Need help from FARMI 351P owners, please.

[Supercharged86]

Dear Farmi owners, I'm currently working on a DIY homemade skidding winch whose overall design is based on a current Farmi 351P (I say current because I don't know how long this model has been around or if it has dimensionally changed). Not having seen one in person and given the limited dimensions found online, I'm hoping that someone here might provide me with a few more measurements. Here's what I need:

1) The A-frame material width and thickness? It looks like U-channel material about 5 or 6" in width.

2) The height to the top of the integrated choker chain channel (that runs along the front)?

3) The width (C to C) of the two lower 3 point attachment points?

4) The height of the two lower attachment points from the ground?

Here's a few beginning sketches.

Thank you kindly in advance. Steve

 

[Ryan'smilling]

Good morning. Mine isn't a P model, but I've got a 351. That means mine has legs instead of a dozer blade.

So, that means I can get you the first and third dimension you need. I can also tell you that the second dimension you need is arbitrary. The legs on my winch allow it to operate in several positions, so the height of that channel changes quite a bit. I'll give you the height of my two most used positions.

Regarding number 4, the lower you can get the three point arms while the winch is resting on the ground, the better. You do need to leave some travel (don't have the winch set down at the absolute bottom of your lower link range) for when the winch lowers into the ground, and or when the rear tires are elevated relative to ground behind you.


Lastly, without knowing anything about your situation (shop setup, access to material, fabrication skills etc), I wonder if you've considered purchasing a winch from the factory. Farmi commands a premium price, but the Norse winches are very reasonable. The model that compares with the 351 is well under $3000 and claims to have free shipping. I know that I personally could never build something that works as well as my Farmi winch. I'm certainly not saying that you couldn't. If I tried, I'd end up spending 90% of the price of a new one and only getting something 60% as good. I'd also spend lots of hours doing it. Final consideration is that these things really hold their value well. I bet I'd be able to sell my 351 for 80% of the cost of a new one. I don't think a homemade model will hold it's value the same way.

If however you do build one, I'd love to see some pictures along the way!

 

[Ryan'smilling]

Oh, sorry, forgot to mention that it'll be a couple hours for those dimensions.

Also forgot the link to the Norse winch.

http://www.labonville.com/Norse-350-3-Point-Hitch--30-60-HP_p_80.html

 

[Supercharged86]

Good morning. Mine isn't a P model, but I've got a 351. That means mine has legs instead of a dozer blade.

So, that means I can get you the first and third dimension you need. I can also tell you that the second dimension you need is arbitrary. The legs on my winch allow it to operate in several positions, so the height of that channel changes quite a bit. I'll give you the height of my two most used positions.

Regarding number 4, the lower you can get the three point arms while the winch is resting on the ground, the better. You do need to leave some travel (don't have the winch set down at the absolute bottom of your lower link range) for when the winch lowers into the ground, and or when the rear tires are elevated relative to ground behind you.


Lastly, without knowing anything about your situation (shop setup, access to material, fabrication skills etc), I wonder if you've considered purchasing a winch from the factory. Farmi commands a premium price, but the Norse winches are very reasonable. The model that compares with the 351 is well under $3000 and claims to have free shipping. I know that I personally could never build something that works as well as my Farmi winch. I'm certainly not saying that you couldn't. If I tried, I'd end up spending 90% of the price of a new one and only getting something 60% as good. I'd also spend lots of hours doing it. Final consideration is that these things really hold their value well. I bet I'd be able to sell my 351 for 80% of the cost of a new one. I don't think a homemade model will hold it's value the same way.

If however you do build one, I'd love to see some pictures along the way!

Hi Ryan, Thanks for the reply and I appreciate the help. I did consider a commercially built unit, including Norse, Fransgard, etc. Even with the lesser expensive units I believe I can still save over a thousand bucks; considering I have friends with welding skills and a co-worker who uses Auto-Cad and helped me with the drawings. But your right there's the time involved with designing and mock-up. Anyway, I'll be glad to send along some pictures when done. Thanks. Steve

 

[Ryan'smilling]

Okay, got some numbers for you.

The "A-frame" isn't channel, it's 3/16 plate that's bent into that shape. It's 7" from the rear facing triangular panel to the opening that faces the tractor. Everything below the notched part is 5/16" thick, including that part itself. All of the reinforcing material is 1/4" thick.

The width of the three point pin mounts is 27.5" center to center.

In my preferred configuration the winch legs touch the ground with the three point arms at 12" above the ground. The legs can be raised or lowered in 4" increments. The other position I use the winch in puts the links arms at 16" above the ground with the legs touching the ground. My PTO shaft prefers this position, but I get more lift with the first setup.

After looking closely at this thing, I hope your welding friends are good friends. You will be asking them to do a lot of welding.

 

[Ryan'smilling]

I got a couple pictures for you also. Hard to photograph the guts since the winch is mounted on the tractor currently.



If there's anything else I can do, let me know.

 

[Supercharged86]

Thank you for the measurements and photos, very helpful. Well, I don't think I'll be bending 3/16" plate into any shapes, but I'll probably be leaning towards the 6"x.192"x.200" u-channel stock for the A-frame, along with 1/4" plate on the front. My original mounting points were certainly to wide; so with the new measurement I'll need to rework this section (hoping to still incorporate the A-frame bottom, the winch box support and the lower hitch mount points). Thanks again, Steve