Post: URUS Winch Assist for South Africa by the Winch Experts

August 21, 2024

URUS Winch Assist for South Africa by the Winch Experts

2024 has been the culmination of 5 years of development, as we launch our new product line of smart winches all proudly manufactured in South Africa.

Our guiding principle is advancement through safety and efficiency, and we are truly excited to be a part of making harvesting on the steep slope safer. Our goal is to ensure that our men and woman get home safe at night, and that all supporting crew can contribute to a sustainable and safe operation.

As we approach the local mechanisation challenges together, cost per ton is a key factor as traditionally our timber is smaller in diameter when compared to North America for example. Machines that are imported are typically larger based on there source market timber size, and often attract a larger import cost price. Our focus is to offer the local market a machine that is competitively priced, with parts that are locally available, and we are proud to support the local economy by building these machines in South Africa. Having said that our machines have a reputation for being robust and lasting, and inversely they are also sold internationally.

Recently we became the first South African company to build and test a winch assist for steep hill logging. The “Tightline TL 3021” was successfully tested and commissioned on a SAPPI plantation thanks to Phillip Hall of Forestry Plant & Equipment (FPE). The TL 3021 tethered a CAT 525 grapple skidder at Rooihoogte near Badplaas. With the assistance of the FPE crew we fine-tuned our winch system and soon the loads were filling up the deck.

“It was simply amazing to watch the skidder operator Tshepiso trust the rope, with each steep slope cycle”, said FPE Forest Manager Roelf Van Rooyen. Initially skidder operator Tshepiso wasn’t sure how the winch would anticipate his traction needs, but soon worked out the operating system from the CAT 525 cab and had the operation running sweet. “Embracing technology, making sure my team is safe, and reducing soil disturbance is key for us” said FPE owner Phillip Hall.

According to owners Wayne Le Roux and Derick Farquhar, the TL 3021 was designed in collaboration with engineers in South Africa, Finland and Germany ensuring that the TL3021 complies to the newly developed ISO standard for traction aid winches. We are an ISO accredited manufacturer and safety is paramount with a minimum 4 :1 safety ratio, multiple monitoring systems, and a fail to state of safety philosophy, we are confident that our system is one of the safest on the market with class leading performance. Our system engages “DTC – Dual Torque Control” which means we have 2 motors constantly controlling the drum as opposed to just 1, this means our system is extremely safe operates well below its limits as the torque load is always shared on both sides of the winch drum. With an operating distance of 500m, pulling force of 21 tons and a tested line speed of 2.2m/s we have great machine which is comfortable tethering a skidder, forwarder, or feller buncher. The quick-change option also allows the owner to switch the tethered machine seamlessly for example a feller buncher in the morning to a skidder in the afternoon using the same TL3021 winch unit.

The TL3021 winch assist is supplied as a kit and can be mounted on any excavator carrier rated 25 – 35 tons. The versatility of the excavator in-field was proven as it negotiated wind-fallen trees and repaired washed out roads without any impediment. Our forestry roads vary based on erosion, weather and traffic, the excavator offers good utility and options when needed.

Currently we are supplying units both locally and abroad, for any information check us out at:
www.urus-equipment.com send us an email at wayne@hintech.co.za