Anybody use one of these

[1990C4S]

That winch does not look like it is designed for a high duty cycle at full load.

Look for something Jeep related...high torque meant for real off road use.

[911 Rod]

As well that rating is probably for a vertical lift. Dragging a log will be huge.

[cabmandone]

Float them suckers down stream like we did in the old days!
Not that I'd know how it was done in the old days since you're older than me... but still!

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by cabmando

Float them suckers down stream like we did in the old days!

I considered doing that, and it might be feasible. The stream flows the right direction. I just need to catch it when the water level is right. In the 10 months I've lived here the water depth has varied from 6" to 7'. If I tried to float them at "high tide" they'd end up in New Orleans.

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

Yes, the more I think about this and read the comments I may go down and trim the logs and get them ready. Then wait for a good freeze and take the Kubota down and drag a bunch to the base of the ramp. I can keep the truck up top on level ground and use a long rope to drag them up the slope with it about any time.
I hate to miss the opportunity (excuse) to buy a cool tool though. I liked the ATV suggestion. I wonder what MrsWD would say.....

You got forks on the Kubota? I'd make piles of 5-6' logs (flipping end-over-end is easy for me), down below, then drive down when the ground is frozen solid and haul them up. Do this AFTER buying the ATV though and find out .

If ya don't have forks...get some

Oh yeah....we rarely use our winches & come-alongs....straps & the JD work fine.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by KC911

You got forks on the Kubota? I'd make piles of 5-6' logs (flipping end-over-end is easy for me), down below, then drive down when the ground is frozen solid and haul them up. Do this AFTER buying the ATV though and find out .

Oh yeah, I'm thinking more and more that the ATV is a essential. "I don't think we can heat the house without an ATV to bring the wood up sweetheart. Think of the babies!"

I have forks but they would be useless down there. I can barely get the tractor between some of the trees. But an ATV would slip right through! I like where this is going.

[onewhippedpuppy]

You obviously need this. With a winch of course.

[cabmandone]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

Oh yeah, I'm thinking more and more that the ATV is a essential. "I don't think we can heat the house without an ATV to bring the wood up sweetheart. Think of the babies!"

I have forks but they would be useless down there. I can barely get the tractor between some of the trees. But an ATV would slip right through! I like where this is going.

I already told ya what kind of ATV to buy... but here's another reminder! They're a bit pricey though. You don't want to know what I sold this one for.

[drcoastline]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

I would prefer to use a tractor mounted winch. The problem is getting the tractor close enough to the downed trees. I’d need 200 yards of cable.

Wouldn't you need 200 yards of cable with that thing also?

[Screendoor]

I think I figured out how to post pix. I built this log carrier

[pete3799]

Find a used one of these. I think i paid 1200.00 for it many years ago. Can't even remember if it's a Farmi or a Fransguard but it will pay for it self if you burn a lot of wood.

[TimT]

Since you have a tractor..get a snatch block, a good length of cable some cable clamps and shackles.. fix the snatch block to a tree at the top of the slope, run the cable down to the logs (which you cut up into manageable lengths) choke the downhill end of the cable around the log.. cable through the snatch block... other end of the cable fastened to the pintle on the tractor..

Pull those suckers up..

With a little help you could get all that wood up in a few hours... relocate the block for more advantageous locations as needed..

[TimT]

Forgot to add I used my F250 Diesel to clear a bunch of stumps etc from my Vermont property using a length of cable and a block..

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by drcoastline

Wouldn't you need 200 yards of cable with that thing also?

No. While I don't think my original thoughts are workable - not in a normal human life span - I was thinking of roping the winch to trees (the same trees that keep me from getting the tractor close to the downed wood) and dragging the logs one cable length at a time.
I'm still not sure how I'm going to do this, and it's pretty obvious in the light of day that that little winch isn't going to do it all on it's own, but the winch sure seems like a handy thing to have around.

[wdfifteen]

OK, so I went ahead and bought it. It's definitely not as cool as Paul's helicopter.
Long story about why I got it below.
On to the product review.



I dropped it in the swamp first thing. It was half submerged for 30 seconds and it didn't kill it. I figure that's a plus. The puller weights about 12 pounds and gets heavy after a while. At 1000 pounds of pull, it's remarkably weak. The logs kept digging into the mud and I had to buck the 14" tree into 10 foot lengths to make the pieces light enough for this to drag it across the swamp. It has a 30% duty cycle - one minute at full load and two minutes sitting. I thought that would be very limiting, but it wasn't for me. It will retract the full 15' of cable in a minute and by the time I re-rigged it to another anchor point it was ready to go again.



The battery lasts for about 3 hard 15 foot pulls. By hard I mean it was bumping up against the overload warning. It comes with 2 batteries that take about 2 hours each to charge.





The thought of all that wood down there was eating at me until I began to think of it as more of a hobby than a mission to harvest firewood. I don't fish but i do enjoy being outside doing something useful and physically challenging. I could spend $400 on fishing tackle and spend afternoons catching $5 worth of fish, or spend $400 on this winch and spend afternoons harvesting $50 worth of firewood. I'll be doing something useful and getting my ass outside for exercise too. And it IS exercise, slogging back and forth through the swamp rigging and re-rigging the puller. The cable is 15 feet long and it took 3 15 foot pulls to get each log to the base of the ramp, where I could drag it up to dry land with my truck. In 2 hours I got two 14" by 30-40 foot long trees to the base of the ramp out of the ravine.

[ckelly78z]

You would be amazed at the logs that I have dragged out of tree lines, and across fields for bucking on my own proprty. I also have somewhat of a ravine that runs along my property (but maybe only 10-15 deep). I have always had good luck with a log chain thrown around the log, and clipped on itself like a choker, with the other end hooked to my bucket, and just yank it up with my FEL. My 30 HP JD 955 has 4wd, and many times, I have to add weight onto the rear draw bar to prevent lifting the rear wheels off of the ground.

As said before, "Safety First", don't stand next to an operating winch, or cable. If you can get near the logs, cut them 10' long and try pulling 1-2 up the hill using the rear draw bar hitch on the tractor, lifting it slightly to put more weight on the rear tires.

[widebody911]

[vonsmog]

Widebody911 you beat me to the Unimog suggestion! The winch I have on the back of mine has about 400' of 3/8" cable, and the front winch has 95' of 1/2" synthetic rope on it. So I use the rear for dragging logs out and pulling cars up onto the car trailer, and the front for when I get stuck!

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by vonsmog

Widebody911 you beat me to the Unimog suggestion! The winch I have on the back of mine has about 400' of 3/8" cable, and the front winch has 95' of 1/2" synthetic rope on it. So I use the rear for dragging logs out and pulling cars up onto the car trailer, and the front for when I get stuck!

That would be fun! It sure wouldn't look like that when it came back up!
It wouldn't get far, the couple of times I had my tractor down there I had to fold the ROPS to get under the trees, and that looks taller than the ROPS on my Kubota. But if you got to the base of the ramp and got turned, that 400' of cable would snake a lot of the wood up to the ramp so it could be dragged up.




I'm sure you could get something that big down there. The first 100 feet would be easy. Then it gets steep and goes straight into the creek. I have to put weight in the bucket of the Kubota to get enough traction in all the mud and gravel to get up the steep part. You couldn't get between the trees on the side of the ramp with something that big. You would have to drive straight into the creek, get yourself turned 90 degrees, drive down the creek a ways, and back up into the swamp.

[pavulon]

Some amish may be able to pull them up with horses up top.