We have ended up with a number of winches over the last couple of years that all have their own pros/cons but did we make the right decision?
Truck Winch
+ Strong: Will pull 4 Tonnes
+ Effort: Doesn’t require strength.
– Location: Truck needs to be in location/position
– Expensive: Cost around ~£1K for a cheapish set up.
– Fixing: Requires some engineering skill to fit.
ATV Winch
+ Cheap: They cost around £40.
– Limited Length: max 6m or 3m if doubled up for heavy loads.
– Capacity: They are only really designed for pulling quads so have limited strength.
– Fitting: Need a modified tractor or quad to fit one.
Lug-All Cable Winch
+ Lightweight: easy to carry around the wood.
+ Cheap: as far as winches go its not that expensive.
– Capacity: We have overloaded ours once pulling a large tree
– Limited Length: max 6m or 3m if doubled up for heavy loads.
– Handle Overload: The handle is designed to bend on overload costing ~£70 to replace.
Wire Rope Pulling Hoist (aka Trifor – other brands do exist including v. cheap knock offs.)
+ Capacity: different capacities are available. Ours is the 3200KG one.
+ Capability: It only pulls in 1.5″ at a stroke so its very capable and will just slowly drag/pull whatever is attached to it.
– Weight: Its so heavy and the wirerope is even heavier.
– Cost: The originals are expensive. There are cheaper ones around but watch for people claiming to sell one make whilst providing a cheaper alternative.
– Loading: Its not the easiest thing to load.
What would I buy again?
If I needed to start over I would probably end up with two winches:
- Ace Trifor – for those heavy heavy days.
- Capstan Winch – for those longer lighter pulls. Because of how these work you are not limited on length so it would work really well for pulling light loads up slopes on a suitable trolley.
