 lb fellerbuncher and make it bounce like a Tonka toy.  

Just a few miles up the road a guy was using his 'Bota to remove a pine from the edge of his yard - had the ROPS down and it fell onto him, pinned him to the steering wheel where he remained until his son found him.  The ambulance brought him to the hospital out of kindness for the family.  

Things to think about.  

[Larry]

I have a 16,000 pound Garwood pto winch off a wrecker that I've been using for 25 years now.  I pull out tree length logs.  I use it on a little 1720 Ford and have to chain up to another tree when I pull the biguns.  When I built the 3 point mount I made a mistake and geared it way to low.  I can take a nap while it pulls out a tree.

Got a couple other smaller pto winches that I thought I would run off a hydraulic motor but never have taken the time to build it.

[Magicman]

A safety feature is the winch's blade that helps to prevent rear tip over.


 
It is a very valuable tool.  One pin removes the complete receiver & hitch.


 
Seen here skidding an ~18'X28" White Oak log.  Top end first because it was easier to lift a few inches off of the ground while letting the heavier butt drag.

[Larry]

A safety feature is the winch's blade that helps to prevent rear tip over.

Yes, and another safety feature should be protection for the operator in case something breaks on the pull.  I used an heavy expanded metal screen which fastens to the ROPS.  Its not visible in my pictures but I do use one.

[47sawdust]

If you have the time and the timber a winch is a great asset.A small 3 pt. logging winch will do an awful lot of work.
There is a learning curve. Common sense and working within the limits of man and machine are essential.
When it is too cold to saw head to the woods and re-stock your inventory.
Expect to pay 2k and up for good used, more for new.
My latest winch is radio remote with a hydraulic outfeed pulley.It put a big dent in my wallet.



 

[ktm250rider]

I couldn't live without mine.  I really need to upgrade because I don't like the design of mine but it pulls the wood and never fails.  I heat with wood so I use it more for firewood than lumbering.  Winter with snow is the best for pulling logs and keeping them clean, frozen ground is OK.  Soft ground will make logs dirty.
They are also good for pulling neighbors trucks and tractors out of holes!

[Walnut Beast]

Nice pictures Larry, Magicman and 47sawdust 👍. It proves that a little common sense, right equipment and a little planning that you can really move some big logs that many peoples think you can't. The big advantages with the tractor besides a full blown skidder is the 3 pt getting the front of the log off the ground to skid

[bulldozerjoe]

My only complaint, iv got with my fransguard winch is that I should of bought it 20 years ago... how stupid I am.... 

[Durf700]

I live about 35 minutes from Hudson Forestry equipment.. so I drove up yesterday and picked up a new choker chain and picked theyr'e brain and had a look at the winches they offer.. for some reason I thought they were mover money that they were.. I guess I had looked at the hydraulic version months ago they offered which was expensive.  the 45M they offer has about 230' of 7/16" cable and pulls over 9,000 lbs.  they told me I can have one for 3,695 if I pick it up. 

as far as the skidding, as long as I get the log to the main trail that I have that runs throughout my woods then I am good to go.  I have a wide road thats about 20 feet wide that runs all around the 54 acre woods. 

I hadn't really thought about the dangers once your dragging the log out because I have an open roadway.  However that is definitely a very good tip to remember.. 

looking around for used most people want 3k or close to it.. so if thats the case I will just grab a new one.  I figured if I could find a nice one for 2k it would be worth grabbing it but just not saving enough. 

[mike_belben]

Mine was made for nothing from junk laying around the yard.  The 8k electric winch is slow but i had it and it suits the size of the tractor.  







I have several big winches sitting on pallets.  If i had a tractor big enough to suit them i would still prefer a skidder or dozer as a carrier simply for the guarding and bellypans.  Its one thing to thin a little firewood snaking a tractor through the woods.  But if youre needing to drag 3-5 whole trees out with any sort of speed, theyre the wrong machine without a lot of work.  Stephen alford has a mad max woods tractor if you want to see what it takes. 



