Forestry work often presents serious logistical challenges. While many people picture an idyllic fantasy of workers heading off into the woods to chop at trees with axes or fell them with chainsaws, the reality is that working in the logging business means dealing with heavy equipment over uneven terrain that is often clogged with mud, snow or ice. It is often more practical to access certain areas on foot and perform clearing and preparation work well before any large gear arrives.
Here’s what some people imagine of when they think of a logging career. If only…
This poses some unique challenges when it comes to moving trees and other obstacles. While it is relatively easy for a man to cut down a tree with modern technology, moving that tree once it is on the ground is another issue entirely. Trees can be massive, making them quite difficult to move by hand, even after they have been cut into smaller pieces. Winches are usually employed to help with some of the moving duties. Not only does this mean carting extra gear out into the woods, but hand-winches are tiring to use and very time consuming…enter the chainsaw winch.
The Lewis Chainsaw Winch.
Lewis Winches have come out with a product that is not only a killer concept but also features a slick application. The company decided that instead of adding to the list of what loggers need to bring with them to a jobsite, why not make use of something that every logger already has – a chainsaw? Their chainsaw winch simply attaches to a standard chainsaw and uses the engine’s horsepower to do all of the heavy lifting so that humans don’t have to.
How does it work? The winch comes with an adapter kit that is specific to the model of chainsaw being used. The winch bolts onto the chainsaw and uses the saw studs to fit into the winch’s casting. The winch is designed to be anchored to a heavy counterweight such as another tree, rocky outcropping or vehicle, and uses 3/16 inch steel aircraft cable to tie everything together. It can pull up to 4000 lbs. with a 7 horsepower chainsaw, at up to 60 feet per minute! Using a snatch block will increase that capacity to 8000 lbs.
The Lewis chainsaw winch getting ready for action.
Of course, the Lewis chainsaw winch can be used for more than just moving lumber. It’s also great for helping to get someone’s pickup truck or ATV un-stuck from the mud or the water, as well as helping to move vehicles in a rescue capacity. It can be used on farms to move heavy loads of produce, hay or equipment, and it’s great for clearing land, lakes or streams of large, awkward obstacles.
Check out this video of an Aussie using his chainsaw winch to up-end a piece of equipment.
The portability of a chainsaw and the ease of use of this winch makes it an attractive solution for all but the heaviest of jobs. However, it is even possible to purchase a mounting accessory which makes use of a front or rear trailer hitch to not only anchor the winch, but also provide an extra degree of pulling power, should the job require it.
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Yes there are many uses for the winch, some countries use it for rescue services and of course many hunters are using it to get there big game out. Here in Canada the workers compensation board told me that they think it should be mandatory to have one on site to remove a fallen tree on a worker quick and get him out from underneath. Thanks for the nice article.