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General Forestry => Forestry and Logging => Topic started by: Corley5 on January 26, 2012, 07:04:04 PM

Title: Gearmatic to hydraulic
Post by: Corley5 on January 26, 2012, 07:04:04 PM


 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10027/1143/Tree_Farmer_C5_001.jpg) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10027/1143/Tree_Farmer_C5_006.jpg)   

My old C-5 Tree Farmer has what I think is Gearmatic but it maybe a Can Car winch.  I don't know  ;D  The winch has the usual problems.  Won't free spool,  the brake won't hold either but it will pull.  The hand brake controller is also full of rust and scale but seems to surprisingly work  :o :) but I can't imagine it would for long  :( :)  Rather than putting time and $$$$$ into this thing that's apt to sit for long periods and just rust up again I was thinking about pulling it off and installing a hydraulic winch like a Braden or something similar.  The machine should have enough hydraulic power as it is however a larger pump would be an easy install.  A hydraulic winch, some hose and a valve and it's done.  Right  ??? ??? ???  It would do away the problematic winch; a driveshaft and u-joints; brake lines, fluid and the controller.  If it sat for a period there were be no bands to rust or brake fluid to gather moisture and hopefully the machine when needed in a pinch could be put directly into service without troublesome startup maintenance.
  Line speed would be a concern.  How fast are hydraulic winches  ??? or is it more a matter of GPM  ???  It would be used as a backup machine for the forwarder and to pull logs from hillsides to a place accessible to the forwarder.  Seems like it would be a change for the better  ??? ;D :)  Hydraulic winches show up on E-bay and seem to be fairly reasonable in price when compared to parts for a Gearmatic winch that will only solve the problems for a while especially on a machine that won't see regular use.  Just want to make this thing serviceable and reliable so when I need it I can use it without working on it first  :) ;D   
Title: Re: Gearmatic to hydraulic
Post by: jocco on January 26, 2012, 07:13:54 PM
Corley can't answer your hyd questions but i have seen some machines converted to a deere or a clark winch both of which worked much better than the gearmatic. ( The 9 did not seem to give the problems of the 8 and 19) Now a timberjack (eaton herqules winch would solve all your problems) smiley_devilish The only winch that could set for 20 years and still work!!!
Title: Re: Gearmatic to hydraulic
Post by: doghunter on January 26, 2012, 07:22:17 PM
personally i'd put a 3325 john deere winch on it . it's self contained only needs a pto shaft to drive it, pretty simple to work on, cable controlled. hydraulic driven winches generate a lot of heat and need to be gpm matched to your pump the ones i've seen were way too slow for logging.i have a timberjack with a hercules that has been pretty well bulletproof that mightbe another option if you can come up with the proper control valve. just my personal opinion
Title: Re: Gearmatic to hydraulic
Post by: pineywoods on January 26, 2012, 07:23:56 PM
Rather than pure hydraulic winch, I would look for a big ole worm drive pto type winch and couple it to an external hydraulic motor. The things are just about bullet proof. Keep oil in the gear case and they last forever. No brake, no clutch, well usually a positive dog type clutch for free spooling. Line speed is just a matter of how much gpm you can throw at it. Look around for a truck boneyard.. I have one mounted on my kubota tractor. Hydraulic motor, a couple of sprockets and some roller chain. Wish you were closer. I have one in my junk pile parts department that came off a D6 dozer.
Title: Re: Gearmatic to hydraulic
Post by: madmari on January 26, 2012, 07:33:30 PM
For the cost of such a beast of a hydraulic winch you could put on a Hercules (Eaton- Timberjack) and be super happy and have enough left over to take your Bride to dinner and dancing ( and probably Cancun). Added benefit is that it will pull anything God put in the ground without complaint. It will completely lift the Tree Farmer off the ground.

  "When the lever goes north, the tree(s) come forth".

  I've had Gearmatics before. If you use it daily, keep it dry and sweet talk it occasionally it will provide likewise service. The Eaton however is like a Beagle. Asks nothing of you and hunts with the heart of a lion.
Title: Re: Gearmatic to hydraulic
Post by: bill m on January 26, 2012, 08:13:52 PM
Most hydraulic winches are slow. A planetary is faster than a worm gear but still nowhere as fast as the ones on most skidders. In order to freewheel a hydraulic winch with a load on you must stop, let all of the weight off of the cable then disengage the clutch/freewheel. You can get a fast hydraulic winch, they are made mostly for cranes and are expensive.
Title: Re: Gearmatic to hydraulic
Post by: redlaker1 on January 26, 2012, 09:39:25 PM
surplus center has a pto winch on their site,  its an 8000lb   but not sure how the gear ratio compares to the gearmatic.    or if the brake/clutch mechanism is strong enough for skidding with
Title: Re: Gearmatic to hydraulic
Post by: oldseabee on January 26, 2012, 10:23:15 PM
Tiger Cat Skidders use basically a Clark/Allied winch with a hydraulic drive instead of a PTO shaft.
Title: Re: Gearmatic to hydraulic
Post by: bill m on January 27, 2012, 08:17:26 AM
Look carefully at any winch you may be considering. Most winches can not release the cable with tension on it. The pto winch from Surplus Center might work on a tractor but would not stand up to the abuse it would get on a skidder.
Title: Re: Gearmatic to hydraulic
Post by: pineywoods on January 27, 2012, 09:46:57 AM
Quote from: bill m on January 27, 2012, 08:17:26 AM
Look carefully at any winch you may be considering. Most winches can not release the cable with tension on it.

Therin lies one of the big advantages of a hydraulic winch. reverse the oil flow and you have built-in power out.. That feature has saved me a lot of angst.
Title: Re: Gearmatic to hydraulic
Post by: lumberjack48 on January 27, 2012, 09:52:43 AM
I've worked with Gearmatic many yrs, i would fix that Ole Gearmatic. As long as you keep it covered and take it out once a month to keep everything lose it will be good to you. Its going to be pretty hard to replace it with something equal to its line speed and 40,000 lb. line pull. 
Title: Re: Gearmatic to hydraulic
Post by: doghunter on January 27, 2012, 06:57:03 PM
if you change out the old gearmatic list it on forestry forum for sale i'm sure someone needs it for parts or to use on a machine that runs every day