Remote free spool

macleanflood

macleanflood

I break sh!t
Supporting Member
Joined
Jul 24, 2021
Messages
4,002
Location
Fall Creek, OR
Got a M8000 winch on my 97... working on the upper Fall Creek trail...logout... clearing the trail of downed trees. We had a huge snowstorm cover the trail 4 years ago and then two major fires 2 years and last year. Lots of 36s and a bunch of 48" plus. All on 80 degree slopes. It would be a suicide mission to chainsaw out those logs.

Thinking of running 500' of line across the creek to a road and gently persuading some logs to keep rolling.

But...I don't want to be anywhere near danger areas...and if a log lets go I want to remote free spool the winch and let it go rather than pulling my Jeep into the creek.

Anyone know of such a product? Would be great if it included the other controls for in and out too.

Just watching Rory and trail mater rigging up a remote free spool... maybe more awesome ideas for WRG.

-Mac
 
macleanflood said:
Got a M8000 winch on my 97... working on the upper Fall Creek trail...logout... clearing the trail of downed trees. We had a huge snowstorm cover the trail 4 years ago and then two major fires 2 years and last year. Lots of 36s and a bunch of 48" plus. All on 80 degree slopes. It would be a suicide mission to chainsaw out those logs.

Thinking of running 500' of line across the creek to a road and gently persuading some logs to keep rolling.

But...I don't want to be anywhere near danger areas...and if a log lets go I want to remote free spool the winch and let it go rather than pulling my Jeep into the creek.

Anyone know of such a product? Would be great if it included the other controls for in and out too.

Just watching Rory and trail mater rigging up a remote free spool... maybe more awesome ideas for WRG.

-Mac
Click to expand...

Tie your line off to an anchor at some reasonable length. Load it by winching in until it drags the rig some. With load on the line, try to kick it into free spool to see how much load your actuator will need to overcome. It is likely a bit more than you can come up with without a direct acting pull on the clutch inside. The handle will likely fail and twist off the little nub inside that moves the clutch ring back and forth.
 
  • Like
Reactions: macleanflood
macleanflood said:
Yup I know I can replace the winch...I can also buy a D11 with a winch... trying to find an inexpensive solution.

-Mac
Click to expand...

Remote load releases aren’t cheap so the best I’ve got is this.

1675824698394.gif
 
  • Like
Reactions: macleanflood
macleanflood said:
Yup I know I can replace the winch...I can also buy a D11 with a winch... trying to find an inexpensive solution.

-Mac
Click to expand...

For what you want there is no viable solution. I am not aware of any winch that wants to allow you to put it into freespool while under load.
mrblaine said:
Tie your line off to an anchor at some reasonable length. Load it by winching in until it drags the rig some. With load on the line, try to kick it into free spool to see how much load your actuator will need to overcome. It is likely a bit more than you can come up with without a direct acting pull on the clutch inside. The handle will likely fail and twist off the little nub inside that moves the clutch ring back and forth.
Click to expand...

Yep it never ends well for the clutch lever and sometimes the gear housing as well.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Longwhitejeep and Apparition
Blackjack said:
For what you want there is no viable solution. I am not aware of any winch that wants to allow you to put it into freespool while under load.


Yep it never ends well for the clutch lever and sometimes the gear housing as well.
Click to expand...

I know you can do it like a Warn locking hub in that it is spring loaded and won't move until there is neutral state achieved to do so.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Apparition
macleanflood said:
Got a M8000 winch on my 97... working on the upper Fall Creek trail...logout... clearing the trail of downed trees. We had a huge snowstorm cover the trail 4 years ago and then two major fires 2 years and last year. Lots of 36s and a bunch of 48" plus. All on 80 degree slopes. It would be a suicide mission to chainsaw out those logs.

Thinking of running 500' of line across the creek to a road and gently persuading some logs to keep rolling.

But...I don't want to be anywhere near danger areas...and if a log lets go I want to remote free spool the winch and let it go rather than pulling my Jeep into the creek.

Anyone know of such a product? Would be great if it included the other controls for in and out too.

Just watching Rory and trail mater rigging up a remote free spool... maybe more awesome ideas for WRG.

-Mac
Click to expand...

