Looking for a winch for my tractor

[timbatrader]

5000 pound electric winch is only 5000 pound when the cable is right out as the cable winds onto the drum the diameter increases and the pulling power decreases a snatch block will double it which will give you enough pull to pull your tractor through a slippery level patch but not enough to lift it out of a hole or up a bank add another couple of snatch blocks and it might be marginally enough. Personally I would go for multiple snatch blocks and a long cable hooked up to what ever vehicle you can beg borrow from the neighbour 300 horse power 4x 4 on the end of the cable beats a 3 horse power winch

I am trying to not go overboard. Do you think that a 5000lb electric winch with a snatch block will do the job and not be too large to transport?

 

[oosik]

Messmaker - - is 5000 pound enough? It depends - how "stuck" is the vehicle. Most will keep trying until they are so far in the soup that it might take a tow truck to do any good. When stuck - either have a plan( the bucket technique ) or give up immediately and get the winch.

A 5000 pound pull winch on a snatch block can develop 10,000 pounds of pull. Is the cable on the winch able to withstand this amount of "pull"??? Winch to snatch block at the anchor point - back to the stuck vehicle = 10,000 pounds. Winch to the anchor point = 5000 pounds.

Do you have an anchor point that is close enough and strong enough.

There is an old trick I learned from years of 4 wheeling in the outbacks of AK. Carry a pronged boat anchor with ten feet of cable attached. Bury the anchor at the appropriate location. Attach the winch cable to the anchor - NOT TO THE ATTACHED TEN FEET OF CABLE. As you pull against the anchor it will bury itself. Sometimes up to five to six feet deep. After you are "unstuck" - hook on to the ten feet of cable that is attached to the anchor and slowly, carefully pull it to the surface. Done properly - works every time.

Unless you go hog wild with this "getting stuck" situation - a 5000 pound pull winch should do you fine.

Now, I'm talking about a good winch here. Not some chicken s**t cheap ATV winch. Something like a Warn or Thor. Remember - you are trying to pull a heavy vehicle not some light ATV.

 

[MESSMAKER]

Messmaker - - is 5000 pound enough? It depends - how "stuck" is the vehicle. Most will keep trying until they are so far in the soup that it might take a tow truck to do any good. When stuck - either have a plan( the bucket technique ) or give up immediately and get the winch.

A 5000 pound pull winch on a snatch block can develop 10,000 pounds of pull. Is the cable on the winch able to withstand this amount of "pull"??? Winch to snatch block at the anchor point - back to the stuck vehicle = 10,000 pounds. Winch to the anchor point = 5000 pounds.

Do you have an anchor point that is close enough and strong enough.

There is an old trick I learned from years of 4 wheeling in the outbacks of AK. Carry a pronged boat anchor with ten feet of cable attached. Bury the anchor at the appropriate location. Attach the winch cable to the anchor - NOT TO THE ATTACHED TEN FEET OF CABLE. As you pull against the anchor it will bury itself. Sometimes up to five to six feet deep. After you are "unstuck" - hook on to the ten feet of cable that is attached to the anchor and slowly, carefully pull it to the surface. Done properly - works every time.

Unless you go hog wild with this "getting stuck" situation - a 5000 pound pull winch should do you fine.

Now, I'm talking about a good winch here. Not some chicken s**t cheap ATV winch. Something like a Warn or Thor. Remember - you are trying to pull a heavy vehicle not some light ATV.

Most of the times I have been stuck have happened a couple of ways.
1. I slid sideways into a stationary object. It is usually a fence. It is hard to use the bucket in this situation because you need to move uphill in order to free up.
2. Mowing near a creek or drain and having the edge collapse. If the front is involved, you can get out with the bucket. If the rear gets in a bad spot. You can go from bad to worse in an instant. You will need help.

 

[oosik]

In those situations - do whatever is required to maintain a safe distance so the "stuck condition" can not occur. You know what can/will happen if you are too close - avoid those situations. It may require that you use a weed whacker in those spots - up close to the fence line or creek/drain.

Avoidance is far better than recovery.

 

[Reb954]

I am trying to not go overboard. Do you think that a 5000lb electric winch with a snatch block will do the job and not be too large to transport?

No one can answer that question. It takes whatever it takes. All you can do is anticipate as much as you can, then if that isn't enough, hire a tow truck.

When I built my setup it was mainly to load a cabover camper on my car hauler trailer as shown but I also wanted it portable so I could move the winch to my pickup or tractor or even to loan it out without loaning my pickup/trailer/tractor out with the winch. I choose the Warn 9000# winch due to it would still pull 7,000#'s with 4 layers of cable on the drum and it handled at least 100' of cable which was plenty for my anticipated needs. So far I haven't had to double the line.



Once you decide what size winch you want just watch around for used ones coming up for sale. I bought mine for $600 which included the winch, cable and roller fairlead then I built the carrier and battery box so it fit my needs. Good deals are out there if you watch for them.

 

[JimR]

I built this hydraulic winch for my tractor with 6000-ish lbs capacity. Mostly to pull the tractor out if it gets stuck and I also do some light tree pulling from time to time. It has 170 ft of cable and I built it so it can free spool.

It's always mounted on the tractor and I've used way more than I ever though I would.

View attachment 584358View attachment 584359View attachment 584360View attachment 584361

Nice job on the winch build.

 

[JimR]

Here's my front 12,000 pound winch on my NX4510HST. The mount is a standard pickup truck mount from Harbor Freight that I modified to fit the side mounting holes already in the frame on my tractor.

 

[John_Mc]

Here's my front 12,000 pound winch on my NX4510HST. The mount is a standard pickup truck mount from Harbor Freight that I modified to fit the side mounting holes already in the frame on my tractor.

Looks like a nice installation. I assume the battery is up front on your Kioti, which makes for nice short cable runs as well.

Are you finding you need to guard it to prevent debris from poking at it, or does it have enough ground clearance that that is not an issue?

 

[JimR]

Looks like a nice installation. I assume the battery is up front on your Kioti, which makes for nice short cable runs as well.

Are you finding you need to guard it to prevent debris from poking at it, or does it have enough ground clearance that that is not an issue?

My battery is right above the winch. I do need to build a guard for the winch. Right now I am being extra careful where I go. I have 10 inches of ground clearance right now. This summer I hope to move the lower control box to a much safer location. That will give me another 3 inches of ground clearance. Then I will build a suitable guard for the winch.