installing winch

[treehunter]

i own a 2018 M7060 and i am thinking about installing a Lewis Steel 25000 # winch to log some white pine on my property. My question is in regards to mounting winch; would I be safe in putting a one inch steel plate in the drawbar receiver with some support from the rear axle on both sides of plate to mount the winch to? This will not be an ongoing operation so it will be only temporary.

 

[i7win7]

Could not find a google link for that 25,000lb winch, looks like your playing with serious power. Is it chainsaw powered? Would a 3pt carryall with steel platform be better. Wallenstein and others make pto powered skidding winches. I you make a custom solution, please share photos.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Curious as well. I have a Lewis chainsaw winch I carry in the truck when we go off road. Saved my bacon a couple times. Good winch.

 

[treehunter]

These winches were made years ago by Lewis Steel which no longer manufactures this product. They are very robust and not designed to be a three point setup. They were traditionally mounted on a industrial tractor like a 545 New Holland that had the loader frame attached to rear axle. Kubota tractors like mine are very difficult to tie into the loader frame because of the fuel tank on one side and hydraulic connections on the other. I want to mount it so it would be easy to take off so I could use my 3 point hitch for other operations. This setup would not have the strength of the industrial setup so I was wandering about my idea for occasional use.

 

[Dave_eng]

I have a M7040 and would never consider putting such a strain on my tractor.

When I moved to the M7040 from an old British Leyland tractor I was shocked at how much lighter built the Kubota was. Casting technology has improved and manufacturers can produce much thinner parts than the old brutes.

25,000# could break your tractor regardless of how you reinforce the mount.

Your tractor weights around 6,000# . Unless you ties the front end to a tree.....

Just the reaction of an old engineer

Dave

 

[miketrock]

How much does the winch weigh? Should be fine. The logs/trees aren't going to require anywhere near 25,000lbs of pull to just drag them. The winch is capable of 25,000lb but it won't take near that much to drag logs.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

I know a 9' section of a 32" round black walnut weighs about 3400# and my D-14 lifted it on the carry all. It 'complained' about the 10' section though....had to be close to 3600#.
The 'trick' to skidding logs out is to be SURE the front of log is OFF the ground and close to tractor. Makes it easier to manuver and keeps them cleaner.Sawmills and chainsaws don't like dirt !

 

[UpNorthMI]

Hi,

I do quite a bit of log skidding with my Kubota MX5800 and a Farmi JL351P 3pt log skidding winch.

If I was looking at fabricating a winch I would strongly go for a frame that went on the 3pt for 2 key reasons:
1. Thats where the tractor has been designed to have the load and work stress.
2. I would add a vertical reinforced plate (slightly angled back) to the base of the winch frame, using your 3ph you can lower this into the ground as a rear brace when winching.

My Farmi winch relies on this lower plate a lot and it stops the tractor moving significantly.

Your M7060 is bigger than my MX5800 but all winches tend to have more pull than the weight of your tractor. You have to work out how to operate your set up safely.

I also use an auto disengaging pully block which is a must for me as I'm often winching at 90 degrees or use the pully block straped to a tree to steer the tree along an easier recovery path.

Good luck with your project.

 

[miketrock]

checkout "hud-son.com" , they have skidding winches for 3 point mounts, just to get ideas for making your own.

 

[UpNorthMI]

That's a good recommendation to look at 3pt log skid winch manufacturers. When I was looking a couple of years back to buy one I had a list of manufacturers, here they are:

Balfor
Erskine
Farmi
Fransgard
Hud-son
Norwood
Tajfun
Uniforest
Wallenstein