Which 3pt log skidding winch?

[Rustyiron]

I bought an Igland 3601 it will either pull the log to the tractor,
or the tractor to the log.

:laughing:

 

[CobyRupert]

That reminds me how with a winch on any vehicle, one gets a little braver on the places they'll go with it.
So I bury the tractor up to the axles in the mud trying to bring fill to a swampy area where I'd put a culvert in.
No problem, I get the pickup and park it at the top of the bank on the other side of the hedgerow and hook the winch cable on to it. I get my 14 year old daughter to work the winch as I work the diff. lock, clutch, hand throttle and FEL trying to lift/pry the front axle out.
As you might of guessed, I was a bit surprised when I saw the truck getting dragged through the bushes and starting down the bank!

 

[Gordon Gould]

If you have 2 different dealers with 2 different brands, I'd shop price 1st. then dealer consideration 2nd. Farmi & Wallenstein (I think) are similar enough to toss a coin although Farmi has been at it for a long time. The reason I put the dealer after the price, is that unless you really get a "lemon" or absolutely abuse it, I doubt you'll need him for years after the sale.

I totally agree with this line of thinking on any winch with a decent reputation

 

[LouieJunior]

I have a question about winching options. My 40HP tractor PTO will not work unless I am in the tractor seat. I put something heavy in the seat when using the wood chipper, but this would be a bigger PITA using a skidding winch. I do have hydraulics at the rear -- both Power Beyond and Momentary. Is there such thing as a 3-Point hydraulic winch? I see Farmi has a hydraulic model designed for tractor front-mount which requires 10 gpm and pulls 6000 lbs 3 feet per second.

 

[motownbrowne]

I have a question about winching options. My 40HP tractor PTO will not work unless I am in the tractor seat. I put something heavy in the seat when using the wood chipper, but this would be a bigger PITA using a skidding winch. I do have hydraulics at the rear -- both Power Beyond and Momentary. Is there such thing as a 3-Point hydraulic winch? I see Farmi has a hydraulic model designed for tractor front-mount which requires 10 gpm and pulls 6000 lbs 3 feet per second.

I think the hydraulic models are quite a bit more expensive. Many tractor models allow for stationary pto operation without an operator in the seat. I think on most machines you tip the seat forward. I stand for many tasks on my rig, so the operator presence switch doesn't work for me. I was going to jump it, but just zip tied the switch closed instead. Took about 15 seconds. Not saying you should do that or that's it's safe, but it's what I needed to do.

 

[NHbotanut]

Louie,
On my tractor, I had to call the dearer about running the PTO while off the seat so i could use the winch. With my tractor, while off the tractor with the brake engaged, I push the clutch in, engage the PTO and release the clutch AND then flip the seat to the steering wheel. You have about 2-4 seconds to get this done. I would think your tractor has a similar option

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I spent a lot of time looking at the different skidding winches... In the end, to me it looked like it was a choice of Farmi or Wallenstein... I chose Wallenstein, the FX90 in particular.

I've skidded everything from multiples of smaller tree's for firewood,

To huge tree's for firewood,

And also some really nice big tornado damaged red oaks out of a ravine for my sawmill,

The FX90 skidded them right out,

I believe I made the right choice, it's the brand I'd buy again...

SR

 

[WindyJoe]

I have had excellent luck with my Tajfun. The price was good, and it came with swaged cable. It has an upper and lower pulley. Made in Slovenia.

 

[AndyMA]

I had a Farmi 351 which I used for years. It worked great. When I got a bigge tractor I bought a new Farmi 501. I've only used it about 5 hours since I no longer live on my farm. It's at my house in North Haven CT. I keep it because I keep thinking I will use it, but I'd sell it if your interested. PM me

 

[ST98]

I'm interested in a wallenstein 65 or 90. I'm running 29PTO HP off a kubota so the 65 fits in that hp. The 90 starts at 30 PTO HP. I know myself so I'll eventually get a bigger tractor but it could be 5 years and a lot of skids away. Anyone have an idea if I went with a 90 I'd at least get the performance of the 65 until I moved up in PTO HP?

Thanks

FX65

PULLING CAPACITY 6,500 LBS.
HP RECOMMENDATION 17-45 HP**
MOUNTING (3 POINT) CATEGORY I
PTO INPUT SPEED 540 RPM MAX.
CABLE SPEED @ 540 RPM

FX90
PULLING CAPACITY 9,000 LBS.
HP RECOMMENDATION 30-80 HP
MOUNTING (3 POINT) CATEGORY I & II
PTO INPUT SPEED 540 RPM MAX.
CABLE SPEED @ 540 RPM

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I think the 90 would work fine, except that the 90 is pretty heavy for a small tractor! Are you going to be able to lift it with a log attached? What about hills?? Will your tractor handle that load in off road conditions??

I'd check that out, before buying the 90...

SR

 

[Rustyiron]

I think you're correct. Check the weight difference, the bigger one might be too heavy or limit your dragging ability. I would think a hundred pounds or so (heavier) would not make that much difference in what you could skid. Other than that, under powering a bigger winch will not hurt the winch and you should be able to pull the equal amount of the smaller winch.

edit; the 3pt hitch "geometry" might be a big issue. You may not be able to lift it as high (off the ground) as it was intended on the larger model.

