# Trying to set up a skinning system....need advice!!!



## Fallguy (Jan 23, 2004)

I am trying to set up a skinning system in my garage using a boat winch. I got this idea from a predator hunting magazine a few years back. The article said you could skin a frozen coyote with the setup, and I tried to reproduce it exactly as I had seen, with a few other adjustments I stole from other places. Today xdeano brought over two semi-frozen coyotes and we gave it a test run. Here is what we discovered.

First here is my winch on the bench. I had to mount it like this due to my garage setup (lots of stuff stored on the walls--I have a small house  ). The only problem is when I release the tension on the winch I get alot of backlash. Any ideas how to fix this?










Here is how I attach my coyotes to my ceiling:










Then I started skinning like normal by slitting the backlegs, and skinning past the tail and stripping the tailbone, as seen in these pictures:



















After getting past the back hips, I slipped a golf ball under the hide on the FUR side, then secure the slip knot on another skinning gambrel. I put one ball on each side of the midline, as was suggested in the mentioned article. This skin SHOULD be the toughest hide on the animal right?



















Then we started cranking on the winch. It started to peel great. You can see however the angle that was starting to form, and you can probably imagine the stress on each part of the carcass. Here are three sequential pictures:





































After getting past the shoulders, we had the worst case scenario happen: BOTH COYOTE HIDES RIPPED IN HALF! So back to the drawing board for me! :******:

I have a couple of ideas:

First, xdeano and I thought the pulling needs to be more vertical than how it turned out horizontal. I am thinking of mounting a pulley a few inches off the floor on the leg of my tool bench, under the winch. Then the angle will be different.

Second, perhaps the pressure or force on the hide while pulling is too great on the dorsal side of the coyote. Maybe getting the golfballs on the SIDES of the coyote would be better, spreading the pulling force out more.

Third, maybe there is a better way to attach the coyote to the cable winch gambrel.

If any of you out there have made a similar system, or have any ideas for me, I do appreciate it. Thanks.


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## barebackjack (Sep 5, 2006)

Once you get to the blades, do the front legs by hand like always using the winch to just keep a little tension on the pelt.

Id also do the neck by hand too, the hide is "tight" here and undo pressure could result in splits also.


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## kingcanada (Sep 19, 2009)

i do know a system that works. a friend of mine had one on it's own frame so it would fit the receiver hitch on his truck. i need to build one for the garage, but never did. if i get to move out of town this year i plan on building a fur shed, it will have one. the primary requirement is a cylinder to drop the coyote in. this is the secret to not ripping them in half. a pipe of some sort that the coyote will fit into. best way to describe it is with the procedure. first you skin the yote as you normally would until you get to the waist. i usually chop the front legs off just below the elbows too. makes things a little less tight later on. now insert the coyote into the tube nose first till you are just about to where to stopped skinning. now roll the pelt over the outside of the tube. it will look like the top of your sweat sock rolled down at this point. next, take a ratchet strap and suck it down real tight around the pelt. this will hold it secure. this will also give you 360 degrees of uniform tension to distribute the load so it is less likely to tear a pelt in two. tearing them sucks, i have it happen sometimes and don't even have a winch yet. the tube has to be bolted to the floor, wall, or something that won't budge. now crank the carcass out of the pelt. :thumb: it sure worked well for my friend. he used it on hundreds back in the 70's and 80's. 
to stop that backlash, try using a come-a-long instead of a boat winch. 
i wish i had pictures. if none of this makes sense, i could make a drawing. :thumb:


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## Jungda99 (Nov 17, 2006)

My dad makes the ones that you mount in your truck hitch or mount in the garage.

Don't use a regular boat winch. use the boat winch that you have to crank to back the cable out. These don't have the little clicker deal. they are some sort of friction that keeps them from unwinding....this way they can never have a "free spool" affect...as soo as you let off the handle it stops spooling.

Second he uses two vise grips with about a 3" long 1/4" dia rod welded to each side of the vise grips instead of the golf ball deal. He can then pinch the hide with the two vise grips and easily move them around where he needs them on the hide.

We used one to skin deer so they are very solid. PM me if you would like his email address.

it is about 6-8' tall with a pulley at the top and two chains with vise grips at the bottom. Connect the hide to the vise grips and the yote to the winch and start cranking and helping with the hide along with the knife like a deer. The yote is always hanging straight up and down and always at working height. It is really slick


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## xdeano (Jan 14, 2005)

Jungda99,

This is the system that I'm most familiar with also. The vice grip method worked well for me several years ago and If i were going to do it at my house it would be the only way to do it. It works slick. We also used an ATV wench hooked up to a battery with foot activation, worked really well.

The vice grips also had a piece of 1" angle iron welded on the jaws with 3 pieces of 1/8" rod welded on, two on the bottom and one on the top jaw. so when it came closed the top rod would rest right between the two on the bottom.

xdeano


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## JCThorson (Mar 31, 2009)

I am currently in the process of making a skinner in my schools welding class. I am kinda taking a few ideas off the net and combining them. It will be something i can take a part for the off season but still yet easy to set up. And for the part to clamp the fur to it will be in the shape of a goal post that also swivels (an idea i got off the net). That way when the yote is in the air you can spin it so you dont have to constanly run around it cutting it. For the winch im just gunna buy a cheapy from northern tool thats only $51.99!!!! This probaly sounds very confusing but you will know what i mean with pictures. I will try to post pics within next couple of weeks when its finished.


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## aklosowski6342 (Aug 9, 2009)




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## wburns (Feb 27, 2009)

Run it horizontally and use the knife around the shoulders. We used to own a mink and fox ranch. Each fall we skinned well in excess of a 1,000 mink and about 100 to 200 fox. We had a hydraulic affair that ran up a screw type pole. The feet were cut off at the joint and hooked in two small hooks attached to the table, while the carcass was attached by a cable to the portion which ran up the pole. You pressed a foot control and it would raise the carcass straight up the screw pole. You had to stop at the shoulders to skin it out whether it was slightly frozen or fresh. Some parts of skinning can not be avoided. Good luck! I miss those days. It was an enjoyable occupation.


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## Fox hunter1 (Jan 15, 2011)

I like to air skin my coyotes fox or whatever im skinning it works really slick and make the hide come right off i think it would help you with your rig because it wont cause your hide to rip


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