Is it on federal land? Have you talked to the fire crew at the district ranger station about working on it?
Big timber is deadly. You need experience and the right equipment to deal with those trees
 
mrblaine said:
I know you can do it like a Warn locking hub in that it is spring loaded and won't move until there is neutral state achieved to do so.
Click to expand...

Warn has done some variations of that on their ATV winches with varying degrees of success.
 
Rickyd said:
Is it on federal land? Have you talked to the fire crew at the district ranger station about working on it?
Big timber is deadly. You need experience and the right equipment to deal with those trees
Click to expand...

We got permission from the ranger to cut it out. We've been working through a whole backlog of trail maintenance in the area since the FS budget has gone all fire.

Part of our certification process is walking away from something to dangerous to cut...so I was exploring other options.

-Mac
 
  • Like
Reactions: Rickyd
macleanflood said:
We got permission from the ranger to cut it out. We've been working through a whole backlog of trail maintenance in the area since the FS budget has gone all fire.

Part of our certification process is walking away from something to dangerous to cut...so I was exploring other options.

-Mac
Click to expand...

Out of highschool i did some salmon habitat restoration work in the coos bay area. We used a shipyard winch powered by a 455 buick on a peterbuilt truck to pull down oldgrowths and move sections into the creek. Was fun climbing and rigging.

I don't think I'd want my jeep attached to something that heavy on a mountainside though.even with some kind of instant freespool you'd be lucky if a tree cutting loose suddenly didn't take you and your jeep for a ride
 
  • Like
Reactions: macleanflood and lBasket
I'll admit I don't do forest work, but I have seen significant success with triggering avalanches using a howitzer. I wonder if there is some kind of munitions you could use to give the logs a bit of a shove down the hill with less risk to yourself or your equipment? Maybe get one of the fire helis/planes to drop a full load of water on them?
 
KingCarGuyZ said:
I'll admit I don't do forest work, but I have seen significant success with triggering avalanches using a howitzer. I wonder if there is some kind of munitions you could use to give the logs a bit of a shove down the hill with less risk to yourself or your equipment? Maybe get one of the fire helis/planes to drop a full load of water on them?
Click to expand...

My brother is a firefighter in the tiller national forest nearby. He's qualified to use explosives for clearing trails.not cheap though,and like mac said they have other priorities. Best thing would be to sic a private logging company on the areas downed trees before the beetles ruin the wood. Everyone wins that way
 
Rickyd said:
My brother is a firefighter in the tiller national forest nearby. He's qualified to use explosives for clearing trails.not cheap though,and like mac said they have other priorities. Best thing would be to sic a private logging company on the areas downed trees before the beetles ruin the wood. Everyone wins that way
Click to expand...

Takes contracts...and lawsuits...and we've already waited 4 years for permission to cut this out. I warned our leaders about how bad this section is...

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid021CQyPjhUwp2H1R1RbMumeexB9b5rLdAdZsik6dBJ8wxTDbuiUVaepYvsrm7KWfjl&id=551207600
 
  • Like
Reactions: macleanflood
macleanflood said:
Got a M8000 winch on my 97... working on the upper Fall Creek trail...logout... clearing the trail of downed trees. We had a huge snowstorm cover the trail 4 years ago and then two major fires 2 years and last year. Lots of 36s and a bunch of 48" plus. All on 80 degree slopes. It would be a suicide mission to chainsaw out those logs.

Thinking of running 500' of line across the creek to a road and gently persuading some logs to keep rolling.

But...I don't want to be anywhere near danger areas...and if a log lets go I want to remote free spool the winch and let it go rather than pulling my Jeep into the creek.

Anyone know of such a product? Would be great if it included the other controls for in and out too.

Just watching Rory and trail mater rigging up a remote free spool... maybe more awesome ideas for WRG.

-Mac
Click to expand...

Risky business here. For simplicity, and even if you do find another option, I'd consider using a short piece of small-diameter rope as a fusible link between the winch line and the choker. In this case snapping too early (before the log moves) isn't a big deal.

1/8 nylon is cheap and rated to break around 600lb, so a loop should be let go around 1-1.2k. Simple enough to do multiple loops for a higher breaking point.

Be sure to account for snapback and do some controlled test runs first. And post videos!
 
  • Like
Reactions: macleanflood
Top Bottom
Back