How to hook up a 12v winch to pull logs into a processing table?

[woodchuckcanuck]

I built this fours years ago, mostly for cutting small diameter logs and slabs off of the sawmill. Now I want to toy with the idea of adding a 12V winch above the trough to pull logs in direct from the wood pile. Similar to the way that Wallenstein's mobile firewood processors use a winch to pull logs to the chainsaw for blocking.
The quickest 12V hookup may be a deep cell battery. But what sort of longevity would the battery have I wonder? The only power source that would be nearby would be either the quad machine which has a 12v plug on it (would mean running the quad to keep the battery topped up). Or, rig something up on the honda gx390 that would already be running on the wood splitter nearby. The honda is a pull start. So would it mean converting the engine to a electric start. Then run the two winch leads to that battery.

Is there an alternative solution? What would you do?

 

[jblnut]

Do you have 120v access nearby ? I have a 120v wince I use in the shop to deal stuff around that works quite well.

 

[woodchuckcanuck]

Do you have 120v access nearby ? I have a 120v wince I use in the shop to deal stuff around that works quite well.

No, the wood pile is about 1,000 feet from the nearest outlet. Otherwise I'd already be at it

 

[jblnut]

No, the wood pile is about 1,000 feet from the nearest outlet. Otherwise I'd already be at it

Makes sense !!

Do you own a portable generator ? A small Honda EU2000i or similar could power a battery charger hooked to a deep cycle battery or a couple of batteries.

 

[Seachaser]

Check Harbor Freight “lift cranes”. Several models that have winches. May give you some ideas.

 

[woodchuckcanuck]

Makes sense !!

Do you own a portable generator ? A small Honda EU2000i or similar could power a battery charger hooked to a deep cycle battery or a couple of batteries.

I do. It never even entered my mind to think of using it. It's large though, 10,000W, we have for the house backup. Would a trickle charger be enough I wonder?

 

[JRM]

I like your set up. How big of a winch and the load placed on the winch in relation to battery size are big factors in battery longevity. I have a 12k on my trailer that gets used for yarding all kinds of junk up onto the deck. If I'm working it it pulls the battery down fairly quickly. I bring my jump box and leave it hooked to the battery to keep it charged up. If you have one that could be a cheap, easy option. Winches are designed to be run off full battery voltage, the more a static battery gets pulled down (low voltage)the hotter the winch will get if working hard. Bad for winch and battery long term health. The battery would likely still need to be taken back to the house and charged after use even with a jump box hooked, again depending on usage.

 

[woodchuckcanuck]

I like your set up. How big of a winch and the load placed on the winch in relation to battery size are big factors in battery longevity. I have a 12k on my trailer that gets used for yarding all kinds of junk up onto the deck. If I'm working it it pulls the battery down fairly quickly. I bring my jump box and leave it hooked to the battery to keep it charged up. If you have one that could be a cheap, easy option. Winches are designed to be run off full battery voltage, the more a static battery gets pulled down (low voltage)the hotter the winch will get if working hard. Bad for winch and battery long term health. The battery would likely still need to be taken back to the house and charged after use even with a jump box hooked, again depending on usage.

I sorta figured the battery would drain quick, the bigger the log the bigger the draw. I've done a few improvements to that bench since that picture was taken. Added a thing to measure the pieces being cut. And changed the pivot thing for something better than a 6 inch strap hinge. The hinge worked good though. You can see that here.



Actual cutting here



That whole setup we don't have any more. The Eastonmade was sold off and replaced with a SMF-9 vertical splitter. The raised platform was taken apart. Just the bench remains useful. I'm looking to see if I can pull the logs off the pile, block them and have them right within reach of the vertical splitter for processing.

 

[sean donato]

I like your set up. How big of a winch and the load placed on the winch in relation to battery size are big factors in battery longevity. I have a 12k on my trailer that gets used for yarding all kinds of junk up onto the deck. If I'm working it it pulls the battery down fairly quickly. I bring my jump box and leave it hooked to the battery to keep it charged up. If you have one that could be a cheap, easy option. Winches are designed to be run off full battery voltage, the more a static battery gets pulled down (low voltage)the hotter the winch will get if working hard. Bad for winch and battery long term health. The battery would likely still need to be taken back to the house and charged after use even with a jump box hooked, again depending on usage.