 

[MAN IN BLACK]

The FX65 is quite a machine in itself.
I run it with a MF 4608 , wich is 65+ pto hp. and never needed any bigger or stronger pull in the 3 years I've own it.
Go with the 65, you won't regret it !...6500 pounds is a very huge tree you know ?
For occasional use like most of us...it's more than adequate.
My :2cents:, now do as you please!

 

[Sawyer Rob]

It does take a big log to make 6500 pounds, but pulling bigger logs up hill, or getting a log broke loose that's been on the ground a while can take quite a bit of pulling. I've had bigger longer logs that maxed my 90 out more than a few times, just because of those conditions. Also, on loooong pulls, they can build up some dirt and/or brush ahead of them, making them much harder to skid...

If you pull on the level or always have small logs, then you really don't need a big winch.....but tough conditions will need more tractor and winch...

I've winched a couple trucks out with mine, on one I needed to "double line" to get enough pulling power to break it loose. The other was high centered with the wheels off the ground, but once I got my winch anchored I pulled it right out, and that was after a 75hp MFWD New Holland gave up trying to pull it out...

SR

 

[Baby Grand]

To ST98 - my $.02 would be to get the winch that's best sized for the tractor you now own, not the tractor that you think you may own in a few years. If you get that bigger tractor you can always sell the winch and get a bigger one - they seem to hold their value better than most attachments. In the meantime, you'll have the right winch for the tractor you're using.

If 6500# won't break the log loose, you can always double the pull by hitching a snatch block to the log and anchoring the free end to a tree along the line of pull. Now you have a half speed, 13,000# winch that is only putting a 6500# load on you tractor - the anchor tree takes the other 6500#. Once you break it loose, attach your line directly to the log and pull at full speed. If you find you're bogging down with debris in front of the log, you can try using a skidding cone.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

If 6500# won't break the log loose, you can always double the pull by hitching a snatch block to the log and anchoring the free end to a tree along the line of pull. Now you have a half speed, 13,000# winch that is only putting a 6500# load on you tractor - the anchor tree takes the other 6500#.

Actually there's NO load on the tractor, the load is on the skidding winch and none on the tractor, as the winch anchors itself into the ground...

You would have to have big logs or steep ground before the 65 wouldn't work for you...

SR

 

[Baby Grand]

Actually there's NO load on the tractor, the load is on the skidding winch and none on the tractor, as the winch anchors itself into the ground...

You would have to have big logs or steep ground before the 65 wouldn't work for you...

SR

Agree - the 65 should be able to handle a good sized log. And yes, the static structural load on the tractor is small, since the blade digs in and transfers load the ground, but since the pull is at higher a point than the blade edge, the pull is shifting weight off of the front axle thru the 3pt hitch. The tractor is also dynamically loaded by the engine, putting torque thru the PTO. My point was that the torque load on the PTO can be halved by using the snatch block, which matters when you've got around 30 PTO Hp to work with.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

With the blade in the ground "anchored"and the wire rope in the "lower" pulley, there's no way the tractor 3 point get's any amount of load at all. The load is so low when pulling, (at least it is on mine) the lower links are at "near" zero loading, as mostly it's just keeping the winch from tipping forward...

My tractor is plenty heavy enough in the front, that I can pull from the upper pulley if I want, and that's what I do, as it helps lift the load off the ground... Yes that = more 3 point loading...

SR

 

[Baby Grand]

That's a great looking rig, SR - bet you can move a mountain of wood in a day!

 

[Gordon Gould]

To ST98 - my $.02 would be to get the winch that's best sized for the tractor you now own, not the tractor that you think you may own in a few years. If you get that bigger tractor you can always sell the winch and get a bigger one - they seem to hold their value better than most attachments. In the meantime, you'll have the right winch for the tractor you're using.

If 6500# won't break the log loose, you can always double the pull by hitching a snatch block to the log and anchoring the free end to a tree along the line of pull. Now you have a half speed, 13,000# winch that is only putting a 6500# load on you tractor - the anchor tree takes the other 6500#. Once you break it loose, attach your line directly to the log and pull at full speed. If you find you're bogging down with debris in front of the log, you can try using a skidding cone.

^^ That is the advise I would give.

Forces on the tractor are very complicated to figure out. At least to me. But there are four main things that anchor the winch to the ground or hold it in place:
1 - the weight of the winch
2 - the weight of the tractor which develops the friction of the tractor tires with the brake set
3 - the blade digging deeper as the tractor is pulled backward (if the ground is not froze solid or the ground is not to loose to hold)
4 - The downward angle of the cable when using the top pulley drives the winch into the ground. This does not occur when using the bottom pulley unless the cable is at a down angle into a ravine. The only time the cable force creates more down pressure is when it leaves the winch at a downward angle.

Putting a strong winch on a lightish tractor seems like a waste of money to me. It will work and there may be a valid reason to do it but you don't get the performance..