Winches Winch anchoring

[BobRip]

This item is pretty cool. I'd love one. Pretty pricey unless you use it all the time.

WARN PowerPlant Dual Force HP Winch/Air Compressor 9500-Lb. Capacity, Model# 71800 | Winch + Air-Compressor Combo Units | Northern Tool + Equipment

-Rob

I notice they have a 2" receiver hitch adapter for all of their winches. Not sure if it includes this item.

Looks like a nice winch, but I doubt if the PT electrical system would run it.

 

[cqaigy2]

Sure, but where? My big problem is that I am in the blackberry and trees all the time. Nothing is all that safe...

Including the person driving. Sometime i have to push the trim back on the rops or reattach something that's pulled loose cause black berrys dragging along or branches or tree trunks or....

 

[BobRip]

I got the PT stuck today. As usual no pictures. I was trying to recover some of the gravel that had washed off of my culvert. I attached the minihoe and drove down into the creek and then realized how dumb this was. I could not go backward or forward even using the minihoe (well maybe a little). I was throwing mud all over me and the PT. I got out and hooked up the boat winch to the back and the other end to a tree. I had to put the strap on the tree up high to lift the PT and not just pull it back into the bank. I also had to change trees once to make the PT miss the culvert. It took about 20 minutes to get everything hooked up and get in and out a few times. I would tighten the strap, get back in and drive backward while pushing the PT back and up with the minihoe. I did this several time. I got out, but covered in mud. I got to thinking how the hydraulic winch would have done. It would have been better, but probably not that much. I have to have a good way of attaching the winch to the back (that's where I usually recover from) and run it back there. My previous concept should work. Anyway: Creek 1, Bob Rip 0.

 

[toy]

Hea Bobrip been there and done that. I got mine hung up trying to brush hog in a wet area in the lower end of my bottom when I first got the pt. What happened to mine there was a tree root close the top of the ground [big tree root] and I drove across it with the front wheels but I realized that the brush hog was sinking so I tried to back out, no go just spinned. I then go and get the f150 and a tow strap and hook to it and tried to tram out as the wife pulled in the truck. I got too close to the soft wet area and the f150 got stuck up to the axel. I then go get my wife's dodge but this time I stayed way back from the soft area. She pulled the pt out with me tramming the pt, then we hooked to the f150 and she pulled it out with me driving the f150. To this day I haven't been able to live that one down and how it took her dodge to rescue the day. I have since drained that area and now have no trouble going over it. Having the brush hog on the front when you are sinking is like being in the middle of a lake with an anvil tied around your neck, it is no help at all.

 

[cqaigy2]

Sure i've been stuck a few times too. My Wife loves to tell how she keeps pulling me out of trouble.

 

[MossRoad]

I've never gotten the PT stuck. It helps that our property is all well drained sandy loam. :laughing:

 

[smartguyz]

I've never gotten the PT stuck. It helps that our property is all well drained sandy loam. :laughing:

I have been stuck ONCE. In fact, one big reason I purchased the PT is the whole "full-time all-wheel-drive / articulating / oscillating" design helped to convince me that this thing would seldom tip or get stuck on my property.

It was stuck last year during a huge storm (biggest in 30+ years) with 12" of snow then 2" of ice, then another 14" of snow... I was trying to move the PT out of its basement hideout so that I could use the large material bucket to move the ice and snow. It got stuck on the lawn trying to go across the snow and ice. After my kids and I spent around an hour trying to dig it out with snow shovels and using boards to inch it forward, my neighbor came by with his ATV and a piece of rope and help me pull out. After that, it did GREAT digging all my neighbors out of their driveways. It if had a couple more inches of ground clearance, I would have been fine. Anyway, we messed up the lawn and got it off the lawn.

I parked it outside under a big tarp for a week while things thawed.

A winch would have been great.

-Rob

 

[BobRip]

I ordered the winch today. I will modify it after I test it for awhile. Actually my modifications should be made so I don't really change (drill, weld, or cut) the winch. That way if it fails I can reassemble it and get covered under the warranty. Actually I could probably just send the part that broke part back to PT and they would send a new one. Still I like to have an undo capability.

I would like to put a longer cable on it. Maybe I should just get a long piece of blue synthetic cable and use it. I assume I will not need to have a metal lead in. Could I just splice the blue synthetic cable to the existing wire cable? I need some ideas here.

 

[KentT]

I ordered the winch today. I will modify it after I test it for awhile. Actually my modifications should be made so I don't really change (drill, weld, or cut) the winch. That way if it fails I can reassemble it and get covered under the warranty. Actually I could probably just send the part that broke part back to PT and they would send a new one. Still I like to have an undo capability.

I would like to put a longer cable on it. Maybe I should just get a long piece of blue synthetic cable and use it. I assume I will not need to have a metal lead in. Could I just splice the blue synthetic cable to the existing wire cable? I need some ideas here.

You can't splice rope directly to cable. You'd need to go "all rope" or use clevises or something.

In fact you can't connect the hook on a rope back to the rope itself (such as when going around a tree) without risking damaging the rope. The rope is susceptible to rubbing on ANYTHING, weakening it... they recommend a woven fabric sleeve that you put over them, and is used to protect them. You simply place the sleeve over the rock or log or whatever it might rub on, and pull the rope through the sleeve. The sleeve protects the rope from rubbing, preventing it getting frayed and weakening...

To connect a rope to the cable hook, you'd need some kind of metal loop or something on the rope that would be contacting the metal cable or the hook on it -- such as a clevis -- problem is that you can't just use one of those "pressure crimp" connectors on rope. So, if you get a rope, have them install the correct fittings on both ends. You can't easily do it yourself. My winch rope for the MileMarker on my Rhino came with a metal loop installed on one end and an eyelet installed on the other to attach to the drum -- those connections were crimped AND glued -- crimping alone with not work.

A cable is MUCH more durable, but a rope is much easier to handle and use (doesn't kink nor coil, and goes on the drum much smoother), and is much safer should it snap... For dragging tree logs and such, cable is likely better. For winching the vehicle out, the rope would be my choice... especially for a "one-man" operation.

 

[smartguyz]

A cable is MUCH more durable, but a rope is much easier to handle and use (doesn't kink nor coil, and goes on the drum much smoother), and is much safer should it snap... For dragging tree logs and such, cable is likely better. For winching the vehicle out, the rope would be my choice... especially for a "one-man" operation.

I have similar opinions about rope and cable. The cable, if it should ever snap (God forbid), comes snapping back with all kinds of kinetic energy, and you'd better be out of the way, or you could be maimed or killed. The rope generally doesn't do anything like that. It doesn't store up the energy like the cable.

-Rob