If you want to make your own pto winch, go to your local scrap yards and look for a winch off a rollback.  They were mostly hydraulic worm gears with freewheel but you can pull the hydraulic motor off, remove the motor adapter and do a mechanical coupling to the worm shaft for your pto.   PTO is vastly superior to electric obviously.  It kills batteries.  Hydraulic is in between the two IMO.  PTO will put the most power and speed to the drum.

[Crossroads]

I bought a Farmi this year and really haven't had a chance to put it to the test as I've just been to busy with other stuff. The little I have used it gives me confidence that I will eventually get a lot of use from it. 

[bates]

I love my used Balfor logging winch.  You will need at least 2 heavy duty snatch block pulleys.  I can work alone and do as much or more than 2 people without a winch.

 

 

   

[Walnut Beast]

Absolutely on the snatch blocks. I was looking for some high quality ones and put a post about snatch blocks but nobody responded 😂. The ones I was looking for was McKissick snatch blocks. They are the best you can get and there price reflects it. A new 8,000 lb one is 340 bucks new. That was the cheapest I could find. I thought I would look on Ebay and yes indeed there are many used ones there. I ended up getting one for less than half the price of a new one

[Durf700]

what are some reasonably priced snatch blocks going to cost me? 

[Walnut Beast]

The one I previously mentioned is top of the line.
I paid ( offered and excepted 80 bucks delivered off EBay. You can buy cheap ones that probably work fine for smaller stuff but I'm not going to play games with safety when I'm winching some big trees. McKissick is totally rebuildable and you could turnaround and put it back on EBay and get your money back. That works for high quality stuff not so much for cheap Chinese junk.

[ktm250rider]

OHHHH I never put anything in my bucket anymore.  Almost wrecked my chainsaw on multiple occasions going out to cut logs and thinking ill just grab a little pile of dirt for this hole while im at it.

As for snatch blocks, I use an old heavy as sin pulley.  Its not self releasing but I don't need it much.  I just cant justify the expense of the self releasing.

[Kindlinmaker]

It is a shame we aren't having big shows right now. I spent a few hours at one of the shows looking at winches.  After going back and forth between all of them a few times and getting into the mechanical details, I thought a clear winner emerged from the big 3 producers. We started working with an alternative log source and never had to pull the trigger on the winch as we weren't pulling our own logs.  I was quite disappointed - they are incredible tools and one of those that you are just going to grow better and better at using with experience.

[Durf700]

It is a shame we aren't having big shows right now. I spent a few hours at one of the shows looking at winches.  After going back and forth between all of them a few times and getting into the mechanical details, I thought a clear winner emerged from the big 3 producers. We started working with an alternative log source and never had to pull the trigger on the winch as we weren't pulling our own logs.  I was quite disappointed - they are incredible tools and one of those that you are just going to grow better and better at using with experience.

what was the clear winner? 

[Hilltop366]

OHHHH I never put anything in my bucket anymore.  Almost wrecked my chainsaw on multiple occasions going out to cut logs and thinking ill just grab a little pile of dirt for this hole while im at it.

As for snatch blocks, I use an old heavy as sin pulley.  Its not self releasing but I don't need it much.  I just cant justify the expense of the self releasing.

It sure is easy to forget that you put stuff in the bucket!

I don't have a snatch block, the few times I have needed to redirect a log I used a choker on a slider but it is really hard on the cable. This has got me to thinking that (for me) it would be rare to need to use the block in the same place more than once so the advantage of self releasing would be minimal because I will have to go get the block anyway so it ends up the same amount of foot steps.

Does anyone often use the snatch block in the same place more than once?

[Kindlinmaker]

It is a shame we aren't having big shows right now. I spent a few hours at one of the shows looking at winches.  After going back and forth between all of them a few times and getting into the mechanical details, I thought a clear winner emerged from the big 3 producers. We started working with an alternative log source and never had to pull the trigger on the winch as we weren't pulling our own logs.  I was quite disappointed - they are incredible tools and one of those that you are just going to grow better and better at using with experience.

what was the clear winner?

That's like answering which sister is prettier or which saw is better.  I'm not brave enough to wade into that one.  Equipment money is hard to come by so I am just recommending looking carefully on both sides of the skid plates. And a big show is an ideal place to do that.  We were looking hard so it was an entire afternoon going back and forth.