Reviews of Igland winches

[TnAndy]

Another Igland owner here. Got a 3601, had for about 20 years. Love it. One of the handiest implements for a tractor if you deal with wood/timber at all.

 

[LouieJunior]

Iguide, welcome to the forum. It is good to hear of your success with the 350 Norse as I just placed an order for one yesterday from Labonville. I looked at all of the major brands and was impressed with the quality and features. For this particular size unit the value from Labonville was hard to beat. Will let you know haw it works in a few days as I have a number of large oak trees that need to be repositioned near the firewood pile and sawmill. Willie Jones

I'm interested in your review. Please include some pictures too. I may also choose the Norse 350.

 

[Hermio]

Interestingly, it seems that all the people who have commented about their winch ownership experience have liked their product, regardless of brand. That makes me lean towards the Norse, as I don't see much reason to spend thousands more for a Farmi, Tajfun, Uniforest or Wallenstein if the Norse owners are just as happy with their product. Yes, I do like the built-in toolboxes of the Farmi and Tajfun, and the built-in trailer hitch of some, but I can add those for a lot less than $2000. Now for another concern: all these units seem a bit unstable, in terms of the front-to-rear distance, when they are off the tractor. Anyone know of a case where someone has knocked one over, potentially causing serious injury? I would have to store mine on soil when off the tractor.

 

[Jim Timber]

My Wallenstein FX85 doesn't inspire confidence when parked, but it isn't unstable either.

I've had it on resonably hard dirt a few times and it just sits there. Soft ground would pose a problem, but you could add pads under it easy enough.

The biggest problem I have is that my hydraulic top link is a bit too long in it's shortest length to raise up when the bottom links are connected. It leans back towards the tractor, so I have to push it to get the top pin in. It's a minor annoyance at most.

 

[motownbrowne]

I have a Farmi 351, I bought it used, so I didn't have a choice, but mine has legs instead of a dozer blade. I'd probably like the blade more if I had it, but one thing that's nice about the legs is that I can adjust them upwards all the way to park the winch. That way it's only about 3' tall and is much less likely to tip over. When it's parked in its full height configuration, it's definitely something to keep visitors away from.

 

[LouieJunior]

What about quick hitch -- are any of them compatible with iMatch? My Wallenstein splitter is. This would be a favorable feature in my book.

 

[Jim Timber]

None that I'm aware of, and I wouldn't want one that was. Too low of top link would leverage the winch against the tractor.

 

[Agvg]

If you park it close to a wall or tree you are safer, they can be quit easy to tip backwards.

 

[Agvg]

Interestingly, it seems that all the people who have commented about their winch ownership experience have liked their product, regardless of brand.

Farmi, Norse/Igland and Fransgard have produced winches for ages. They are based on the same basic design and both Norway and Finnland have a long history with tractor based logging so these are made for hard work so I'm not surprised that people are happy with the products.

 

[Coyote machine]

My Igland 4001 has a dozer blade at the bottom backside of the winch. It also has two detachable feet that are clipped into sleeves on the front, (facing PTO on tractor) side. I choose to secure the winch by strapping it to an oversized pallet so I can move it with my forks, as needed. I can install it myself, BUT caution is definitely warranted when attaching/detaching from the 3 PH. When the 2 bottom links are attached if the winch is lifted off the ground/pallet it could tip in either direction until the top link is secured. This is not always as easy as it seems, since one must also get the PTO shaft aligned and attached during the overall process.
It's certainly doable, but caution is the word of the day when doing so. Two people may make it easier, but both need to be aware of what is happening at all times until the entire unit is attached completely. YEMV.:thumbsup: