well,that depends......on how much of a pull you make,in terms of lb.'s.....under some circumstances,getting a truck unstuck only takes a few thousand lb.'s force,likewise pulling logs may take a lot of power,if they are sticking in brush,rocks ,or other trees.....Bottom line,you are looking at a winch that given proper 12V power,and at first wrap of cable on the drum,is capable of generating 12K lb's of pull.....as far as fabricating something goes, a machinist who is familiar with logging equipment,cranes and there rigging,or even the tow truck/recovery industry could PROBABLY come up with something,for both front and rear............12,000 lbs of force and low cost alternatives arent necessarily compatible.....

 

Plan to get a wireless remote for the system and if i get into snag areas stop the winch and use a something like a cantalever to get logs over any bad catchs then start pulling again. Seems like i can look up some mounts online and have my buddy make something similar? Suppose i could look for used attaching devices also.... Thanks for the advice.

 

Hey Woody,are you mostly operating on level ground,or do you have serious hills to deal with? In post #5,MJ mentions the braking mechanisms on winches....when a steep incline requires holding your truck or a load,or powering out a load to lower it down a slope,a winches braking mechanism is important. The design of the worm gear winches like the Ramsey RE series doesnt require a braking mechanism,or at least much of one,while both the spur gear,upright Warn 8274,and all the other planetary gear Warns,of which the M12000 is one do require a braking mecanism to either hold a load when power is off,or control the load when you are powering out.
If most of your pulling involves skidding wood across mostly level or gentle slopes,and unsticking your truck likewise, a braking mechanism isnt much of an issue.......A new 8274-50 is an expensive winch,but i regularly see the older and slightly slower 8274's for sale used on craigslist, frequently in the $400-600 range,sometimes less.....if you have decent roads on your property,and an abundance of good spots to anchor a ****** block to,have you considered purchasing a couple hundred feet of 5/16" or 3/8" cable,a couple ****** blocks,several straps or chains to secure the ****** blocks to suitable anchors,and a clevis/shackle mount for your receiver hitch? rig a ****** block where a pull will drag your logs to a convenient spot for processing,and use the truck to drag the logs.......ive done this numerous times,and its far faster and easier than winching logs

 

The problem with an online search as far as mounting goes has to do with the fact that everything ive seen for mounting a winch commercially either involves a bumper or brush guard mount,which is pretty permanent,or a Rec hitch mount which is temporary,and the rec hitch mounts are typically pretty limited to what they will accomodate safely....Now,i suppose you could get two 2" female rec. hitch tubing pieces,one for each frame rail,attach them securely to the frame,and then have a mount made that would have two 2" male rec. tubes attached to a cradle mount, and have the same female mounts made for the other end of the truck,run polarized connector power leads to both ends,etc.....Be aware of the fact that a sufficiently strong cradle mount for a 12,000 lb winch will likely weigh at least 30 lbs,and i would guess that the M12000 probably weighs 110-125 lbs,by itself........

 

Not working on level ground but also not working on to crazy of slopes I just dont want roads all arround my property. I would rather put one road into the middle and winch logs to me then haul. I would generally be always pulling up hill a bit. I dont need any brake on the winch to pull up right. When you say powering out a load to lower it down your talking about getting logs downhill? I do however have a deep ravine with a shale carved out creek. Steep slopes and say 60 feet deep. I would be able to pull logs up without a break right. To get my all arround winch it wouldnt kill me if I couldnt hall out of the steep slope I guess. Can you help teach me about the ****** block theory or point me to an article somewhere. You kind of lose me when you talk of that.

 

Powering out as in lowering a load in a controlled manner........think of the winch as an overhead hoist. Powering in would be lifting a load,and powering out would be lowering it.
a brake does nothing more than hold the loads position. early on fishman mentioned an article online about winching,do a google search,and you should find mention of and theory behind a ****** block and what it does