Norwood Skid-Winch

[bobmoss1]

Hi all,

First time poster here. I am thinking about buying a Norwood Skid-Winch for my property. It will be light (non-professional) use, mostly hauling logs on-site milling and firewood. Generally 20" diameter or less. Has anyone had experience using one of these? Can you provide some insight?

Thanks

[thecfarm]

bobmoss1,welcome to the forum.
How many hp is your tractor? 20 inch ones will make a small one work,hills,small knolls can be scary.
I have no idea about that winch. I myself would want to haul more than one out. I just do firewood now. Sometimes I have 6 small trees,behind me with a 3 pt winch,which cost a lot more too.

[bobmoss1]

Thanks for your reply.

My tractor is a 55 hp New Holland. I think it can handle it, but the Norwood skidder is hydraulic-powered, and I would like to figure out if it is up to the job. 

[thecfarm]

55hp will do that easy. I run a 40 and that will do a lot on those hills and knolls. Just don't want too many 20 inches at one time behind me.  ;)

[mike_belben]

How much HP is sort of a loaded question in hydraulics without other information.  (Pressure and pump cubic displacement specifically)  i skid a 20" sawlog with a 17hp tractor so my off the cuff answer is youll be fine.  In a hobby environement you buy what you buy and work it at a pace it can handle because hey, ive got time.  

I will share my analogy for hydraulic design.  

Back in the old days, the 6v71 and NTC230 were lugging dryvans and tankers up rocky mountain passes with less power than a current 3/4ton pickup.  How'd they do it?  5.88s, 6.17s, etc.  Tons of gear and slower speed.   

Pump displacement is exactly like gear ratio in a truck.  If you want to run a larger pump displacement thats like pulling the same load up the same grade with 3.73 instead of 4.10s.  (Lets assume in top transmission gear)  so you need more engine.  More pump displacement takes more engine.  

If your engine and load are determined but you are struggling to do the job with that power level, put in a smaller pump.  This is like putting in 4.88s so your little 318 can get that camper up the hill. Youll go slower in the flats but will make the hills which are what determine if you can do the job or not. 

[thecfarm]

Yes,mike you are right. I like to ask hp beacuse most of the sub compacts,compacts tractors are kinda rated by hp. Better than I have a Kubota Hst 493, or a JD br 459,or a NH tc 345,can it move six 20 inch logs 16 feet long? I have to google it to see what size it is.

[John Mc]

I've only seen a Norwood skid-winch once, and that was a while ago. My impression was that it's WAY undersized for your 55HP NH tractor. In fact, most of the Norwood equipment I've seen is more suited to ATVs, subcompact tractors, or the small end of the compact tractor range. The Norwood skid-winch is a whole lot less expensive than some of the other alternatives, which is tempting, but I don't think I'd use it on my 33 HP NH TC33D, let alone a 55HP tractor.

If price is really that much of a factor, I'd choose the Norwood over trying to rig an electric winch - those can be rather exasperating for any serious log winching. I would want an idea about the rated pulling power before I purchased - and they don't seem to reveal that on their web site.

[bobmoss1]

Good points John. Thanks for the input.

Bob

[Mountain_d]

I have a Wallenstein 9000 lb pull pto driven winch on a 50 HP four wheel drive Kabota. I had good luck with it. I used it pretty steady for about 7 years then bought a Skidder. I still have the winch. I don't want to part with it. I still use it from time to time. I hear the Hydralic powered winches are slow unless you have lots of flow rate, so a pto driven may be best depending on your tractor. Enjoy. 
Mountain

[John Mc]

Bobmoss1 -

I forgot to welcome you to the forum (though fortunately not everyone was as oblivious as I was).

If you get a chance, fill out our profile and let us know where you are from.

You mentioned 55HP tractor, but on another forum, you said a NH Boomer 35. I'm assuming one of those was a typo. In my experience, it's more the weight and beefiness of the tractor than the HP (I don't think I've ever used anywhere close to the full rated PTO HP of my NH TC33D). However, HP is often used as a proxy for overall size. So which tractor you have will have an influence on what people recommend.