Portable Winches?

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The winch was too slow to manage the drift from a large limb off to the side, which diverted from the intended lay and the tree crashed another dead one that went wild into a house. One of those things that you can't believe is happening while you watch it happening. Before that, we found a lot of success winching trees towards the lay. I'm not sure the damage can be entirely blamed on the winch. :D
 
I have had the PWC5000 for about 3 years and use it all of the time. I have quite a few of the accessories. There is a steep slope behind my house and I often wench large logs up using the large yellow, plastic skidding cone and a chain. As mentioned the tree mount is a very useful accessory as is the mount for attachment to the hitch of my truck.

One piece of advice. Always bring along tools to disassemble the spindle and the chain guide in case the rope gets jammed, unless you want to cut your rope. I have had jams that were impossible to loosen without disassembly. Not having the proper tools at that point would have been a serious bummer. Bad places in your rope are the most common cause of rope jams. Look out for those flat spots that are not often visible from the outside of the rope. I use a Yale Dynasorb 9/16” rope. If I were to get another rope which I am almost due I would get the same except a ½”.

Most of the time I use a pulley to give me a two to one mechanical advantage.
 
Woodworkingboy they make a larger spindle that increases the speed of the winch. It may have helped in your situation.
 
Yeah, good post RiverSap. I think that three strand is recommended to be used with that winch. Would that help to prevent the rope jamming problem mentioned?
 
Thanks all for the welcome. I have not used anything but that Yale rope I mentioned for the wench. I know Portablewench sells a rope specifically for the wench. It probably would be a good idea to use that specific rope. I am not sure what kind of rope it is. My rope never jammed until it started to get bad places. The lesson I have not completely learned is to retire worn out rope.
 
16-strand 1/2" Arbormaster is all I use for winching, and it holds up really well.
You kinda need to be watching what you are winching, AND the drum at the same time, because momentary slack in the line is all that it takes to get a wrap of line on the drum to cross over another wrap, and voila: you got big problems unless you very quickly turn the on/off switch to off.

It helps to pull the line snug before you put any wraps on the drum, and I usually just slowly put on one wrap at a time while winching, as necessary, up to five wraps with 1/2" line
 
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No Go on the 3 Strand Jay. I tired it. Too much stretch. You can't release tension without a serious rubber band effect, pretty dangerous actually, and specifically cautioned against in the manual.

My 1/2" Stable Braid will dog the motor right out with 4 full wraps, and no serious rebound. The 1/2" Sta-Set I bought for the purpose is braided too tight, and slips on the drum. Not sure what I'm going to do with it. . .
 
So I am sold on the PWC5000 and plan on getting one, but I just thought that I'd share this pretty cool vid of the Lewis Winch in action, even though we all agree, it's not the best winch for arboricultural work.

Also, I don't know if I would want to be standing in front of a load like that.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7u8yjasHzhA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #39
Agreed Jay, these things certainly have their limits, but they open up a lot of possibilities too. I've already saved multiple sore backs with mine. haha

Cheers
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #45
Last one I promise. Included my stupid hanger for good measure. Let us know what you think once you get Winch Chris.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ItGgSsXUYN8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Cheers
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #49
pantheraba said:
imperturbable.
Click to expand...


haha, nice one Gary.

Has anyone watched this one yet? There's some pretty cool stuff going on, but man, watch that guy at the end standing right in the bight. 2:1 pulling on a 4:1 with a mechanical winch, and dude is crotch level right in front of the block. Crazy.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tzX49Db_e4w" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
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