I had some time over the past week and moved my little project forward. I managed to weld up the cage that holds the weights when I need a little extra. It actually worked out a little better then I thought. I was able to add about 330lbs of weight to the 3ph that includes the weight of the frame too. So I'm happy with the outcome. In the pictures there is about 190lbs of weights in there as a quick first test, but later I was able to rearrange and improve that. I also hooked a piece of birch to the thing to see how it works and I was very happy. The log was about 16' long and 17-18" diameter on thick end. I was able to lift it and pull it without effort. Needless to say the logs I will pull will be longer but seldom larger in diameter. I wanted to see if it will lift high enough. I will make the frame for the additional weights in the next few weeks. (hopefully)
Here are a few pictures of the progress.
Oldmax,
Thank you for the pictures of the forks. It gave me an idea how I could make a set for my contraption if I ever need them. What kind of weight have you lifted with that?