Has anyone used a Skidder Winch for dragging trees out of the woods? I have just cut them in the past and then used long ropes/chains/tow cables hooked to the ATV or Bobcat to drag them out, but I have to have the space to drive the machine into so I can drag them up to accessible land. Have been looking at PTO or Hydraulic Skid winches and they seem like what I would need, because the machine can stay stationary.
Skidder winch
- Thread starter WeedyJ
- Start date
S.T.Fanatic
5 year old buck +
We built one for a skidloader. Its slow but works ok.
Thought about rigging one using a Heavy Duty winch, but the slow speed made me want to find a faster option. Haven't looked at too many, but some have pretty good speeds.
j-bird
Moderator
So depending on exactly what you are after...... This is what a guy brought out to my place when I needed to fish my 30 hp tractor out of a mess I created....back in the woods. It was awesome. It's like a giant fishing real for the front of his large bobcat. The outfit uses this to recover vehicles from swamps and the like....my little tractor was just a toy! The compact nature let him go where we would have otherwise been cutting stuff down or really beating the crap out of the equipment. I thought it was cool simply because it was simply an attachment. The tracks help distribute the weight and get a firm foot hold and the blade digs down some into the soil and the feet help stabilize it. Turnbuckle for a little additional mechanical advantage as well if needed. I want to say the winch was rated at 20,000 pounds....my tractor is a little over a ton....took longer getting to the location than it did yanking it out.....felt kind of stupid....
Love the screen. Some of the logging ones look like they use some type of a high tensile rope, so lighter weight. I was wearing myself out last year walking in swampy stuff lugging a combo of tow straps and transport chains. I should have started this 30 years ago! Wallenstein looks like it's a good one. No rush for it yet, but I'm always thinking ahead about what else I need/want to do in the woods! Habitat management is quite the challenge to my ADD brain 
MRBB
5 year old buck +
I have used them on older machines and likes
they tend to be slow, but can do it i rated for the task
MY thoughts here would be HOW many tree's do you need to move and how large are they
if a bunch, maybe just hire a logger to come in and haul them up and out for you, the costs to build and set up might not be worth it in the long run!
just the effort of dragging the line back and forth to tree's can grow old fast and be LOT of work here!
a company that does it for a living will do it faster more efficiently and safer, AND maybe even cheaper than building something!
lots comes down to your skill set, time and equipment on hand, and what correct size winches will run you
cables under a load can become very dangerous real fast if the snap under a load!
they tend to be slow, but can do it i rated for the task
MY thoughts here would be HOW many tree's do you need to move and how large are they
if a bunch, maybe just hire a logger to come in and haul them up and out for you, the costs to build and set up might not be worth it in the long run!
just the effort of dragging the line back and forth to tree's can grow old fast and be LOT of work here!
a company that does it for a living will do it faster more efficiently and safer, AND maybe even cheaper than building something!
lots comes down to your skill set, time and equipment on hand, and what correct size winches will run you
cables under a load can become very dangerous real fast if the snap under a load!
