Using a capstan winch on a log splitter boom

[flatheadford]

Hello All,
After having watched the Logrite video with the tricked out Super Split, I would like to use a capstan winch for the boom of the log splitter I will be building. The capstan with a rope seems like a good choice, but I have only used a capstan winch once years ago to pull cable thru conduit.
The boom will be able to swing 45 degrees each side of the splitter beam
My questions are:
1. After lifting the round high enough to swing it to the center of the beam, will I have to shut off the winch or will I be able to hold the round suspended by applying the right amount of pull on the rope, while reaching over with the other hand to pull or push, the log to the beam.
2. After I have the log centered over the beam will I be able to control the lowering of the log at all.

 

[Dalmatian90]

You might want to look at some of these guys videos:

PortableWinch's Channel - YouTube

What I noticed is the rope is fed through an eye on their unit. Pulling in a certain direction revs up the engine and lets the capstan pull.

I have very little experience with this stuff; my assumption from the little bit of work I've done with rappelling & rescue ropes is as long as you hold tension on the rope the friction of the wraps around the capstan head will hold the load. On the PortableWinch videos, it looks like the angle you hold the rope (while holding tension) determines if the capstan is powered or not. I'd assume as you release tension (or let the rope slowly feed back towards the capstan) it'll lower the load.

 

[traditions]

Being a commercial fisherman my whole life,I was brought up using capstan winches to lift any amount of weight.You can control the amount of slip you want with the amount of turns you take around the winch head,and you can lower ,stop and raise a load. The winch head does not need to spin that fast and the slower it turns the more control you have.I have seen people that didnt know what they were doing get in some messes with a winch head,from bad rope burns to broken bones.Make sure you have a fairlead so you dont get a riding turn,and a way to turn the winch head off in case you do get one.I think you will have better luck with braided line than twisted,although both tend to kink up and have to be led out to unkink.Good luck

 

[zogger]

Yep

Being a commercial fisherman my whole life,I was brought up using capstan winches to lift any amount of weight.You can control the amount of slip you want with the amount of turns you take around the winch head,and you can lower ,stop and raise a load. The winch head does not need to spin that fast and the slower it turns the more control you have.I have seen people that didnt know what they were doing get in some messes with a winch head,from bad rope burns to broken bones.Make sure you have a fairlead so you dont get a riding turn,and a way to turn the winch head off in case you do get one.I think you will have better luck with braided line than twisted,although both tend to kink up and have to be led out to unkink.Good luck

What you said. I worked some fishing too (gulf shrimping) and the tons you can control with just adjusting wraps/turns is amazing. Yes, dangerous but pretty straight forward once you see it in action and how to use the drum correctly.