Truck, come along, or winch when you need to resort to ropes and pulling?

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Paolastreeservice

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So as the title says.

Truck, come along, or a winch (gas or electric) for pulling trees over (when the situation calls for it) and whichever you use what brand or model is your favorite? ( I know trucks vary)

I’ve honestly used all three over the years but I’m looking to buy a new come along this week unless anyone has recommendations on winches.
 
Truck.
Human uses a maasdamn. If I had $$$ I'd have one just for.

He also uses the heck out of a truck mounted wench. And an articulated thingie.
 
Depends on what youre pulling. Truck winch is good. Massdam is great for pulling trees over. A regular come a long is limited in length of pull by the amount of cable on the rig. That's cut in half if you use a block. The Massdam and 120 ft of rope can pull 120 ft without re setting. The gas powered winches are nice if you're pulling a lot. GRCS is good but expensive. It will also pull until you run out of rope. A simple 5 to1 or fiddle block system pulls trees over nicely.
 
Thanks guys I’m still shopping. Over the years I always used the f550 but that was the old company I ran now I’ve gone off on my own so I’m still grabbing a couple pieces of equipment and sadly the dump truck I had to settle for does not have much pulling power lmao so I wanted to try a new come along or gas/electric winch just heard mixed reviews over which to go for and until I’ve got extra cash I want to get whichever can do it all for a reasonable price.
 
We like to use the winch on our bucket truck if possible for heavy pulls. I like 5 to 1 as well but sometimes they are not enough. We have a Wyeth Scott more power puller that gets used in situations where we can't get any equipment but need more pull than a 5 to 1. We don't use it nearly as much after getting our mini skid steer but when you really need it, it's great to have.
 
I have a skid steer and a winch. The most effective way to use is to use them together. To haul my skid steer and winch to a job takes a minimum of a day to get them where they need to be so there has to be a decent amount of wood at a site to justify. A decent winch is essential to any profitable firewood or logging operation. More equipment means a capacity to move more wood. I built my winch 35 years ago and still I forget to use it because it is clumsy to move around. The ideal set up would be to have a lightweight one to move stuff around. Thanks
 

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I use my mini skid (Vermeer S800tx) to pull 99% of my trees and the other 1% is the mini with some MA added.
 
I use:

Wyeth-Scott Amsteel power puller- very well made and strong but it takes more time to set up and reel back in. I use this the least often.

Masadaam rope puller with 3 strand rope. I use this most of the time. Easy and quick to set up and has decent pulling strength. Also the cheapest set-up. Seems flimsy for heavy stuff though

GRCS- Heavy duty pulls. By far the strongest and most reliable. Doesn't take too much time to set up but it was pricey. I find so many situations to use it though. Awesome buy and well worth the 3k investment.

I do not use:

A truck. It's not stationary or stable.
 
IMG_20190614_160048594.jpg Various hand winches depending on the situation:

4m chain lever hoists (comalong) 0.75tonne and 1.5 tonne.

20m Chinese Tirfors (Griphoist) 0.8 tonne and 1.6 tonne.

Dyneema extension rope with 4tonne snatch blocks - I can generate over 4 tonnes of pull if the situation permits.

Someday I'll aquire one of those wee winches portable capstan winches.

For small stuff on flat ground I pull with my 5.5 horsepower tracked mini dumper. It weighs 220kg, but can be loaded with ballast to increase traction. It's no mini skid steer but will out-pull three men.

 
I use to have a small gas powered winch that I got from someone. I put a 50cc ish size two stroker of a Colman generator on it and it worked the kittys titties for quick easy pulling. Iv used it to pull out my 1220 a couple times but that’s about all it wants to do. Iv never had a tree I couldn’t pull over with it. It moves pretty quick which is nice because you can get momentum going
 
We use Griphoists, we have a little 800kg, a couple 1600kg and 2 3500kg lift models. backed up with about 260m of 16mm dyneema we have no issues

Wont the GRCS or trucks anymore unless its an easy pull. To much risk of things going wrong. I also have a 1600kg lift harbegger chainsaw winch but again, tirfors offer the best power and reliability IMHO although they can lack for speed.
 
Use a Maasdam rope puller.

Any thing it can't handle i don't need to be pulling.
 
I have a winch with the capacity of about 8,000 lbs, but it is hard to move around. So have come up with the idea of building a smaller light weight one. I found that a chainsaw powered motor to be more trouble that a five HP four stroke. So I am in the process of setting up a complete aluminum chassis with a sprocket driven aluminum shaft on a smaller steel shaft on roller bearings. Thanks
 
I have a winch with the capacity of about 8,000 lbs, but it is hard to move around. So have come up with the idea of building a smaller light weight one. I found that a chainsaw powered motor to be more trouble that a five HP four stroke. So I am in the process of setting up a complete aluminum chassis with a sprocket driven aluminum shaft on a smaller steel shaft on roller bearings. Thanks
 
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