Winches Logging winch on B7100

[Bluelick]

Greetings all,
As I sink deeper into tractor madness (or bliss) I have begun to think about how to move logs about on my 50 acres of mostly woods/mostly steep land. Purpose is for my annual firewood supply. I'd like to be able to grab logs on the other side of a pretty steep gully (can't drive there) and winch them over to where I can cut them up and load them in my carryall and front carrier (see my other thread about the carrier: http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/kubota-owning-operating/189233-front-cargo-ballast-box.html). I know the B7100 is small for skidding, but I am more interested in just getting the logs to the tractor rather than pulling them around with the tractor. So, I've been considering an electric winch to mount in my 2" receiver on the front. However, electric winches are limited for the B7100 by the current draw versus the paltry output of the dynamo (it's a 1980's tractor, no alternator). So, I keep looking at this PTO shaft (13 HP output at the shaft) and thinking that's a whale of a lot more power than the puny electric motor on a winch. I've been reading up on winches, and the smallest I've seen so far is the Norse 190 which calls for 15-30 HP. Does anyone have experience with a logging winch on a tractor this size? Many thanks!

 

[alaskakubota]

have you looked at a hydraulic winch? Milemarker makes 3 of them and i think that they would work for your application. You wont need to buy their hook up kit, but I would check with them. I have three of those 10.5k hydro winches up here in alaska and I used one yesterday to pull out my 5740 with 3 cord of wood in the dump trailer. I have the remote control winch on two of them. I have one that I bought in 96 and has been used many many hours and have never had a problem. I am thinking of building one for this tractor in case I get stuck going out to my property. I dont have the backhoe anymore. WInchesplus.com is the cheapest I have seen to buy one.

 

[Egon]

Set yourself up with some snatch blocks, Lots of cable, a load in the bucket and some weight on the back end. Be a lot cheaper and may work better.

Without some anchors the winch will drag the tractor in certain circumstances.

 

[crazyal]

The Farmi 351 requirements are a 17hp tractor, it didn't say PTO just "tractor size". I would think that the weight of your tractor could be more of a problem than PTO HP. I've never used a PTO winch but I have to believe that they will pull the lighter of the two objects (log or tractor) to the other. It does have a blade feature so it digs in when pulling. Maybe others can answer it better but maybe you could use a chain to a tree or stump at the front of your tractor to help keep it from moving.

 

[Bluelick]

Thanks all for the responses. First I should mention, as I neglected to do above, that the tractor is rated at 16 hp, versus the 13 hp of the PTO, and I'm not sure which spec applies to the winch. However, they also don't differentiate between gas and diesel hp and I know the latter has more torque, so that is perhaps a factor also.

I should also mention that the tractor is two wheel drive, with turf tires, so traction would be an issue if I just try to pull with the tractor as Egon suggests, although that is of course the alternative. I've also got some tire chains I need to dig out and see how much modification they'd need to work. Still, the purpose of the exercise is to see if I can pull more than what the tractor itself will pull, and that seems to be the advantage of a logging winch, as well as having a cable that runs out well over 100 feet.

In the event of needing to keep the tractor from moving, there is no shortage of trees to hook it to when winching, but the winches I have looked at are designed to be at least somewhat self-anchoring from what I've read.

As for hydraulic winches, I think that would be very slow with the low volume hydro pump on the B7100 (3 gpm) and I also don't have any remote hydraulic lines/hookups on this tractor so I'd need to add that. That said, I haven't really looked into the hydraulic winches.

From what I've read, a logging winch would meet my needs, but I'd like to know about using one with this size of tractor.

Again, thanks for your help!

 

[MikeInEburg]

I'm in the same boat - have looked at various skidding winches, hydraulic winches, etc. Problem is that I only need to move 10 or 12 trees per year - thus it's difficult to invest a couple thousand. I'm going to try a couple of snatch blocks and 200 feet of wire rope and go "the old fashioned way" first.
Mike

 

[Gordon Gould]

You may be hard pressed to find someone with a logging winch on a 16 hp tractor. In order to make full use of the winches capability you would want your tractor hp to be near the top end of the hp rating of the winch. A log that gets hung up somewhere on a Norse 190 would stop your pto cold in its tracks.
You haven't mentioned what size logs you are after or how far it is across your ravine. That info might bring some ideas.
For example: I have seen electric winches used with tractors by running them off a deep discharge battery placed close to the winch and charged by the tractor. You may even be able to put an alternator on your pto to charge it.
You could put a hydraulic pump on the pto to run a hydraulic winch.
Or ropes pulleys and skylines.

 

[Firefighter Kubota]

If you have a solid Pick up and able to get remotely close, then buy a portable winch set up for your truck reciever.....I recomend the synthetic winch line too... No meat hooks,(loose strands) doesnt get jambed and no bird nesting...Its also got a hight BS for the same size as steel cable...I use a chain chocker for the log...

I use this warn 9500# winch with synthetic rope and use the steel cable I took off it as an extension for the really long pulls...

 

[spike23]

Check other winches too. I too have been looking. Why is the Norse 200+ lbs compared to Wallenstein, Farmi, Hudson, etc. all being in the 450 - 500 lb range?
Chris

 

[Gordon Gould]

You might try contacting a Norse dealer and asking them if they know of someone with a small tractor like yours that you could talk to. Cant hurt.