Logging Winch is Finished!!!

I'm using 7/16 Improved plow steel 6x19 IWRC cable rated at over 18,000 pounds if I remember correctly, so the cable should be plenty strong for my use. I have it set up so that I can use a rope to engage the winch drive, so I can stand off to the side of the tractor well out of the way of the cable should it break.

What fun it is to design something yourself, build it, and have it work!!

Take care all!

Brian

The cable comes up off the drum, and then over a pulley attached to a length of 3/4 inch chain, and then out to the load.

Thanks for the compliments... Yep, I did put some time into designing it, and I did have some specific uses for it in mind. I looked at the commercial logging winches available out there and incorporated the basic features of them into my winch, using what materials I had or could obtain reasonably.

The best price I could find for a commercial unit was about $1800, I built mine for about $700 total plus a few weekend days of welding and whatnot. I think it was worth it!

Now I can get logs out of the woods that you have to nearly be a mountain goat to get access to...climb down to the log, hook onto it, and out it comes, easy as that!

1- Never wrap your winch cable around the tree and hook it to itself. Always put a tow strap or chain around the tree, then hook the cable to it. The cable hook rubbing on the bable while being stresses can sever the cable, especially under that much pressure.

2- When winching, always ballast your cable. Throw a heavy jacket, blanket, or other object across the cable at about the midway point. This way, if the cable were to snap, it should help control how fast it moves or where it goes.

3- Never stand diretly in line with the winch cable, for all the reasons mentioned above.

Well, I doubt I helped anyone, but...

Later,

68 Mag

Secondly, let me say that I hate cable. Hardcore 4WD guys stay away from it like the plague as it can kill ya. Most serious offroaders use winch 'rope' which is made from braided nylon and kevlar. The 'rope' does not stretch like steel cable. Here is a bit I stole from a JeepTech site a while back:

I can figure two or three advantages for the ropes versus cables...

1)The ropes will allow you to drop about 25 to 30 lbs off the weight.

2)There is no stray strands of metal to rip your hands wide open.

3)The rope does not stretch, therefore retains little or no energy, which means that if it breaks the ropes pretty much lays down and dies instead of whipping through the hood and/or roof of your Jeep. Cable stretches, therefore retains huge amounts of energy.

Play safe with that new toy!

Be extremly carefull about over stressing cables. I prefer to work with chains.
Dave <*)))><

Yep, it has more than enough power to pull the tractor completely over. I had it at just over dead idle, winding the wire rope onto the drum when I decided to see how well the blade would work. I lowered the winch to the ground, and started to pull again... I was watching the winch cable and the blade dig into the ground, but not watching the tractor so close...when I looked forward and "OH S***!!" It's hard to tell in the photos, but the front wheels are about 2-3 feet off the ground. The tractor didn't even grunt a little bit. This thing's got some POWER.

I don't know exactly how it will behave if the blade isn't anchored evenly... I would assume that it won't do anything too nasty, as it pulls fairly slowly...I think about 23 feet per minute is what I figured out when I was designing the thing. That gives you a lot of time to stop before things get out of hand. I can't wait to take it out to the woods and try it out for real... I have a little bit more tweaking to do on it, as the reverse belt keeps wanting to jump off, have to make up some belt guides to keep that from happening. Then it will be fully operational!

Brian