log winches

[jpm1]

Just got an E-mail from Hud-son forestry

Extended FREE Freight Program

Ask Today About FREE Shipping on Uniforest Skidding Winches
in the Lower 48 States. Hurry Won't Last Forever.
SPECIAL SHIPPING IN CANADA, ALASKA AND HAWAII

they sell all sorts of forestry equipment, i've bought from them and they are a good company to do business with. They respond quickly to your e-mails and phone messages. Give em a shout at log skidding winch, tree skidding winch, winches, pull trees, pull logs out of woods, wood processing, harvest firewood . . .John

 

[dstig1]

Found the website:
Farmi Skidding Winches JL 290

Interesting - I found this through a link on the above site. Comparisons of the various winch brands. From the Farmi dealer, of course, so you know the way it will go...
http://www.tractorwinch.com/

 

[Gordon Gould]

Found the website:
Farmi Skidding Winches JL 290

Interesting - I found this through a link on the above site. Comparisons of the various winch brands. From the Farmi dealer, of course, so you know the way it will go...
Home Page

Interesting comparison article - Thanks.
Even if it is one sided it is obvious that Farmi knows a winch weakness when they see it.
The lack of bearings on the Wallenstein is surprising.

 

[Dead Horse]

I have a Farmi 601, that was previously owned by at last two members here.

It is a beast and well sized for mounting on my 100 hp Hesston. I bought it used at a fair price which was less than a new one with a 3rd of its capacity.

I did replace all the bearings in it. The result was well worth the time and $. I think I spent a couple hundred on all 4 bearings.

The thing about the dozer blade farmis is that they are a winch AND skidder in one. You winch the log up close, raise the butt off the ground, lock the choker chain into a slot on the skidding frame. Rince and repeat up to half a dozen times. Raise the TPH so the dozer blade is off the ground and skid away.

This thing is an awesome tool. I personally put up 20+ cord a year and couldn't do it with out this unit.:thumbsup:

Moral of story is find a used farmi....... they are bullet proof.

 

[TBarD]

I'm thinking that this Farmi-type design, for winching/skidding, is very popular hence good for what it is designed for, e.g. using a tractor w. 3pt as a small skidder to get timber out for processing in a traditional logging operation. Seems to me this is most appropriate for timber harvesting in flatter country. The reason some of us are looking at alternatives such as a winch + grapple or hoe/thumb is more for forestry in difficult terrain. In my case I don't really need to skid the logs out, I need to pull them out from where the tractor can't go (easily at least), and then use the tractor to load them onto a trailer so that I can get them out to the meadow where I can do something with them. So probably we are just looking at a different use case leading to a somewhat different design. The grapple+winch tools out there could also work for pull&load operations but they are still too expensive for non-commercial occasional use; it is more cost-effective to use a general purpose tool for the log loading.

 

[dstig1]

That is what the winch excels at - getting to the logs that are hard to reach. And allowing you to park the tractor in one place and pull logs to it. Lower impact that way than driving everywhere. You don't have to skid them out with the tractor from there, but you can. It is one option that is fairly quick to do. A grapple on the FEL is an excellent complement to a winch, as you noted. Very very helpful for many tasks. I currently have a root/rake grapple on the FEL and the winch on the 3pt, pretty much all the time (of course, I don't currently own any other 3pt implements...but that is about to change). It is a pretty much perfect logging/clearing combo.

 

[Gordon Gould]

The Farmi design with the dozer blade is what makes it such a good winch. When you are winching a large percentage of forces involved are transferred to the ground through the dozer blade. The ground in front of the dozer blade is holding the winch back not the tractor. The tractor is just a big counter weight. This spares your tractor a lot of wear and tear and enables you to apply much higher pulling forces than you could with just the tractor tires on the ground to hold you back.
I suppose you could do a similar thing with a FEL mounted winch if you buried the cutting edge while winching but to me a FEL mounted winch, unless it is very small, is a good way to ruin a FEL.
It may be easier to justify the cost of a winch if you figure that it will easily last you 30 years, probably more, if you get a good one and take care of it.
I have a small operation and use a winch and a grapple. Both are extremely handy. As you say, the winch to pull trees out of inaccessable places and the grapple to to handle logs. The skidding I get for free. I could easily do it with a draw bar but since I have a winch I use it.

 

[newbury]

It may be easier to justify the cost of a winch if you figure that it will easily last you 30 years,

Unless your 60 alreadY

 

[Gordon Gould]

Unless your 60 alreadY

Good point - But even then you could turn around and sell it without taking much of a beating. I paid $1750 for mine brand new over 10 years ago. I think I could get that back and then some today. They do hold thier value.

 

[caver]

This is the guy I have used for Farmi. He responds well, though it may take a couple days:

Thanks Dave.