3 point winch opinions? Farmi, Wallenstein, Others?

[mudfly]

Does anyone on here use a 3 point winch? What brand do you have? What do you like about it? Dislike? Any specific brands to stay away from?

I'm probably going to be buying one (new) sometime over the next year and have done some research on-line, but its all company marketing and I don't really see much difference between them. Dealer support in my area is limited for all of the brands, so I'd likely be ordering any parts (not that there are many moving parts), or fixing anything broken myself.

Likely to be used behind either a 50 or 70 hp 2wd tractor. I'm mostly cutting firewood and a few saw logs off our own property, so I don't need huge production. Just want something useful and reliable. Currently just using a chain to the 3 point hitch, so I'm somewhat limited in what I can skid out of the woods by what is reasonably close to the trails/roads. Trees are mostly 24" and under with an occasional 30" to 36".

Thanks.

 

[Ryan'smilling]

They're all pretty solid products. I don't think you'll hear anyone say that they bought one that was garbage.

I have a Farmi 351. It's on a 6500# 50 HP 4x4 Kubota. It's a good fit. Depending on the weight of your tractors you might want to step up to the 501 size. I can tell you that unless I really set the parking brake hard, the winch will definitely jerk the tractor around. There's been a couple times I wished for the bigger winch, but i don't really think I'd be able to use the capacity on my tractor. I can winch logs that are large enough to be a challenge to drive away with.

Brands to check out are Farmi, Tajifun, Uniforest, Wallenstein, Igland and Norse. The Norse is the cheapest, as far as I know. Wallenstein has some nice standard features like a trailer hitch. Tajifun uses a band brake instead of a pawl like the others.

I'm very happy with my Farmi. If it were stolen I'd go buy another one. I'd probably buy a Norse just to save money, though. You will love having one and wonder why you didn't buy it sooner.

 

[agvg]

Igland and Norse are the same product

Sent fra min Nexus 5X via Tapatalk

 

[Gypo Logger]

The Norse would be my choice. I had two of them.

 

[Ryan'smilling]

View attachment 557344 View attachment 557342 The Norse would be my choice. I had two of them.

Nice sticks!

How big is that tractor? Any idea on the log weight in the second picture?

 

[dave_dj1]

My only experience is with a Igland, it seems to work nice, it belongs to a friend so I'm not sure on the size, I think it's like the second size up. he has it on a 35 ish hp ford 4x4 tractor. I was searching the internet the other night looking at them and some seem to have an intricate rope system , I like the Igland as it is a simple rope set up.

 

[KiwiBro]

View attachment 557344 View attachment 557342 The Norse would be my choice. I had two of them.

The pulleys seem higher than most. Makes for good for lift on flat/ish terrain. Did you ever get the front of the tractor off the ground when the turn hung on a stump/tree? Can happen pretty quick if not paying attention. I know the blade is supposed to take/distribute the load when engaged but the height of those pulleys makes me wonder if it puts more load on the 3PH arms, especially on angled pulls, which are hard to completely avoid sometimes, even with snatch blocks.
The Norse winches do seem good value.

 

[Gypo Logger]

Nice sticks!

How big is that tractor? Any idea on the log weight in the second picture?

I forget the models of the two different Kubotas, but wish I still had at least one now.
The maple log scaled around 1000 bf. It had a 40" tip at 12'.

 

[KiwiBro]

Looked into using 20' and 40' cans to use cheaper truck company and rail backloads to wholesale firewood customers in major cities, but even as backloads the rates were too much, and the trucks were understandably more concerned about access roads than rural bulk/bin trucks with similar capacities.

 

[dancan]

I have 2 well used winches , a Norse 180 and an Igland 4001 (same maker) , they've been as dependable as a brick , I have friends that have some Farmi winches , dependable as a brick as well .
Of all the reading I've done there hasn't been much of any complaints of any brand , only a few references that Fransguard was a lighter built winch , I not seen anything bad on the Wallenstien even though they are a newcomer to the winch market .
The equipment dealer I buy from are selling KGD winches but sold Farmi in the past , they say that the drive shaft alignment is better when raising and lowering the winch .
The hinged setup like Gypo is a real nice feature , especially after you've been stopped dead in your tracks without it lol
If your winching alone , a wireless remote is a real timesaver .

 

[mudfly]

Does anyone have a link to the Norse website? When I look for dealers in the US I just get the Labonville website.

Same with Farmi. They don't seem to have a dealer search.

 

[dancan]

http://www.igland-as.com/en/
http://farmiforest.fi/

 

[dancan]

Call the farming/equipment dealers you want to deal with , most will have access to different product lines that may not show up on dealer locate .

 

[dancan]

http://www.windyridgecorp.com/
The US distributor for Igland , they can tell you who the dealers are .

http://www.northeastimplement.com/
Us distributor for Farmi .

 

[mudfly]

Thanks.

 

[Gypo Logger]

The pulleys seem higher than most. Makes for good for lift on flat/ish terrain. Did you ever get the front of the tractor off the ground when the turn hung on a stump/tree? Can happen pretty quick if not paying attention. I know the blade is supposed to take/distribute the load when engaged but the height of those pulleys makes me wonder if it puts more load on the 3PH arms, especially on angled pulls, which are hard to completely avoid sometimes, even with snatch blocks.
The Norse winches do seem good value.

Yes!

 

[Gypo Logger]

Looked into using 20' and 40' cans to use cheaper truck company and rail backloads to wholesale firewood customers in major cities, but even as backloads the rates were too much, and the trucks were understandably more concerned about access roads than rural bulk/bin trucks with similar capacities.

I found that using a 40 yard bin (6 cords)was the cheapest way of doing green wood.
Alot of costs are cut by doing this. No truck, insurance, fuel or repairs required.
Costs were about 250$ for a ten mile radius delivery.
This way you can stay in the bush and make that 250 back through logs and more firewood.

 

[KiwiBro]

If your winching alone , a wireless remote is a real timesaver .

The videos only ever seem to show those pulls that go well, not the real-world full of blind pulls through snatch blocks , around stumps, getting hung on trees, etc, etc. It's not much fun going up and down the hill a few times while trying to winch a single, belligerent log to the tractor. If I had ten dollars for every time I had to walk back to the log to free it from a stump I never noticed or thought I could avoid, etc, I'd have the money for a remote by now.

 

[KiwiBro]

I found that using a 40 yard bin (6 cords)was the cheapest way of doing green wood.
Alot of costs are cut by doing this. No truck, insurance, fuel or repairs required.
Costs were about 250$ for a ten mile radius delivery.
This way you can stay in the bush and make that 250 back through logs and more firewood.

Are you leaving them to dry in the bin then dumping the wood at the customers?

 

[KiwiBro]

This tractor winch is OK I guess