Building a pto powered logging winch Finished

[Banjo picker]

Thanks Taylor ...I think I know what you are talking about with the extra sheave, but I'll have to get you to draw me a picture. 8)  Tim

[Taylortractornut]

I may have the Farmi  back this week.  The cod that I fixed it for that said he hauled it all the time with out a chain onthe rig lost her off a trailer  somewhere on 25  saturday.   Bent a good portion of it up.  Said itsbladeduga 2 inchchunkout of the road.  Send me a  line when you try it out.    I may have a few chokers  you can have if you want. 

[Banjo picker]

I hope that wasn't in Tish. county or I may have to fix it... :D   You wouldn't have any sliders to go on the main line would you Taylor...?   Tim

[John Mc]

Thanks Taylor ...I think I know what you are talking about with the extra sheave, but I'll have to get you to draw me a picture. 8)  Tim

Here's a link to a web page for Farmi's 501 winch.

The pictures show the upper pulley, and a snatch block down lower. The photo near the top of the page shows the winch in use. If you scroll down the page, you can see more detail on the snatch block. As you face the back of the winch, swinging the snatch block to the left will allow you to release the cable. In use, the snatch block pivots around the vertical bolt to align with the pull.

Hope this gives you a better idea of what we're talking about.

John Mc

[Taylortractornut]

It was in  Itawamba Tim.   I cant imagin the  hole the blade is messed up.       broke out the top link bolts  out of the casting.    Twisted the blade.      Gonna be about 2  days of hard welding and some mill work on it.     Its so wrecked I may try to talk the owner into letting me   make a new frame for it and use the  Farmi guts.    I think I got a few from the  scrap yard.  I picked a few up when  Nelsons was on the side of the road.      I dont know what size cable they fit. 

[thecfarm]

Sliders should not be too expensive. I buy mine from Labonville.
http://www.labonville.com/shop/pc/viewCategories.asp?idCategory=273
But any place that sells tractors and 3pt winches should have them. I went to a show once and saw some prices that was real good on sliders and hooks,than I noticed they was made in China. You can buy some made for a skidder for $25 but I've never broken any of mine hooks or sliders. I would make up some short chains too,like 3½ feet long. Much easier to use at times instead of pulling 3 feet of chain in and out of the chocker. But I also have some 8 foot chains too.
I have no idea what size cable you are going to use,but I would suggest 7/16 by the size of your drum. I put on 1/2 cable once. I did not really care for it. When I would release the tension to pull the cable out,seems like the thicker cable did not like to stay wrapped around the drum like the 7/16 did.

[thecfarm]

Should of mentioned it sooner,but I have "L" hooks to hook mine chains onto and a small box to "store" the chains into to. I've never had one come unhook on me when it is on the winch.





There's a few more pictures of the boxes too in my gallery. Need to protect those boxes too, or the logs will bang them and bend them. This way I don't have to hook the chains twice. Just on the "L" hook and I'm good to go.

[GDinMaine]

Hey Banjo picker,
I'm glad to see you finally had the time and the inspiration to work more on the winch.  I share the opinion that the block is mounted high.  Just looking at the pictures it is 2.5 to 3 times higher then the distance from the lower link connections to the top link.  That is a lot of leverage the winch cable is going to have on your top link.  May be you can come up with a lower mounting point for that nice block to reduce that distance for the heavier pulls.   That said.  Your tractor is two-to-three times the size of mine, so what do I know.  I can't wait to see pictures of your winch in use.

You waited so long to finish yours that even I had time to start on mine.  That is saying a lot these days.   From time-to-time I read through this thread for ideas and it was very helpful.   If you want me to post some pictures I'd be happy to do so in your thread.  Otherwise I could start a new one.

ps: I don't know what happened to Weisyboy's winch  .....  post pics would you....

[thecfarm]

I have 2 pulleys on mine too. One on top and one about 16 inches lower. I noticed billm only has one on top and his works fine,so there you go. By the way Banjo,try to get a straight pull as much as possible. I tried to winch in a small tree,about 6 inches,sideways. I was watching the tree and it get hung up on something,I kept the winch going and the tractor came up on it's side wheels.. 

[Banjo picker]

I cut out the gussetts the other day, and got them all tacked up yesterday...I have my eldest son coming to weild them out after lunch...I have put a gussett on both sides of all the connections on the frame...I just can't see well enough to do a decent job weilding any more ,,,and I have never really been that good anyway.... ;)  When he gets that done I am going to string it up and take it to the woods... I showed it to a buddy of mine and expressed the concerns of it being so high and he recommended that i build a device to go in the reciever that is on the I beam...I kind of like that idea...I can use it either way then...Just slide it into the reciever and route the cable behind it...I will try and get a snatch block type of deal that I can open the side to get the cable in.... I am not much for describing I will get a pic when I get it done.... But it has a poplar log to pull across a creek first...I will get a pic if possible..

GD in Maine you are welcome to post your Pics here if you want ..You can see lots of others posted here and it was helpful to me....Or you can start us a new thread to follow, your choise...

thecfarm thanks for the pics and the supply on the sliders...I will be using 1/2" cable.. I bought a roll of 1000' off craigslist... ;)  Tim

[Taylortractornut]

  Ill loan you a camera  if I have to.  We have to see pics lol.       Im running up to  Surplus industrial  Tomorrow in SHeffield,  I thing he has a split  side sheave there.     Tim some thing that helped me   with welding  is a magnifying lens for my helmets.

