Winch addition

[dhp3228]

Thinking of adding a winch to my LT 40to help me pull limbs that are piled farther from my mill.

1. Words of wisdom about doing such things?

2. Words of persuasion or caution about adding on?

3. Could y'all post pics of what you have done in the past. ?

Thanks very much

[starmac]

Limbs or logs? I am not 100% sure what you are trying to do. Wre you wanting to roll logs up on it or pull logs to it. If the latter I would be scared of the log hanging up, while using my mill for a skidder.

[Kbeitz]

i got one behind my mill on a crane...




 

[kelLOGg]

So did I. It slides in and out under motorized control. Even though it pivots, I don't pivot it more than about 10° because of the enormous torque on the receiver tube. I load (by rolling, not sliding or pulling), rotate and slide logs after they are on the mill with it. The only disadvantage of my design is limited access by machinery (bobcat, e.g.) on that side of the mill. If you weld to the main structural component of your mill make sure you have the skill and know what not to do. (I bent my frame ...loooooong story .... and took a year to find someone to correct it. Welders said "Oh, you welded on a non-neutral axis". Know what you are doing before you weld or bolt it on. Pardon the rant but I don't want anyone to make the same mistake I did.)



 

[Kbeitz]

So did I. It slides in and out under motorized control. Even though it pivots, I don't pivot it more than about 10° because of the enormous torque on the receiver tube. I load (by rolling, not sliding or pulling), rotate and slide logs after they are on the mill with it. The only disadvantage of my design is limited access by machinery (bobcat, e.g.) on that side of the mill. If you weld to the main structural component of your mill make sure you have the skill and know what not to do. (I bent my frame ...loooooong story .... and took a year to find someone to correct it. Welders said "Oh, you welded on a non-neutral axis". Know what you are doing before you weld or bolt it on. Pardon the rant but I don't want anyone to make the same mistake I did.)



 

Yep welding can be a great way to put a curve in something.
Mobil home trailers are welded every couple inches across the top of the metal frames to
put in an upward curve in the frame so after all the weight of the wood is put on the
frame sits level.
On my crane it sits on the ground and has two arms that bolted to the frame of the mill.



 

[elk42]

 This works for me.  The winch slides back and forth on top to line up with the out side edge of the log. It will put less pressure on the log stops.     

 

[dhp3228]

Thanks for the info. Here's some clarification. I am talking about par buckling logs back to a WMLT 40 hydraulic mill

[kelLOGg]

Pictures of your current setup would help us understand more. Are you trying to roll logs to your lift arms?
Bob

[Sixacresand]

Thanks for the info. Here's some clarification. I am talking about par buckling logs back to a WMLT 40 hydraulic mill

I have parbuckled big logs onto the loading arms using a chain attached to the hydraulic clamp, which is a slow go, but works.  A good hand crank winch would probable do the job, since you are parbuckling on level ground.  When I had a stationary LT10 I had 110V winch mounted on a post a few feet from the mill for parbuckling those big 20 inch logs.  :D

[Remle]

Thanks for the info. Here's some clarification. I am talking about par buckling logs back to a WMLT 40 hydraulic mill

My WMLT 40 HD has a factory mounted manual winch right behind the hdy box. Does yours or has it been removed ?? If the bracket is their all you would need is to mount a manual or electric winch to it.

[dhp3228]

No mine doesn't have that attachment. Could you post pics. Hadn't thought of using the lifting arm hydraulics to par buckle a log to the mill. That would be nice to use instead of a winch except you'd only get a free feet at a time and then you'd have to re-rig

[47sawdust]

dhp3228,
My LT30 came with a manual winch for loading and turning. I replaced it with an electric winch. After adding a hydraulic pump I moved it to a different location.A pulley to change direction of pull and this should work for you.The winch is a 3700# Warn.Power for winch comes from the hydraulic pump terminal.
Best of luck,
Mick

 

[dhp3228]

Thanks very much

[Andries]

Thinking of adding a winch to my LT 40to help me pull limbs that are piled farther from my mill.
1. Words of wisdom about doing such things?
2. Words of persuasion or caution about adding on?
3. Could y'all post pics of what you have done in the past. ?
Thanks very much

I replaced the manual winch on my mill. An ATV sized winch has enough power to roll big logs up the ramps onto the deck. Its called parbuckling and doesn't need much power.
1) Hauling logs from 100 feet way? Wouldn't advise that. My mill has skidded sideways six feet and not been able to free up an oak log frozen to the ground. A fetching arch, tractor, loader, skidder or something else rated for "mucho gusto" is recommended for that. Even a Lewis type winch hooked to the receiver hitch of your truck is better than a winch on the mill. For logs stacked 15 feet away and ready to be milled? You betcha! Works like a charm.
2) I built a metal box to keep rain and snow off of the winch, mounted it on the hefty metal bracket that the manual winch used to be bolted to. Used winch 'quick connect' type hookup to plug in the winch to the battery/fuse box when the sawhead is at the front end. ( My mill doesn't have a hyd. box like 47sawdust's mill has). The pulling cable runs back along the main beam, through a keeper and re-directed by a two inch pulley mounted to the frame just ahead of the axle.
3) The winch is in the black box just to the back of the hitch coupler. Its mounted with the spool on the vertical, not the usual horizontal. That protects the winch motor from the weather and lets the spool feed in/out without touching the box.

(you can see the electrical quick connect dangle down from the winch)

[47sawdust]

Andries,
My winch used to be set up like yours with a Cole Hersee 2 pole plug and receptacle.I engaged the power feed more than once w/0 unplugging.No harm just felt a little foolish.You are correct about the risk of the log pulling the mill.All kinds of surprises can happen.
Nice set up you have there.

[Brucer]

When I had my manual mill, I sometimes used the winch to roll logs to the mill. The first time I did it was in the winter. I set my mill up across one end of the customer's industrial tent and he arranged for the logs to be stacked opposite the mill, with a roadway in between the logs and the mill. They plowed the roadway clear whenever the snow built up, so in theory I just had to roll the logs across a flat area to the mill.

This was fine until the logs froze together. Then I found myself cranking the mill sideways across the ground .