View attachment 1153255

I'll add to that, I do the same with 2 of my trailers. My deck over I did batteries on the 12k winch. Not worth it imo, too much upkeep and usually ended up hooking jumper up to the batteries and letting the truck run. My red trailer I just powered off the truck. Much easier if not more upfront cost. Like mentioned winches don't like low voltage and all that dies is drive the amp draw up and create heat. Had the winch so hot on the deck over so hot you couldn't touch it.

 

[GenXer]

If you have the generator you can get a 12V power supply, I have 2 - 12V 30 Amp power supplies running 12V diesel heaters.

 

[JRM]

I'll add to that, I do the same with 2 of my trailers. My deck over I did batteries on the 12k winch. Not worth it imo, too much upkeep and usually ended up hooking jumper up to the batteries and letting the truck run. My red trailer I just powered off the truck. Much easier if not more upfront cost. Like mentioned winches don't like low voltage and all that dies is drive the amp draw up and create heat. Had the winch so hot on the deck over so hot you couldn't touch it.

If I was running multiple loads a day wiring directly to the truck would be a worthwhile expense. Rarely do I do more than one load so the jump box is more than adequate for me. I've always got extra batteries laying around too, use what ya got (KISS)

 

[jblnut]

I do. It never even entered my mind to think of using it. It's large though, 10,000W, we have for the house backup. Would a trickle charger be enough I wonder?

Obviously depends on how large a winch and how often it’s used but I doubt a trickle charger would be enough to keep up. I use Battery Tender Jr’s and I think they only put out 3/4 amp. I run a big commercial Schumacher charger off my EU2000i so I’m sure that 10k unit would run a normal full sized charger.

If you have the generator you can get a 12V power supply, I have 2 - 12V 30 Amp power supplies running 12V diesel heaters.

You’d need some serious 12v power supplies to power a winch. A 3k winch draws 120-150a and a 12k winch can draw north of 400a under full pull.

 

[iowa_jim]

I looked into 12v winches for another purpose, and I was surprised at the amp draw. I'd consider a pair of marine batteries to minimize the draw from each, and then a charger on top of that if a longer run time is needed.

 

[Sidecarflip]

View attachment 1153213

I built this fours years ago, mostly for cutting small diameter logs and slabs off of the sawmill. Now I want to toy with the idea of adding a 12V winch above the trough to pull logs in direct from the wood pile. Similar to the way that Wallenstein's mobile firewood processors use a winch to pull logs to the chainsaw for blocking.
The quickest 12V hookup may be a deep cell battery. But what sort of longevity would the battery have I wonder? The only power source that would be nearby would be either the quad machine which has a 12v plug on it (would mean running the quad to keep the battery topped up). Or, rig something up on the honda gx390 that would already be running on the wood splitter nearby. The honda is a pull start. So would it mean converting the engine to a electric start. Then run the two winch leads to that battery.

Is there an alternative solution? What would you do?

Couple things. One. most portable genny's will have 12 volt charging capabilities built in, Two, you'll need more than one 12 volt battery as 12 volt winches pull a lot of amperage, I suggest a couple 12 volt flooded cell starting batteries not a hybrid battery because flooded cell batteries deliver better amperage on drawdown and they are a lot cheaper and wire them in parallel. Three, use welding cable to wire the batteries and connect them to the winch. You can get the cable by the foot at Tractor Supply as well as the battery posts and crimp on solid copper lugs which you'll need to connect the winch to the batteries and Harbor Freight has some dandy winches, Just put one on my wife's side by side and the 5000 pound one I bought has a remote with it, something you need to run the winch, makes it 'hands off and 5000 pound is plenty for your needs. The HF winches are bullet proof and much cheaper than say a Warn.

Hope that helps.

