Winch dilemma

[Mt406]

I am looking for some input..
Some back story. A month or so ago I was talking to one of the local DNRC foresters about logs and how as a small mill I am treated by loggers.In passing I made the comment they are going  to cause me to get into logging on a small scale. Now 3 times in the last week he's called to see if  I want a small salvage sale. Some blow down, fence and irg  ditch right away.
They would like it winches for less inpacted.
So it's been kicking around in my head. (My wife thinks there's a few things lose in their to)
Now this gets dropped off in my log yard.

 

It's a winch for pulling cable.
Has 1800 ft of 3/8 cable  7000 lbs consent pull.
Line speed of 60fpm at 7000, 120fpm at 3500

If I proceed with this madness should I mounted on my skid steer or on my  knuckle boom l have a grapple coming for that.

Thanks Scott 

[nativewolf]

@Mt406 Apologies, I have no idea why they dropped my winch off at your log yard.  Please just crate up and send to Delaplane, VA.  

Abandon all hope ye who enter the logging world.  Ok, actually lots of guys think about the logging/sawing thing but few do it.  @BargeMonkey is one whose family does.  Most prefer to specialize one way or the other.  I've had the opposite problem of hiring sawyers whose work quality is so so at best and whose rates reflect my vicinity to Washington DC rather than the value of a fence board (sawing rates would be much lower if I were 50 miles to the west).  

[Riwaka]

A bit of missing information that makes it difficult to know what an appropriate suggestion is.

Is the knuckleboom - a trailer mount, truck mount, ancient track mount ,  stationary unit waiting for remounting etc?

How large is the skid steer 25 horsepower, garden toy?

How large or small are the trees? 200 foot tall Western Larch with 8 foot stump height etc

As a go to machine general purpose the old cat 320 cl log loader (or similar old machine other brand with parts support) with a grapple and winch.

Stratos Pro Forestry Winch Rope at Work - YouTube

[Mt406]

Details would be good.
I have JD 317 skid steer weights just over 7000lb @54hp  with log grapple.
The truck is a 1986 IH 1900 GVW 34k with a 8000lb atles  knuckle boom.
Trees are small 6-20 in on butt lodgepole pine some Douglas fir trees don't get to big hear at 7-8000 ft . 

 

 
These were the exception don't see many like these.

Scott 

[BargeMonkey]

Make up a rugged mounting plate for the skidsteer, need to make a rugged pan for it to sink in the ground because the winch will snatch the machine, probably a nice backstop to keep you and the wire separate in the cab. 

 Theres a reason why they keep asking you, no one else wants it 😂 Unless the wood is great most guys here wont touch storm cleanup unless your paid or paying almost nothing for it. 

 You can find a nice small rubber tire skidder on FB cheap, would save you beating your skidsteer or truck to death. We own a medium sized bandmill now, had 2 circle mills and 1 band / resaw, mostly roughcut lumber and survey stakes by the thousand now. Around here if we had to depend on someone else for wood we would go under, same as the firewood business. I cut alot of garbage wood but our utilization is 100% so I'm not forced to chase good wood all the time. 

[Hans1]

Not sure what that thing is in the pic, might be a cable control off a dozer or a pipe layer side boom. If you are going to log get a skidder or a winch for a tractor. But it was said in the above post no money to be made there for no one else wants to cut it.

[Mt406]

Hans 
It's not that these are junk trees there's not enough volume for loggers. He won't unload for 
5-10 loads. Lodgepole doesn't have much root they blow over easy.
The DNRC would rather sell it to someone to be responsible to clean it up. If they let the fire wood getters in after it they will still have to clean up after them. 
That pic is a cable pulling winch it in ruff  shape but I talked to th manufacturer I can get parts for it and they sent me the manual and parts book.
I am not looking to get into logging full time just supplement my log supply.

Scott

[Hans1]

Ok that makes way more sense. Sounds like it could be a good fit to your operation. We have tried our own smaller scale logging with dozers,tractor with skidding winches and it much easier with a skidder. 
  If the winch in your picture can be mounted on a plate then it would be a handy rig. 

[luvmexfood]

You never know what you will get as salvage. Got a call one morning first on landline that I didn't answer and then on cell. Some contractor for the highway dept were going to cut a couple of trees down the road. One on the highway side of fence and one on our side. Had a limb about as big as your wrist hanging off each one. Asked if I wanted the logs. 

Rode down and I first I said know thinking that they were some different trees I had given them permission to cut. They said they were white oak so I drove on down and looked. Next words to them was let me go and get my trailer. They cut, bucked and loaded them for me. Almost $500 for about an hour on my part.

Odd thing they cut these two because of a couple of limbs wrist size that were hanging up in tree. Go 100ft down road and a big maple stands, probably 36 inches dbh with more than half the roots undercut and washed out below it. They won't even talk about cutting it. Liable to go over at any time.