Best battery size for HF 25000# winch for log skidding

[cmyoung2]

Look at the winch specs before buying. My HF 12000# has a 5% duty factor. That means it will run (not under load) for 45 seconds, then need a 15 min rest cycle. Seems to be a built in timer, not the motor over heating. As in, you can't respool an unwound cable in one pull. It seems to pull ok, just not a continuous duty winch. I use it for extraction, short pulls, and to pull trees as I cut them, not logging as in dragging logs. My patience has limits.
All that means is my truck battery and alternator have no problem keeping up with that winch.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Using a "recovery" winch like the HF 12K (I have one) is about like watching paint dry or maybe grass grow!!

My Warn 12K does have a MUCH better duty cycle, but it's still VERY short and slow, to use as a skidding winch.

SR

 

[fried1765]

I have a 9,500lb. pull Tiger Shark Superwinch on my equipment trailer.
I have never been able to find a duty cycle rating.
Does anyone here know what duty cycle it has?

 

[chim]

Check the duty cycle. Run full load for 45 seconds, then give it a 14 minute and 15 second rest.

 

[Ford850]

I think the speed will shock some guys if you haven't used one. 5' per minute doesn't cut it when I'm dragging logs out. Add a block and you just cut that speed in half (2 1/2' per minute). If your winch pulls at that speed and you have to let it rest 15 minutes after a 1 minute pull, it will take 2 1/2 HOURS to pull 50'. Ouch!

 

[4570Man]

Is the line speed really 5 feet per minute?

 

[Ford850]

Is the line speed really 5 feet per minute?

Yes and no. Winch specs can be very deceptive. The ratings on the outside of the box and in the ads are for the first layer cable winding on the drum. This 12,000lb winch is rated to pull that weight on the first layer at a speed of 4.88 feet per minute. You only get 16' of pull on that first layer, and you have to stop every 45 seconds to let it rest 15 minutes. But with no weight on the line it has a top speed of 16' per minute. The weight rating drops for each layer with a 8,000lb limit on the top layer.
It's easy to look at the top ratings and then be disappointed once you start using a winch. For recovery, they are awesome. For dragging other things, you need patience and time.

 

[newbury]

Bottom line is that the OP's winch is not meant for pulling logs over a distance. It might do to parbuckle logs onto a trailer but not for dragging them through the woods very far.

 

[Deere Dude]

Using a "recovery" winch like the HF 12K (I have one) is about like watching paint dry or maybe grass grow!!

My Warn 12K does have a MUCH better duty cycle, but it's still VERY short and slow, to use as a skidding winch.

SR

My HF 12k? unit is little more than and expensive paperweight . I have been meaning to mount it on the front of my big GN trailer so there it has at least a potential to do something.

 

[4570Man]

Yes and no. Winch specs can be very deceptive. The ratings on the outside of the box and in the ads are for the first layer cable winding on the drum. This 12,000lb winch is rated to pull that weight on the first layer at a speed of 4.88 feet per minute. You only get 16' of pull on that first layer, and you have to stop every 45 seconds to let it rest 15 minutes. But with no weight on the line it has a top speed of 16' per minute. The weight rating drops for each layer with a 8,000lb limit on the top layer.
It's easy to look at the top ratings and then be disappointed once you start using a winch. For recovery, they are awesome. For dragging other things, you need patience and time.

And I thought my hydraulic winch on the rollback was pathetic. It pulls the length of the 18' bed in about 2 minutes with a continuous duty cycle. And that's with the idle cable broken. You're supposed to pull the rpms up to use the hydraulics.