Hydraulic winch and other general PT usability questions

[2manyrocks]

Once the trees are on the ground, I don't foresee needing the cam locks. I could use my maasdam rope pullers to tension the leaners.

Although the gentleman at Portable winch recommended the 3/8 line, the specs say the PWC4000 will accept up to 12mm (1/2) line. My experience with the maasdam so far has been that having a shorter line say 50' is actually more convenient than a longer line. So perhaps I should also buy 40-50' of 1/2 line for the PWC4000?

What size and length of line have you found most useful?

 

[SpringHollow]

You will want a much longer rope than 50' unless you are pulling extremely short distances. I have a 300' length of the 1/2" rope so that only gives me a 150' double line pull. I have an ~8 gallon plastic barrel with handles that I stuff the rope into instead of coiling. That method works extremely well and I never get tangles. I leave the hardware attached. A rope bag also works.

If I had to carry the rope, winch, etc for a mile or more in the steep woods, I would go with thinner rope. But the farthest I carry it is about 1000' up a hill.

The choker with the metal rod is nice for logging. The winch mount that goes on a ball hitch is also handy.

Ken.

 

[MossRoad]

I learned about rope bags/throw bags back in the 80s when I was a whitewater lifeguard. Amazing you can just stuff it in there, hang on to the end, throw the bag, and it all plays out. Never tangles. I carry one in my ice fishing gear.

I'd imagine that would work great for playing out a rope a long distance. Just attach the rope to something and start walking.

 

[2manyrocks]

You guys convinced me to update my order from 3/8 to 1/2 rope and pulleys for the extra margin of working load. I must say that the customer service at Portable Winch Co. is outstanding.

I have what I hope will be a useable rope bag, tree straps, and the chain choker. I also caved in and ordered the tree winch mount.

Have also ordered a gorilla cart which I hope to use to transport my saws and all of this winch equipment to where I will be using it.

Nothing quite like spending money and not actually having accomplished any real work yet.

 

[2manyrocks]

The pulleys arrived from Portable Winch co. today, and I spent a few minutes comparing the $80 PWC 1/2 rope pulley against the $30 3/8 Harbor Freight pulley that I already own.

It could be that I should be comparing the $55 3/8 rope pulley from PWC, but I don't have that one.

Stacked one on the other, the two pulleys are roughly the same overall size and both use aluminum for the sheeve. The HF pulley says it is rated for 25,000 lbs while the PWC says 20,230 lbs.

The HF advertises a weight of 4 lb to the PWC weight of 2.4 lbs.

The HF side plates appear to be some kind of thicker steel with a zinc finish while the PWC side plates are stainless steel. Running my fingers over the edges, the HF side plates don't seem as square shouldered as the PWC side plates.

First question, should I run a file over those edges to make them a bit more rounded or am I going to leave an even rougher surface that could damage my rope?

The HF side plates use a section of tubing as the center pivot with a snap ring on each side of the pulley. The PWC uses a bolt or some kind of threaded solid shaft as the center pivot with nylon locking nuts on each side.

Second question, are snap rings as secure as a threaded connection that uses nylon lock nuts?

 

[2manyrocks]

First time using the PWC 4000 winch this week, not for moving logs, but to move four large rocks to build a retaining wall. The work area is inaccessible to any kind of tractor.

The winch had no trouble pulling the rocks 60' from where they were with next to no effort on my part. Winch travel speed wasn't fast, but was steady. It was wayyy faster and easier than using a come along. The Honda engine runs quiet and is not annoying at all. I like the clutch feature on the winch which allows me to wind the rope without the capstan turning until I'm ready to apply power to the line.

I also used a lift strap to wrap around the rocks which snugged itself in place without slipping or marring the rocks like a chain would tend to do.

 

[2manyrocks]

Finally getting to the project that was the reason for buying the portable winch.

I didn't make pictures of where I started, but today I used the winch to put tension on a leaner in order to direct it where I wanted it to fall. This particular winch has a progress capture device on it that allows me to keep tension on the line. It works and it doesn't appear to chew up rope like some other progress capture devices.

Being able to anchor to a tree and use re-direct pulleys means I have plenty of options where to position the wench so the tree falls where I want it. The winch is also pretty much as effortless as it gets when it comes to winching the tree over and then out of the way. I have been leaving a thicker hinge than I would normally, and using the winch to pull the tree over when I am out of the way of the fall.

In the photo, I set the winch on a tree slightly up the hill and then used the winch to drag piles of brush onto the base of the hillside. The photo also shows a thorn tree in the bottom right of the picture that is one of the reasons for not using a tractor for this work.

Portable Winch seems to have thought all this through and come up with an overall system that is portable, but still works.

I bought a chain with a choker that was okay for tractor work, but I've decided it's too heavy to carry. I've started using a cable choker instead that is lighter to carry. The weight of everything I'm carrying is a bit much for me (wouldn't bother some other folks), but the wheel barrow helps.

 

[SpringHollow]

You can also get chokers with synthetic line attached to the metal rod.

 

[MossRoad]

That's some serous thorn tree.

 

[2manyrocks]

That is one thorn tree out of 4 or 5 in the same area. I had hoped that the forestry mulcher would be able to grind them up, but didn't happen. At least he was able to create a clearing to work in.

A friend suggested I take a pole saw and cut off the thorns as far as I could reach to make it easier to cut the trees, but I read somewhere that the chain can throw the thorns back at the operator.

Hoping to get a dozer or some similar something in there to knock them down without me touching them.