[John Mc]

By the way Banjo,try to get a straight pull as much as possible. I tried to winch in a small tree,about 6 inches,sideways. I was watching the tree and it get hung up on something,I kept the winch going and the tractor came up on it's side wheels.. 

Or a sideways pull can bend your lower 3 Pt hitch arms...

[John Mc]

Putting a removable block on the receiver is a great idea. If you can't scrounge anything, the manually releasing snatch blocks are not all that expensive (not like the self-releasing kind). You will want some easy way to release the cable.

You probably want a mounting method that does not let the block "flop over" when there is no tension on the cable. It could be a hassle (and a safety issues) if you had to hold it in alignment every time you went to tension the cable.

[Banjo picker]

Taylor let me know if they have a snatch block like we are talking about..I have a small one that would do, but I would have to disasymble it every time I put the cable in or out of it.... I am off work Friday and need to go to Florence to look at a tree removal anyway.  I could check it out then...

I got Lee to weild it out this evening... We added over a dozen gussetts.. ..I am pleased with how it looks so far... Tim

[John Mc]

Taylor let me know if they have a snatch block like we are talking about..I have a small one that would do, ...

What kind of diameter is the block? You don't want to run 1/2" cable around a small radius block...

[Banjo picker]

John you have a point there... The one I have is not very big .... say 4" without going and looking... I won't really be going around it though..just down one side and out the front...kind of like a 90 deg...The crane boom in some of the earlier post has four 12" sheivs on it.. one of those would be just right, but that would put me back in the fabricating business again.. Tim

[John Mc]

4" probably isn't so bad (assuming you are talking about to the bottom of the groove), though a bit bigger would probably be better. 12" is far more than you need.

If it's mounted in a place that will get smashed up when hauling logs, then having it easily removable (as with your receiver mount) would be a good idea.

[Taylortractornut]

Tim I did nt get to run up there today too many things broke down and Im training a new  helper.      You should stop in and see what  Surlpus Industral has.    Its simple to get to   depending on your route to Florence.

If your on 133  just go west on  2nd street and cross 43/ woodward Ave and  head towards Sheffield.   Youll see an APAC  equipment yard and a small street on the left.   Then the Apac office. Thats Holland Ave.      Theres 3 big warehouses down there and  SI is in the last building.  THey have 2 warehouses packed full of bearings  machinery and tools.     Heres his  listing


Surplus Industrial
401 Holland Ave, Muscle Shoals, AL 35661 » Map
(256) 386-9808

[GDinMaine]

Here is how far I got with my project.  I started it the first week of September.

First couple of pictures show the frame in the early portion of the work.  I got it together just enough so I can test the winch for functionality.  It checked out all right so I went ahead to build the rest of the frame, but-plate and fairlead.
The pictures from 3 to 5 show what it looks like today.

Next I need to put on #60 chain and sprockets, change the oil in the winch and at last install new cable. I hope it will be done in a couple of weeks. 

[GDinMaine]

so.    For some reason uploading pictures became a royal pain in the rear-end.  I will have to try that again later.

[thecfarm]

We will help with picture. I suppose you went to the "help" on top of the page? Just follow that and DON'T miss a step and it will work fine.

[Banjo picker]

Well after nearly a year, I strung up the winch with new cable a couple of days ago...it looked so nice...



Needless to say it don't stay looking like that, but o well...





The lady that runs the logging supply gave me 6 sliders...I bought 3 chokers from her...so I am set.

Here is the first log ...a 19 foot Poplar ... Sorry for the pic quality...Something went arye



This was the top log, the but cut wasn't as long but pretty heavy... and I did break a weild on the I beam where the third arm vertical was attatched... the chains around the ROPS save the day...other wise I would have probably messed up some stuff on the winch... I'll get that beefed up before it goes out again...Even with the high pull point, I had to get in the creek and rehook the middle log as it got under and over hang on the creek bank....I had several other pictures , but they were just not very good....

[pineywoods]

DaanG Banjo, you sure you got enough cable on that drum ? Looks like enough to reach half across the county, much less just across the creek. You'll love it..

[Banjo picker]

Pineywoods I guess I did put a little too much cable on there... ;)  but , I am still in the learning process...  I would like to say thanks again to you and to a lot of others that have gave me tips and ideas to incorporate into this project... First off I am glad I was talked out of powering it straight from the pto... the reverse of the hyd  motor was necessary this evening, as I had to unhook from one log that got hung under the overhang of the creek bank...  I don't rember who told me to put a protective cover in front of the winch, but if I had not done it... the first log would have busted it..    I beefed up the frame everwhere except where the weild broke and I will get that one done now   :D   ....Thanks to all who posted pics. for me to get ideas from...  Tim

[pineywoods]

Yeah, that reverse power out is a lifesaver. I have a pto powered winch on a small dozer, BUT, the pto is reversable. The hydraulic winch on my kubota, I have broken the roller chain and snapped 1/2 inch cable, but never run out of power.