I had a chance to use my new capstan winch this weekend to lug a long out of the woods. It was decidedly a short trail but looks like it will do what I need it to. For those not familiar a capstan winch is geared revolving drum connected to an small engine. A pulling rope is wrapped around the drum a few wraps and when the rope is pulled on the drum grabs the rope and pulls the main line attached to a tree. They sell them as a chainsaw attachment or with dedicated Honda Engine. The Honda engine is four stroke so it was my preference. here is link http://www.capstanropewinch.com/. The Honda engine model is rated for 2000 tension. These is another brand that appears to be Chinese engine.
My woodlot is steep, too steep for an atv in spots. I have a couple of haul roads that slab the slope at a reasonable depth so the goal is to drop the trees in the woods and haul them down or up slope to the haul road and then cut them up to be hauled home to split or split before I haul them.
I started out with small maple I had dropped and limbed a month ago. It wasn't anything big probably 8" at the base and about 40 feet long tapering to a 2" diameter. I was pulling it down slope through the woods without a skidder cone. The run through the woods was about 100 feet. Since it was going downhill I definitely was fighting the tendency for the log to plow into the ground. I was set up with snatchblock at an intermediate point to lift it up but just wanted to get a feel for the setup. The lot is remote from my house and the haul road is currently blocked with several piles of fire wood so I had to lug everything from car about 300 feet up the haul road.
Once I got rigged up, it went quick. Its pretty intuitive, you do have to stand offset to the rear of the winch slightly offset to the side. Just wrap the rope around the drum about 3 wraps and then start the engine. Just slowly apply tension to the rope and the rope starts to grab on the drum. If you need more tension just tug a little harder and grabs on harder. Its not particularly fast but when lugging things through the woods it a lot faster than walking. The end of the log did try to plow once or twice and dig grab some limbs on the way but came right out to the road. I was going to do some large logs but discovered I had dropped my car keys somewhere in the wood so that was the end of the experiment for the day.
Some general observations. The winch is light, not much more than large chainsaw. The fuel tank isn't huge so I expect a refueling can is going to be needed. In addition to the winch a low stretch haul rope is needed. Its the same rope used for electrical wire pulls so easy to find. A piece of chain or log choker cable is recommended as the end of the log does get dragged through the woods and expect the rope wouldn't hold up well. The winch comes with wire cable to run around an anchor tree. This would damage the barks so I picked up some nylon lifting straps. I didn't use a snatch block on the first run but expect one with a nylon strap would be helpful to hand off an intermediate tree to lift he end of the log off the ground and pull is around obstacles. Of course this means the pull needs to be made in multiple pulls. I usually am solo so that would require another walk into the woods to reset the snatch block but someone with an assistant could have the assistant reset the block. I expect a skidder cone is my next acquisition. One PITA is dealing with the haul rope. There is no limit to the length of a haul. I got a 600 foot length which came on drum. Getting it back on the drum took awhile and dealing with any length of rope to keep it from tangling eats up some time.
Over all I am impressed for my intended use. Sure it would be nice to drive an ATV with a cart or hauling frame right up to the trees but that is not going to happen on much of my lot. where I am cutting trees. The soil is glacial till with a good layer of leaves on top without a lot of understory so I do have good lines to pull the logs down through the woods. It does require some time to setup and several accessories to have a complete setup.
As for my car key, a three mile walk home to get my spare and ride back with my metal detector strapped on my mountain bike kind of killed the rest of the afternoon. As expected, despite lots of searching before I initially gave up to go get my spare, I found the keys in about a minute. I normally keep them zipped up in a secure location in my pocket. I must have unzipped it and the keys fell out. They are the $200 Ford keys so I really don't want to buy a spare.
My woodlot is steep, too steep for an atv in spots. I have a couple of haul roads that slab the slope at a reasonable depth so the goal is to drop the trees in the woods and haul them down or up slope to the haul road and then cut them up to be hauled home to split or split before I haul them.
I started out with small maple I had dropped and limbed a month ago. It wasn't anything big probably 8" at the base and about 40 feet long tapering to a 2" diameter. I was pulling it down slope through the woods without a skidder cone. The run through the woods was about 100 feet. Since it was going downhill I definitely was fighting the tendency for the log to plow into the ground. I was set up with snatchblock at an intermediate point to lift it up but just wanted to get a feel for the setup. The lot is remote from my house and the haul road is currently blocked with several piles of fire wood so I had to lug everything from car about 300 feet up the haul road.
Once I got rigged up, it went quick. Its pretty intuitive, you do have to stand offset to the rear of the winch slightly offset to the side. Just wrap the rope around the drum about 3 wraps and then start the engine. Just slowly apply tension to the rope and the rope starts to grab on the drum. If you need more tension just tug a little harder and grabs on harder. Its not particularly fast but when lugging things through the woods it a lot faster than walking. The end of the log did try to plow once or twice and dig grab some limbs on the way but came right out to the road. I was going to do some large logs but discovered I had dropped my car keys somewhere in the wood so that was the end of the experiment for the day.
Some general observations. The winch is light, not much more than large chainsaw. The fuel tank isn't huge so I expect a refueling can is going to be needed. In addition to the winch a low stretch haul rope is needed. Its the same rope used for electrical wire pulls so easy to find. A piece of chain or log choker cable is recommended as the end of the log does get dragged through the woods and expect the rope wouldn't hold up well. The winch comes with wire cable to run around an anchor tree. This would damage the barks so I picked up some nylon lifting straps. I didn't use a snatch block on the first run but expect one with a nylon strap would be helpful to hand off an intermediate tree to lift he end of the log off the ground and pull is around obstacles. Of course this means the pull needs to be made in multiple pulls. I usually am solo so that would require another walk into the woods to reset the snatch block but someone with an assistant could have the assistant reset the block. I expect a skidder cone is my next acquisition. One PITA is dealing with the haul rope. There is no limit to the length of a haul. I got a 600 foot length which came on drum. Getting it back on the drum took awhile and dealing with any length of rope to keep it from tangling eats up some time.
Over all I am impressed for my intended use. Sure it would be nice to drive an ATV with a cart or hauling frame right up to the trees but that is not going to happen on much of my lot. where I am cutting trees. The soil is glacial till with a good layer of leaves on top without a lot of understory so I do have good lines to pull the logs down through the woods. It does require some time to setup and several accessories to have a complete setup.
As for my car key, a three mile walk home to get my spare and ride back with my metal detector strapped on my mountain bike kind of killed the rest of the afternoon. As expected, despite lots of searching before I initially gave up to go get my spare, I found the keys in about a minute. I normally keep them zipped up in a secure location in my pocket. I must have unzipped it and the keys fell out. They are the $200 Ford keys so I really don't want to buy a spare.
