# Winch HP



## IowaDave (May 21, 2015)

Does anyone have any experience/advice regarding winches and dragging logs up onto a trailer? I have a winch that I believe is rated for 8000 pounds. I have used it just once to drag a log up onto a tilt bed trailer. I estimate that log was just 3000#, or even less. But that winch struggled and even started to smoke a little bit.

Going by the rating and estimated weight of the log in question, I would have thought it would had no trouble pulling it...as the rating is for more than twice the weight of the log. Granted, there were no "wheels" on the log and there would have been a fair amount of friction as it was dragged uphill.

Do I need a bigger winch? Should I have found a way to get something underneath the log so as to facilitate it being drug uphill? Etc? Any help or experience with this is appreciated. TIA.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*Pulling power of winches ........*

 

I have several winches of different ratings I use to pull heavy objects, but I use different means to reduce the sliding friction. This machine weighs 1600 lbs and came with casters to reduce the friction when I used a 1500 lb winch to pull it up the ramp and onto the trailer. The plywood sheets made the ramp smoother. I came prepared for just about any situation since the machine was about 50 miles from home. Some winches are rated by their rolling pulling power and that can get really confusing:
http://vi.raptor.ebaydesc.com/ws/eB...ategory=66798&pm=1&ds=0&t=1575502940000&ver=0

Obviously, a large heavy log is much different and has a lot more resistance to sliding, especially in dirt or if the end is digging into the dirt. I have sawn a bevel on the pulling end to help ease it along. Depending on your ramp, some soapy water would help. I have also used short sections of water pipe to roll 30 ft long steel I beams around. 

You don't want to find out that your winch is under excessive load without having a means to reduce it, especially at the last minute out in the middle of nowhere. Bring a steel plate, steel pipes, or plywood sheets anything that might help, even a come-along to add extra pulling power. A long pry bar will lift it to get the plate underneath.
I have made a skid pallet for winching some heavy tools up a long stairway where I laid runners on the treads. These tools weighed around 500 lbs, so not as heavy as your log, but the concept would be the same. Strap the skid to the pulling end using separate ones from the strap used to pull the log. If this is a common occurence, keep the skid handy for future heavy pulls.


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## High_Water (Sep 13, 2019)

8000 is a pretty good size. I think the key is reduce friction. I'm going to try and find some Teflon dowels to use as rollers, I'll use pipe if I can't find anything else. Don't forget to always use a snatch block or something to double back your cable, the more times you double back the better.


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## John Smith_inFL (Jul 4, 2018)

if you google "homemade log skidder" you will find dozens of good examples
of how to ease your pain. a ton of videos on YouTube on the DIY skidders and sleds.

.


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## TomCT2 (May 16, 2014)

btw, winches are not rated by weight of the item. it's how much pulling force they develop.
as you've learned. . . that log, stuck in the mud, takes more than 8,000 pounds of force to pull it out....


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## IowaDave (May 21, 2015)

TomCT2 said:


> btw, winches are not rated by weight of the item. it's how much pulling force they develop.
> as you've learned. . . that log, stuck in the mud, takes more than 8,000 pounds of force to pull it out....


Thanks for the feedback. Just as an FYI though. I had positioned the end of the log right off the back end of a tilt bed trailer, with the bed tilted up. So while I was getting friction from the contact point of the bed of the trailer and the log itself and since the bed was tilted up I was getting some gravity effect too...I wasn't fighting any other forces like being stuck in the mud, etc. 

That's one of the reasons that it surprised me, while I certainly had some friction, I did not have, in my mind, excessive friction. 

All of the advice to this point makes sense and I appreciate it. I will look for some Youtube videos too and factor all of this into what size winch I really need. Certainly, I can do more to help by getting the log onto something like a roller(s) or something slick.


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## TomCT2 (May 16, 2014)

we've moved heavy equipment weighing tons and tons on 2" galvanized pipe.
okay, rolling on concrete - but my point is you're far better off going with something round&rolling than anti-friction mats.
and there's no sense in a teflon roller - round is round and that's what counts.

if this is something you'll be doing regular - look at inflatable rollers. deflated they slide under the log, inflated - the log rolls right along.....


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## _Ogre (Feb 1, 2013)

build a set of gin poles on the back of your trailer. gin poles would lift the log vs dead drag
make sure your ball & hitch are secure or you maybe chasing everything into the next county over


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*And ......*

Either have some legs that extend down right at the rear or carry some blocks to put under frame at the rear so when the weight transfers to the rear of the trailer, the trailer tongue won't fly up in the air and launch your 12 V winch into the next county ....
Nice rig though for certain! :wink:

While I was thinking about this, I remembered a neighbor has a horse drawn log dolly with two large wheels and an arch, from the old logging days. So, I Googled them and found this which is exactly what you need to not only load the heavy logs on the trailer, but get them out of the woods to your trailer:
https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200673743_200673743?cm_mmc=Google-pla&utm_source=Google_PLA&utm_medium=Logging%20%3E%20Log%20Skidding%20%2B%20Lifting&utm_campaign=Strongway&utm_content=51963&&ds_e_product_group_id=660736156942&ds_e_product_store_id=&ds_e_ad_type=pla&gclid=CjwKCAjwlID8BRAFEiwAnUoK1aE_2gJ8mpzVVneSq7YgWqfXyBFHqnx2ui109xosQT4HbKCu0t3BaRoCl0oQAvD_BwE











I want one myself. :grin: I actually have everything I need to make one........ hmmmm


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## FrankC (Aug 24, 2012)

If you are going to haul logs "go big or go home"
http://pickeringbrookheritagegroup.com/sawmills7.html


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## High_Water (Sep 13, 2019)

TomCT2 said:


> we've moved heavy equipment weighing tons and tons on 2" galvanized pipe.
> okay, rolling on concrete - but my point is you're far better off going with something round&rolling than anti-friction mats.
> and there's no sense in a teflon roller - round is round and that's what counts.
> 
> if this is something you'll be doing regular - look at inflatable rollers. deflated they slide under the log, inflated - the log rolls right along.....



lol I mentioned Teflon because I had just had this very conversation with a guy that uses it to move heavy equipment. But after doing some research I think I'll stick to metal pipe, Teflon the size I would need is pretty expensive, and I think the guy I got the idea from got his for free.


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## kwoodhands (May 1, 2020)

I recall when I was a boy my grandfather skidding logs with a home made contraption similar to Woodandthings picture he posted. This was two truck wheels on a U shaped frame. The frame was 6" channel with holes about 2 or 3" in diameter where a solid bar slid thru to hold the underside of a log. One end was lifted with a hydraulic drawbar on his Case tractor. The skidder as placed under the other end of the log where it was convenient to do so, about 5"0" or so from the end of the log. The skidder was stood up and the solid bar placed about 3" lower than the log. The tractor moved forward several feet, the skidder wheels stayed put and the log hit the solid bar. A chain loosely kept the skidder from tipping backwards. The skidder then was on an approximate 15/20 ° angle. The log was chained to the skidder which pinched it to the skidder. I only watched as I was too young to help. I recall it probably took 15/20 minutes to get one log out of the wood lot.
mike


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## TimPa (Jan 27, 2010)

you don't need a bigger winch - next time use a snatch block - a pulley with a hook. connect the hook to the log (with a chain, ec.) and bring the rope/chain back toward the winch and secure. 

pro you will double your pulling power. 
con you will also half the travel speed, and need twice the amount of usable chain/rope. so not sure how many more you have to go. but it will do the job for you without smoking!


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