Have the week off and I am a piddler for sure. welded a winch mount up on my trailer and respooled an old jeep winch I had. Repurposed a yoke off a tractor, an impact and a lag bolt and bam, pulled this big ol trunk piece right on up !
In this heat I just knew there was an easy way , come to find out there was ! Was a little work up front but I think long run it will save me some time and definitely my back.
If you ever run out of lag bolts you can attach a carabiner to the end of the cable and loop it around the log and attach it back to the cable. The more you pull the tighter it will get.
A set of tongs works nice too. Not to be an a$$ but your winch is spooled backwards. Cable should feed straight into the guide from underneath. You ever really put that thing through it’s paces you’ll rip that guide apart.
I don't know if I will ever actually do it or not, but I have a rough design in my head to build a poor mans firewood processor. It would consist of a dove tail trailer with a swinging jib crane mounted on the one front corner and an electric winch on it, and plenty of cable. I would have my log splitter mounted right on the trailer and the plan would be to drag logs to the trailer, up onto the back, buck rounds, split, throw splits on trailer. Swinging jib could be used to load large rounds right onto the splitter too (if they are already cut to length prior) campinspecter uses this 5/8" Hammerhead Rafting Dog to winch logs to his splitter...you just pound 'em in, twist to remove.
I have had thoughts along those lines too. This trailer also is my jeep hauler so would have to be removable. I use the Gorillaback with my splitter and have had zero complaints
A pair of timber tuffs like Jason posted work well. Tips needed a little needle sharpening when new but I have t touched them since. That’s what I’ve used the most of. Bought a small 16” standard tong. So far not impressed. I think they missed their calling as a boat anchor IMO all tongs need to be beat on before working correctly. They come much too stiff with powder coating in the joint from the factory. Abuse them for awhile and they loosen up. Downside of the timber tuff is the spring clips that hold the teeth in. Lost two until I just tack welded the clip and washer in place. Dragging over rocks does a number on them. I go over the top of the log. Works for what I do. A long controller cable really helps too
Wireless remote...only way to fly. The add-on kit is reasonably priced on most cases. I have one on my lil 3000 lb winch and it is so handy for felling trees that have a wrong way lean to them...cut a lil, tension a lil, cut a lil more...
I have a wireless remote on my atv winch that I used for a log lift on my last splitter. Great winch made by Warn for Polaris. The actual remote is a piece of junk. Had to replace the battery everyday I used it and that’s not an easy task. Couldn’t even buy another remote to see if I had a lemon. Only sold as a complete kit for $180. Made me appreciate the hard wire. I read some people replaced the bad remote like I had with a garage door opener. Need to get the right radio waves I guess. Never tried that.
Chokes work very well indeed. You can rig one much faster than driving in a lag bolt. If you go that route you are probably better off making/buying a choke instead of using the winch cable as the choke and beating the crap out of the cable. I also like chokes with a long enough lead on them to keep the object being dragged away from the thimble on the drag line. It keeps your thimble from being damaged.
I hear what your saying , I timed it. Took me 12 seconds to drive an 8” bolt in with the 3/4” impact. Maybe someone could rig a choker up faster but I sure can’t ! I am putting rollers on back of trailer today to keep cable off the trailer. It works for me.
Great minds think alike... ... it works great and well worth the build... just for the satisfaction of beating Mr Gravity...
used choke chain on drawbar last night to pull dozen logs out for bucking, got it done just before the rain hit. They are spread out so I can just buck them up to size without having to move anything again. Really need to stick a small jib crane on the splitter -make life simpler- could put a lift plate on it but that tends to get in the way.
