Portable winch to pull slabs uphill?

[Blue42]

I've been pulling 300 lb slabs up a steep hill with block and tackle. It's a killer on about a 35 degree incline. (Yea. 35. I measured it.) After taking an hour per slab yesterday and about 20 times up and down the hill pulling, adjusting, de-snagging ropes, etc., I'm done. Thinking about an ATV winch. It will not be on a vehicle. I'll bolt it to some 2x4s.
Anyone done this before or have any advice? I think it should be fine, but I also think the motor might not like it, since its normal use is pulling one thing 10-20 ft, one time. Not 6 things 100 ft, one after the other.

 

[Ancient One]

Lewis Chainsaw Winch. An Elk Hunter's favorite for many years out here in the NW. They often show up on Craig's List in WA State, Oregon, Idaho.

Google it!

https://lewiswinch.com/collections/products/products/lewis-winch-400-mk2

 

[Blue42]

Thanks, I saw that one. Pricey for me. I'm looking for cheap $200 or so. Once I get these 20 or so slabs up the hill I doubt I'll use it again. I got into all of this because a 100+ year old oak fell on the hill on my property and I couldn't let it rot. Have spent a lot on various stuff already. Will probably be moving to a little 0.5 acre square within a year, so all my lumberjacking will probably end there.
I do have a decent size sweetgum down too that I'm going to mill and try to get to dry straight, so there will be maybe more like 40 slabs to pull up before its done.

 

[Blue42]

I got a couple 10" inflatable caster wheels off Northern Tool a while back that I bolted to a little 2x4 rig. I put the front of the slabs on that and wrap a tow strap around them for pulling with a 100' bull rope. Before that, it was ridiculous. I might as well have been ready with a bag of corn seed to sow into the hillside I plowed up, before I got them on wheels.
I did about ten of them that way, using two twin sheave pulleys. But after yesterday, I give up on the middle-aged-man-powered setup.

 

[ElevatorGuy]

What about a 2500 or 3500 lb HF BADLANDS winch for the 4 wheeler?

 

[Doorfx]

Remember all winches are rated as “ intermittent Duty”. That means they are not designed for continuous pulls.
For example a Warn 2500 ATV winch pulling the rated 2500 lb load for 10 seconds requires a 10 minute cool down.
You can melt the windings in the armature or destroy the brushes. This is the main reason there are so many failures on small winches as people don’t read their manuals[emoji3]
Winches have the rated pull listed , but it is with only one wrap on the drum. You can see by the chart I’ve included, how much pulling power you lose with each additional wrap on the drum.
The chart listed is directly from a Warn owners manual.

 

[old guy]

Some kind of capstan winch?

 

[Trdoldtreecutter]

Maybe try attaching a block to the slabs and double your pull might work with a lesser winch. A high purchase to gain lift might help too. Or even a skyline if there is some deflection

 

[Philbert]

$200 is pretty meager. Can you use a pulley to redirect, and pull the slabs up with a vehicle?

Philbert

 

[Blue42]

That potential for burning up the motor is what I was concerned about Doorfx. Thanks for the information. From your chart that winch could do 2 minute spells with these light loads. 30 ft. Then a 10 min cooldown. So over the 100 ft or so pull I would be looking at about 30-40 min per slab. Not the knockout solution I was hoping for.

 

[Blue42]

$200 is pretty meager. Can you use a pulley to redirect, and pull the slabs up with a vehicle?

Philbert

I can't get anything back there through the trees and fence. A mule would be the real solution. But times have changed since 1900. I can get as much multiplication as I need, since I got four twin sheave pulleys. But then I can only reach 20 ft or so before I'm resetting everything, meaning more up and down the hill.

 

[Trdoldtreecutter]

I made a simple arch/peeve type setup with a long tongue with an axle many years ago to pull logs out of back yards where there wasn’t enough room for equipment. I would lift up on the tongue and chain the log tight, then as I pulled, it would raise the front of the log off the ground and drag with little effort.

 

[Trdoldtreecutter]

I made a simple arch/peeve type setup with a long tongue with an axle many years ago to pull logs out of back yards where there wasn’t enough room for equipment. I would lift up on the tongue and chain the log tight, then as I pulled, it would raise the front of the log off the ground and drag with little effort.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

Why are you making slabs so large? That's got to be alot of wasted wood?

Why not cut them up to firewood length at that point vs wrestling with the whole thing?

 

[Blue42]

Your arch/peeve is probably a lot better setup than I have. With 10" wheels I have to get the slabs pretty high off the ground to get them on top of it. I probably should have just bought a log skidding arch with the ratchet built in to get the log/slab off the ground. Northern tool has one for $250.

The logs are cut to about 9'. Average width is about 28", and I'm cutting most at 8/4 thickness. I think the wood is too good for firewood, or to be cut into boards. Maybe I should cut some beams too. I honestly don't know what I'll do with all of it, besides a couple tables and desks.

 

[Trdoldtreecutter]

I’ve got a huge pile of slabs that I wasn’t sure what to do with but eventually a use will come. I’m doing a live edge wall and chinking where I’m mounting a tv

 

[Philbert]

There is a old thread, somewhere on this site, that also discusses plastic skidding cones: manufactured and home made.

Philbert

 

[Trdoldtreecutter]

The one I made didn’t cost much but would be overkill but something similar but smaller would work slick on a steep hillside.i just made a triangle and welded it to a mobile home axle, welded a tongue and something from the tip of the tongue to the tip of the triangle. Cut some slots for a chain and it paid for itself the first time I used it. I had a pto winch on an old f250 and it pulled out some pretty stout logs. Then I’d just have a self loader come. I had a skidder at the time but this avoided a haul and made use of otherwise firewood in a no access zone

 

[Blue42]

I’ve got a huge pile of slabs that I wasn’t sure what to do with but eventually a use will come. I’m doing a live edge wall and chinking where I’m mounting a tv

That's nice. That was the only thing I could think of to use it all either, was a room in wood. Although 2" thick is a bit much. The room could double as a bomb and tornado shelter built like that.

 

[tfp]

My back hurts just reading this thread. I’ve manhandled slabs out of some bad locations... flipped them end over end through creeks, you name it. Problem is I get too excited about the potential slabs and don’t take into account the surrounding area... slab blindness?