Some ideas on ramps and winch placement

justallan1 · January 23, 2013, 09:13:51 AM

This is where I am at on my trailer. I've thrown together some ramps to get an idea of what I want, but am sure open to ideas. I notched the ends to sit on the track and they will be pinned to the side rails of the trailer so they can't go anywhere.
For the winch I'm not sure to mount it high enough so the cable clears the ramp side of the trailer or put a roller on that side for the cable to ride on.

Magicman · January 23, 2013, 09:23:42 AM

Just looking, those ramps appear mighty steep which will put more load on your winch. Maybe the camera angle is throwing my eyes off smiley_dizzy but they do not look to be over 6' long. I would suggest at least 8'. Also weld an angle iron foot on them to prevent them from sinking under the log's weight.

Delawhere Jack · January 23, 2013, 09:25:08 AM

Mount the winch high enough that it can be used to rotate logs/cants on the mill. If it is a hand crank winch, be sure it's high enough that the handle will clear the largest log you might put on the mill when you use it for turning logs.

Looks good so far.

dboyt · January 23, 2013, 10:01:29 AM

What is the maximum diameter of the logs? If it is bigger than you want to turn with a cant hook, follow Delawhere Jack's advice about setting up the winch for turning the logs. Are the ramps adjustable to accommodate uneven ground? The advantage of a low winch with a pulley is that it will save you climbing up on the trailer quite so much. If you follow MM's advice about welding pads on the bottom of the ramp and make them broad enough, there will be no need to pin the ramp to the track or trailer frame, which will give you more flexibility about where they go for different size logs. That will let you get by with just two ramps.

Looks like a good solution for going mobile, with a little room for a few boards on the side.

Sixacresand · January 23, 2013, 10:30:31 AM

I like your design. You might consider having an spare set of longer ramps for those extra heavy logs. I hope you can locate the winch so it will be out of the way while milling.

beenthere · January 23, 2013, 12:14:28 PM

Maybe a mast for the winch that folds down on the trailer behind the wheels would be out of the way when not in use.
Height of the top pulley could then be high enough for either the ramp-up logs or the to-be-turned logs.

justallan1 · January 23, 2013, 12:23:23 PM

Thanks everyone.
Magicman, I think you are right on me needing longer ramps and putting a foot on each is a great idea.
Jack, I like the idea of putting the winch high and using it to rotate logs plus I think it would be less strain on the winch to have it more in line with angle of the ramps.
The biggest logs I can saw on this mill are 18-19", which is about the biggest I have to cut anyway. I was going to put flip stops on the ramps and just grunt them up there but heck with that, I'm not getting any younger!
I'm figuring to run the winch cable around the logs, over the top and back to the trailer so as to be rolling the logs up the ramps. Plus that should be doubling the strength of the winch also.
Well, the cows are fed and the coffee is ready, I'm going to play in the shop.

justallan1 · January 23, 2013, 12:29:56 PM

Good idea Been there. I'm trying to decide if I want to put a fold down mast for the winch or a permanent one that will spin out of the way and having an arm off the top of it that reaches out over the track. plus trying to figure the best way to anchor either for strength.

Delawhere Jack · January 23, 2013, 03:39:03 PM

Search this forum for the term parbuckle, and take a look in MagicMan's photo gallery. Using a chain along with the winch cable makes loading logs much steadier.

Like Beenthere said, mount the winch on a post that can fold down or that you can lift out of a socket when you don't need it.

reride82 · January 23, 2013, 03:51:04 PM

Quote from: justallan1 on January 23, 2013, 12:23:23 PM
Thanks everyone.
Magicman, I think you are right on me needing longer ramps and putting a foot on each is a great idea.
Jack, I like the idea of putting the winch high and using it to rotate logs plus I think it would be less strain on the winch to have it more in line with angle of the ramps.
The biggest logs I can saw on this mill are 18-19", which is about the biggest I have to cut anyway. I was going to put flip stops on the ramps and just grunt them up there but heck with that, I'm not getting any younger!
I'm figuring to run the winch cable around the logs, over the top and back to the trailer so as to be rolling the logs up the ramps. Plus that should be doubling the strength of the winch also.
Well, the cows are fed and the coffee is ready, I'm going to play in the shop.

Hello, and welcome to the Forum! I assume if you're feeding cows in southeast Montana that you also have a front end loader. So, why not just have a log deck the same height as your mill and place logs on the deck with the tractor? That is what I do.

Levi

justallan1 · January 24, 2013, 12:29:13 AM

Levi, we have all sorts of equiptment, but I'm doing this on the side and don't want to put myself in a bad spot with the ranch if something should happen with their equiptment.

Jack, I couldn't seem to find the pictures that you were speaking of so I built what I think Beenthere was saying and here's what I came up with.

I know that I'll need to strengthen up the base of the mast. I'm thinking about putting in a removable brace from just below where it swivels to the trailer deck.
What's the best place for the winch? If I put it on the arm that I built it's high enough to load logs and flip them, and the saw can go under it no problem.

Ljohnsaw · January 24, 2013, 12:56:21 AM

I would put the winch down low and put a snatch block up at the tip and one back below the brace. Make that one just high enough to reach the logs waiting to be hoisted up the ramp and the cable clear your trailer. That will reduce the strain on your mount quite a bit (shorter lever arm). You could just weld on a piece of chain in those locations and use one snatch block, moving it to where you need it at the time.

justallan1 · January 24, 2013, 01:06:42 AM

I think it's plenty strong for turning a log where it's at but I think you are definately right on mounting it lower for pulling logs up on the trailer. Good idea with just using chain to hang a snatchblock from. Thanks.
Allan

sigidi · January 24, 2013, 04:29:11 PM

Allan, interesting project. Is that the winch you are lookin at using? It seems a touch on the small side? I have a 12,000lb winch and double the cable for extra pulling, but it doesn't always do things easy.....

justallan1 · January 24, 2013, 04:39:40 PM

I'd bought that winch for another project and put it up there to see what it was going to look like. I may try it, but my plan for it is in a truck with gin poles to pick up one end of a log high enough to get a safety chain around so I can drag logs.