 

[sean donato]

If I was running multiple loads a day wiring directly to the truck would be a worthwhile expense. Rarely do I do more than one load so the jump box is more than adequate for me. I've always got extra batteries laying around too, use what ya got (KISS)

The batteries were always the downfall for me, even with 4 group 31 deep cycles on tap the cost and maintenance was too much. Id get 2-3 years out of a set. Even with a 7 amp automatic charger at the house and charging off the trailer brake battery (14 amp dc-dc charger) the cost wad too much. Basically paid for the 4/0 cable and a few Anderson connectors for the truck and the red trailer.
Neither way is wrong, but the batteries sure didn't work for me.

 

[Billhook]

 

[Sidecarflip]

The batteries were always the downfall for me, even with 4 group 31 deep cycles on tap the cost and maintenance was too much. Id get 2-3 years out of a set. Even with a 7 amp automatic charger at the house and charging off the trailer brake battery (14 amp dc-dc charger) the cost wad too much. Basically paid for the 4/0 cable and a few Anderson connectors for the truck and the red trailer.
Neither way is wrong, but the batteries sure didn't work for me.

Sean... The trick, if you want to call it that is you need to disconnect the batteries from the circuit when not using them, something I do with a knife switch battery isolater on my farm tractors. Flooded cell batteries loose about 10% of their total charge per month when idle, but appreciably more when they stay in circuit. I do that with my tractors and my flooded cell Group 31's with 1000 CCA each, last around 4 years before I replace them and I only run Interstates and I buy them from a retailer that has a large turnover as any flooded cell battery sitting on a shelf is already getting old. Never buy batteries from a mom and pop retailer, they are on borrowed time and keep all the connections clean and bright, corrosion on ANY connection is your worst enemy. If I was the OP, I'd get a solar array (as much as I dislike solar) and use that to keep the batteries charged with a wired in series solar battery maintainer / charger.

 

[fields_mj]

I'm not quite following with exactly what you are trying to do with the winch, or how it will speed things up for you, but you didn't ask about that part.

As far as powering a winch goes, go get a Group 31 marine battery, preferably one that weighs over 60 lbs. I picked one up from O'Reilly's last month on sale for a little over $100. I use one to power a 13K Xbull winch which is what I use to operate the arch on the back of my equipment trailer. From a single charge, I can load the trailer with enough logs to make 2 cords of firewood. Maybe put out a solar panel with a trickle charger to charge it on days where you're not using it. Below are some pics of what I've loaded onto my trailer. The load of black locust was done before I built the arch and bought the winch, but its kind of representative of what I normally load onto the trailer from a single fully charged battery. I normally load a little more actually, and the battery isn't dead when I'm finished. For the size of what you're dealing with, I would think a small 2500 lb winch would be more than adequate. Something that small should run for quite a while off of one of these batteries.

I used my first battery for about 5 years, but I did a lousy job of maintaining it. Prior to using it with my winch, I had it in a '93 F250 diesel. Last winter I forgot to plug it in after getting a load of hickory. After that, I started having some issues with it. I checked the water level for the first time this past fall to and had to add over a quart of DI water to top it off. Needless to say, I had to replace it shortly after. If I had taken better care of it, it would have likely lasted a lot longer.

 

[fields_mj]

Nice setup! Ever consider using a longer bar and doing 2 or more logs at a time?

 

[sean donato]

Sean... The trick, if you want to call it that is you need to disconnect the batteries from the circuit when not using them, something I do with a knife switch battery isolater on my farm tractors. Flooded cell batteries loose about 10% of their total charge per month when idle, but appreciably more when they stay in circuit. I do that with my tractors and my flooded cell Group 31's with 1000 CCA each, last around 4 years before I replace them and I only run Interstates and I buy them from a retailer that has a large turnover as any flooded cell battery sitting on a shelf is already getting old. Never buy batteries from a mom and pop retailer, they are on borrowed time and keep all the connections clean and bright, corrosion on ANY connection is your worst enemy. If I was the OP, I'd get a solar array (as much as I dislike solar) and use that to keep the batteries charged with a wired in series solar battery maintainer / charger.

yeah that could have been helpful I suppose, it didn't draw any amperage when not in use though, but wouldn't have hurt to isolate the batteries.