I have had a Lewis Winch for several years but a few issues have stopped me from using it as much as I can. First, it comes with too much cable so I took off about 75 feet as someone suggested, but still several times the winch has stalled because the line has wadded itself on one part of the reel. Without a "fairlead roller" how do you keep the line evenly wrapped on the drum? Really hard to do when the line of pull keeps it so tight to that spot on the drum. Also, do you keep oil in the saw oiler when using because it sure makes a mess of everything. And when do you use the drum brake or whatever is on the winch, I've never used it and seem to just get in the way.
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Posted by: sawdoc
I have had a Lewis Winch for about 6 years and I use it all the time. I skid logs with it, making use of snatch blocks to control the log. Like you, I found that there was a problem with cable loading on one side of the spool, but I control that by positioning a snatch block right in front of the winch.
You can see this set-up in the second photo.I also use the winch to load 8 foot logs into my pick-up. I have a stout lumber rack on the pick-up and I run the winch off of the top of the rack - also utilizing snatch blocks to guide the log.
Beside my Norwood mill I have a cedar post in the ground and I attach the Lewis Winch to it to drag the logs out of the pick-up or my logging trailer.
I have a heavy box that I built to carry my short chains and snatch blocks and I use it as a support platform for the winch. Sometimes I use the winch "free style", perhaps to control the direction a tree is going to fall. Whatever I do, I watch the spool and if the cable is loading up too much on one side, I back off a little to ease the tension on the cable and change the angle of the unit so the cable winds on the other side of the spool.
Keep with it - like everything else, you have to figure out what works best for you.
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Posted by: Lewis Winch
Thanks sawdoc for your great explanation of how to easily manage the cable using a snatch block.
Treetalk asked a couple of other questions, so if you don't mind I'll try to answer those also.
One was, what is the brake handle for, it seems to just get in the way?
The brake handle serves two purposes: If you put a small bungy cord on the handle then you can control the speed of the drum as you un-spool the cable. Without the brake slightly on then the drum tends to start turning faster than you can pull it, causing a "birds nest". It is also used to control rolling loads. For example, if you were pulling your ATV out of a ditch you would use the brake to prevent it from rolling back in before you were able to grab the ATV brake or use a block to secure it.
The other question you asked is, do you keep oil in the saw's oiler?
If you are using the universal adaptor kit then you should still use the oiler because that kit utilizes a piece of cutter-less chain to drive the winch. If you are using the direct drive kit then you can drain your tank as this kit does not require oil.
Please contact me if you have any other questions at:
or visit our website www.LewisWinch.com
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