Winches logging winch issue

[Hoobie]

I have a Wallenstein FX 85 logging winch and have been very happy with it. Yesterday I had an issue. I destroyed the anti tangle brake mechanism. The cable feeds over a white plastic pulley down through a brake arm frame and onto the cable spool. When pulling the cable out the brake unlocks. When the cable goes slack a spring pulls the assembly and applies a small brake pad to the rim of the spool. This prevents the spool from freewheeling and tangling the cable.
Somehow the cable caught this brake assembly on retrieving a log and twisted it out of shape and ruined it.
Has anyone else had this happen?

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I have an Wallenstein FX90, and I've pulled a LOT of logs, a few cars and other "stuck" things.

I even pulled a deer out of the heavy brush with it, that had ran about 150' into it after I shot it. My wife and me couldn't drag it, so I went home and got the tractor... My wife said, "how come we don't always use that?" lol

I've never had any problems with it at all and there are times I'd consider what I expected it to do, abuse! Like pulling these LONG 28" oak logs out/up a steep ravine,

instead of cutting them shorter...

SR

 

[CobyRupert]

What got destroyed?
Parts 3, 5, 6? All of them?
Never heard of that before. I’ve seen the brake arm (seems more like a tension arm thing), but never realized there’s a brake (part 6) to it. Makes sense.
I’m guessing something went wrong when you where pulling the cable out that let the cable destroy parts when you winched it back in. Think the spring failing would do that?

 

[Hoobie]

I have an Wallenstein FX90, and I've pulled a LOT of logs, a few cars and other "stuck" things.

I even pulled a deer out of the heavy brush with it, that had ran about 150' into it after I shot it. My wife and me couldn't drag it, so I went home and got the tractor... My wife said, "how come we don't always use that?" lol

I've never had any problems with it at all and there are times I'd consider what I expected it to do, abuse! Like pulling these LONG 28" oak logs out/up a steep ravine,

instead of cutting them shorter...

SR

your winch is similar to mine Sawyer only slightly bigger. I too have done some rugged work with no problem until now

 

[Hoobie]

View attachment 678383
What got destroyed?
Parts 3, 5, 6? All of them?
Never heard of that before. I’ve seen the brake arm (seems more like a tension arm thing), but never realized there’s a brake (part 6) to it. Makes sense.
I’m guessing something went wrong when you where pulling the cable out that let the cable destroy parts when you winched it back in. Think the spring failing would do that?

2,3,5,15. spring is fine Coby. the spring pulls the little brake pad onto the rim of the spool when there is no tension on the cable. my dealer says there was a loop or kink in the cable which grabbed some part. that is why the manual says to always rewind the cable under load. Cable can develop spool memory he said . and I sometimes rewind extra cable after I use snatch block to pull down lodged trees without load. and I had done just that earlier

 

[CalG]

I have an Wallenstein FX90, and I've pulled a LOT of logs, a few cars and other "stuck" things.

I even pulled a deer out of the heavy brush with it, that had ran about 150' into it after I shot it. My wife and me couldn't drag it, so I went home and got the tractor... My wife said, "how come we don't always use that?" lol

I've never had any problems with it at all and there are times I'd consider what I expected it to do, abuse! Like pulling these LONG 28" oak logs out/up a steep ravine,

instead of cutting them shorter...

SR

It's not abuse until the load capacity is exceeded. What is it? a 5 ton winch? I doubt you got past 6000# pull.

Now if you jogged over a stump or two on the way up......;-)

 

[Sawyer Rob]

It's not abuse until the load capacity is exceeded. What is it? a 5 ton winch? I doubt you got past 6000# pull.

Not knowing how steep the ravine was, what the log was going through or how long the log was, how could you calculate how hard the pull was??

SR

 

[CobyRupert]

Not sure how you can abuse it as the clutch will just slip.
Max. pull depends on how the clutch is set, and how much cable is on the spool, etc..
I believe the model number x 100 is the rated max. pull (pounds) on an empty spool (cable fully extended). As the cable is reeled in and spool diameter gets bigger, max. pull decreases. I can’t find the numbers, but the cable line speed increases by a factor of 2.5, so I imagine the pulling force decreases by that similar amount.
You can only roughly estimate how hard the pull WASN’T if the clutch doesn’t slip knowing how much cable is on the reel.
A couple years ago, I give the clutch on my FX65 the tiniest of adjusts thinking I can squeeze a few more pounds of pull out of it. It seems that the cable pulls a little harder now when I unwind it. Now, I’ll have look at this brake mechanism that I never knew about until today.

 

[CalG]

Not knowing how steep the ravine was, what the log was going through or how long the log was, how could you calculate how hard the pull was??

SR

Exactly! Could one accurately describe just which component of the winch was "abused"?

If you say "the clutch", the claim is dismissed on grounds of design.

Just for reference:

A 24 inch ABH oak in 16ft length scales less than 4000# (or a rough approximation) Lumber and Hardwood Weight Calculator - Inch Calculator

Drag over the ground is "usually less than the "hanging weight", but ..hey, stuff gets hung up.

The slope of the ravine doesn't even come into play.

 

[bullockcm]

2,3,5,15. spring is fine Coby. the spring pulls the little brake pad onto the rim of the spool when there is no tension on the cable. my dealer says there was a loop or kink in the cable which grabbed some part. that is why the manual says to always rewind the cable under load. Cable can develop spool memory he said . and I sometimes rewind extra cable after I use snatch block to pull down lodged trees without load. and I had done just that earlier

Had a somewhat similar experience a couple of years ago although only broke the cable. Working with my brothers skidding out tops, I had explained about only winching the cable in under load amongst other things since neither one had used a winch before. One pulled the cable out probably 60 feet and then realized he needed to reposition the tractor. I stood 30 yards away with a running chainsaw and choose not to yell at him for winching the cable in with nothing on it. I think we winched 2 more times with no issue but the 3rd pull after that the cable had become hung up enough that it applied pressure to the clutch without the rope pulled and began winching itself in. Tractor stalled out just as the pto was disengaged, I believe the tangled cable was applying so much pressure that the clutch didn't slip as designed. Easily could have ended up with someone hurt in that situation. Kind of pain to disassemble with the cable tangled. Ended up breaking the cable at about the 15 foot mark and damaging it badly enough around the 30' mark that we had to terminate it there.

That said I normally work alone and winching extra cable in can be a pain. Anybody have any good tips for this? I usually just find a piece of wood to apply a bit of a load.