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Winch Questions
I agree whole heartedly with AC. Ive been off-roading for a number of years and have had the occation to use or to see winches being used on several times.
The 2" receiver mounts are nice for emergency use on your vehicle but Im not sure if I would use it on a CUT unless the hitch is bolted directly to the frame or rear axle of the tractor, not to the 3ph or loader bucket.
The only thing AC said that I dont agree with is the fairlead. For use with a 2" reciever mount, I believe the way to go would be the haus fairlead. The reason is that I would only make straight pulls with a receiver mount, not side pulls, so a roller isnt needed.
The other concern on a CUT would be the electrical system. I dont believe its capable of handling the current that a winch of the size you would need (6000 to 8000 lbs) would draw. That size winch can draw up to 400 amps under a hard pull. It wouldnt take long for your battery to drain so a good deep cycle auto battery is in order.
While the portable winches are good for emergencies, they arent as portable as they sound. An 8000lbs winch with 100ft of wire cable and the mounting plate is going to weigh almost 100lbs. Not something you want to be slogging through the mud with.
As for the size or rating of the winch you should have, take the weight of the vehicle (or tractor) and multiply it times 1.5. That will give you the recommended winch rating.
The power for the winch will run directly off the battery posts so they are easy to wire up. For a portable mount, you will need a quick disconnect (basically a plug) to make things easier. A cable hand controller from the winch is the only way to go for your application.
Any of the name brands are good winches for ocational use. Warn (the best in my opinion), Ramsey, Superwinch, Milemarker are all the names. There are some you can get from the tool companies that are probably adequate but not as dependable. The higher end winches are going to have thermal switches that keep them from overheating on long hard pulls, integrated sylnoids that are supposedly more weather resistant, and roller fairleads. If you dont plan on using the winch real hard or alot, you dont need the whistles and bells.
Last but not least. Winch safety. Im not going into all of it, that would be impossible in one post, but the basics are, protect yourself and others from a cable snap by staying out of the direct line of the cable, stand back as far as possible from it, and throw something on the line such as a jacket or sandbag. If the line breaks, it will be more likely to fall to the ground than fly back in your face. Dont wrap yourself up in the winch. Ive seen people get fingers, sleeves, watches, etc. caught in the winch as they are winding it back in. The same goes for not getting between the cable and trees, rocks, vehicles etc.
Wear leather gloves. Wire cables can fray over time and use and thats not good on the palm of your hand.
Elecric winches will get hot under hard use. As a rule of thumb, if the winch motor housing is to hot to comfortably hold your hand on, its time to give it a break for awhile.
Always hook to something that is bolted securely and directly to the frame of whatever you are pulling. Never use a bumper or other thin metals.
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Winch Questions
I just received my holiday catalog from 4 Wheel Drive Hardware and this caught my attention. I dont know how much $$ you want to spend or even if you are still considering a winch but apparantly Warn now makes a Winch that is specifically designed to be portable. Its the Warn M6000 short drum. It already comes with a 2" receiver mount, quick disconnect, carry handle and is lighter with only 50' of cable. All for around $680.
Ramsey also makes a series of winches ranging from 5000 to 9000 lbs called the QM (quick mount) series that includes the mount, quick disco and so on starting at about $670.
Just something to think about.
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Winch Questions
Ken,
A couple of problems I see with using the loader or 3pt is that the tractor must be running to use either. That means if you find yourself in another rollover situation, your SOL. That's ultimately the reason why I purchased an electric winch over hydraulic for offroading.
The second reason to not use the loader is that by the time you realize you need a cable to recover, you may already be in a situation where raising the bucket will effect your center of gravity enough to cause a rollover.
As for the 3pt hitch. I just dont think its got enough grunt to pull you out of sticky mud and up a hill.
If your not ready to buy an electric winch, your probably best going with a nice, heavy duty come-a-long and a long section of chain (nylon straps stretch and make comealong work even less efficient). Come-a-longs are alot of work, but in a pinch, they beat not having anything. The few times Ive used my come-a-long (before I got my Warn) I cursed at it the whole time I was using it, but its never let me down. I still carry it as a backup.
If your even considering using a comealong or rigging something to the loader or 3pt, dont be too critical of line speed when shopping for an electric winch. Your not in a competition, a few seconds isnt going to matter. The same goes for letting the winch cool off. There is no reason you need a temp monitor on the hand control. Take a second, feel the motor, if its hot, let it rest and it will still out pull a hand winch or loader rig.
On a side note. I saw something a few years ago that mounted on the rear wheels of a tractor somehow. It was basically a cable drum on each wheel. As you would back up or pull forward, it would wrap the cable. I dont know how they mounted but it may be something to investigate.
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