Skidding winch for the tractor

[Ryan'smilling]

This has got to be the ultimate skidding winch, if for nothing but price. I bought it about 40 years ago at a declining-price auction from a marine consignment place for something ridiculous like $35, complete with cable; I suspect it was a barge winch of some application. It came with no frame, just the winch drum, gear/brake box, hydraulic motor which was worn out, but everything else in it was indestructible. I tried it on my MF85 and it didn't work, so it got left in the blackberries until I traded the old Massey on a new Kubota L3400 about 2010.

I built a 4X4X1/4 angle frame for it, put a new hydraulic motor on it (which took some clever welding, plus hydraulic calculations) and put it to work. Used on the Kubota nothing stops it, either the log comes or the tractor is dragged to the log--but the winch will not stall. I run the tractor hydraulics up near 2700 psi maximum.

I'd have to double check, but I think it has 7/8 cable on it; certainly at least 3/4. The drum is about 20" side-flange diameter, 16" wide; inside diameter about a foot. Two hand-wheels on the gear box, one to release a drive dog inside so the drum free-wheels, another to apply a band brake to the bull gear. Properly maintained, I could not ever put the slightest amount of wear on it--and nobody before I owned it could either, except for the hydraulic motor.

The pics were taken last year when modifying it for a Quick-Hitch I'd just bought. Before it was painted.

I'm happy that it's useful for you, but I will disagree with it being the "ultimate skidding winch". The factory made three point winches are really in a different league. Your winch can probably outpull a medium sized one like I have, but as you pointed out, it can only pull as much as it takes to slide your tractor. The skidding winches with blades or legs work well because they anchor themselves to the ground. Also, I'll let you pull that heavy cable around, and stick to my nice lightweight 7/16 (iirc) cable, of which I can carry 175'. Plus, for safety and precision, I'll never give up that clutch rope. Oh, almost forgot, at a decent rpm, these pto winches are FAST too.

 

[lwmibc]

Man, I'll sure agree with you on the cable; pulling that out to a log is a real workout--but that is what was on it for $35 and I'm too cheap to change it. And it is slow, but that was all my choice in my own calculations of the tractor's flow rate and the hydraulic motor displacement to get the speed I thought the winch drum should turn for ultimate pulling power. I sure did get pulling power! There's just nothing on it that one could possibly bust no matter what they did. A hydraulic hose maybe?

But bet yours cost more though...

 

[Ryan'smilling]

Man, I'll sure agree with you on the cable; pulling that out to a log is a real workout--but that is what was on it for $35 and I'm too cheap to change it. And it is slow, but that was all my choice in my own calculations of the tractor's flow rate and the hydraulic motor displacement to get the speed I thought the winch drum should turn for ultimate pulling power. I sure did get pulling power! There's just nothing on it that one could possibly bust no matter what they did. A hydraulic hose maybe?

But bet yours cost more though...

True, a little more than $35. I did actually get mine for a steal though. I don't think the guy really knew what he had. I paid $900 for my farmi 351. It's probably worth 3x that right now. I was a happy camper.

 

[lwmibc]

Wow!-- looking at new prices of some of these things I should clarify--mine is 'ultimate' only in pulling power per dollar spent!--which is actually what I meant in the first place. I'd have to pay $10,000 for a new Wallenstein FX85R with shipping in Canada. You are an admirable thief alright; you stole that one getting it for under $1,000.

I guess I could go to work with my welder now and turn mine into something looking more like a true logging winch, that should be fun. You guys have got me thinking of multiple additions and modifications.

For now it pulls logs just fine, but I'm 74 so in a few years I just might think of sizing down on that cable.

 

[rwoods]

lwmibc, resist the temptation to chain your tractor to a tree, you might just pull it in two.

Ron

 

[lwmibc]

Ha--okay so far, but maybe only because I'm too tuckered to get mad after pulling the cable out a few times. No P&V left in me by the time I'd want to go for the chain.

I have jammed the winch up against a stump when pulling out of the ravine though; that works. I wouldn't be surprised that it can approach 35,000 lbs of pull, tractor just above idle.

 

[rwoods]

lwmibc, about 15 years ago I started building a winch mount for a winch off a military 5 ton truck. Uncle Sam rates it at 20k # which means it is probably double that. It has a 3/4” cable. The mount was designed to fit on the back of my 2.5 ton military truck and on a three point hitch with the intent to anchor it to something when powered by the tractor. In 2010 a little medical issue left me with certain restrictions that killed the project. I am still tripping over the winch in my basement and musing what I could have done with it.

Ron

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Hey there guys, I'm still kicking, I just haven't posted in here in a while.

I skidded out a bunch of logs for a guy last fall, here's a few of them,

Pulled out a bunch of logs, mostly for firewood, but some were pretty decent sawlogs too,

I cut most of them up for firewood,

Some of them were bigger rounds,

But, I ran them all through the 4-way on my splitter,

and made quite a bit of firewood,

SR

 

[muddstopper]

Rob, Glad to see your still kicking. I dont think I have heard anything out of you since that guy on utube was giving you credit for your drill powered winch handle ideal. Which I am stealing by the way. One thing about nice size saw logs, they make nice stacks of firewood.

 

[Ryan'smilling]

Rob, Glad to see your still kicking. I dont think I have heard anything out of you since that guy on utube was giving you credit for your drill powered winch handle ideal. Which I am stealing by the way. One thing about nice size saw logs, they make nice stacks of firewood.

Tell me more about this.

 

[muddstopper]

Tell me more about this.

Ryan, I assume you are referring to the winch handle drill conversion. Rob can better tale it than I. I was watching a milling video where a guy took a socket and welded it up to fit in place of a boat winch handle. They guy gave rob the credit for the ideal. He was using the boat winch to pull logs upon his mill and from what I saw, it worked very well. Took out all the manual cranking on the winch to load large and small logs. It was a very easy conversion and well worth the effort if you dont have a log lift or something to put logs on the mill. I think it would work well for turning a big log on the mill also. I dont have a youtube link, but maybe you can do a search for it.

 

[muddstopper]

 

[Ryan'smilling]

Ryan, I assume you are referring to the winch handle drill conversion. Rob can better tale it than I. I was watching a milling video where a guy took a socket and welded it up to fit in place of a boat winch handle. They guy gave rob the credit for the ideal. He was using the boat winch to pull logs upon his mill and from what I saw, it worked very well. Took out all the manual cranking on the winch to load large and small logs. It was a very easy conversion and well worth the effort if you dont have a log lift or something to put logs on the mill. I think it would work well for turning a big log on the mill also. I dont have a youtube link, but maybe you can do a search for it.

Gotcha. Thanks. Somehow I was thinking this was related to a skidding winch and I couldn't figure out how a drill would be involved. This makes more sense.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Some more fall, skidding picts...

This time I was out in my own woodlot, skidding out the hazard trees I showed being cut down, earlier in this thread.

I wanted to get some of the easier firewood out, so I got set up,

and started to skid some of it,

As you can see, there was a lot of smaller "stuff" to get out of the way,

Anyway, i got enough of it skidded out of the way, that next time I can get some bigger stems out. So, I loaded them all up and headed home,

That's it for this time,

SR