UTV Winch?

[oosik]

I have another thought. If the OP's tractor has 4WD and still has problems getting up that hill. You would be well advised to wait until things dry out.

Many times a winch will simply get you into problems that are far worse than not getting up that hill.
The same problems could exist with chains on all four wheels.

I speak from a world of experience in this matter. The Alaska outback can be a most unforgiving environment.

 

[mikester]

Thought this would be the best place for this question. Rural King sells their brand of UTV winches that are pretty well priced. 3500# is around $169 and 5500# is around $199. I had a 3500# on my sportsman that drug as big a log as I am ever going to drag and easily pulled that atv out of anything.

I am considering buying one to rig up to the front or back of my GC2400. I know both winches will pull logs easily for me, but has anyone used a winch like this to pull a sub compact tractor out of a situation? Looks like the GC2400 is around 1400# dry weight. I have a fairly step hill that can get slick. I would like to have the winch to help get the tractor up it, if needed.

I know that math adds up but I am sure there are things I am missing or I am not experienced with. The only real winching I have done is with the one on my ATV.

2,000# winch paid CDN$49.99 on sale, regularly CDN$99.99. Just need to wait for the sale again, everything goes on sale at PA...

https://www.princessauto.com/en/2000-lb-12v-dc-winch/product/PA0009037144

 

[5030]

Buy nothing less than a WARN or RAMSEY WINCH rated for 8,000-10,000 pounds capacity
with a 2-inch receiver cradle to mount on the front of the tractor on a mounting frame bolted to your
tractors front engine cradle frame or rear on the tow bar or to replace the tow bar for what you need
as you need good wiring and solid gear drive to handle the load you intend to use it on.

Its either the above or a very good CM brand 653 6 ton ratchet chain falls and a long pull strap
as you will be wasting your money otherwise.

The pull loop strap can be looped around a tree and then the chain fall can be hooked to the
loop or loops and the ratchet handle and hook which are on a swivel can be used easily to
pull the GC2400.

I disagree in part. All the off road rags rate the HF 'Bad Lands' winches very highly and I have 3 and none have ever failed. Buying a name brand like Warn or Ramsey, you just pay for the name and I bet the internals were all made in the same Oriental factory too. I overbuy in pull rating always and I makes sure the electric cables are sufficient as well. I always use stranded copper welding cable to hook them up with crimped on and soldered Tweco solid copper lugs on the ends.

A winch is only as good as the power it receives and poor electric connections are no good.

 

[5030]

The other thing to always keep in mind is the inherent strength of what you mount any winch too, especially the frame strength of any ATV or UTV Their frames aren't all that substantial in the first place so mounting a large winch and getting it in a dead pull situation, you could rip the frame apart or at least tweak it and that could be way more costly to repair than your winch cost.

 

[jaxs]

Rigging a tractor with a winch sounds comical. I've been around farming,ranching and construction over 70 years and never saw anyone rig a tractor with a winch.

 

[walhondingMF]

So you're saying there's a chance...

Just kidding. Glad I asked before I spent the money.

I generally do wait until things are dry but It can stay wet for a while on that hill. It never turns into deep mud but is clay on top of shale so it gets slick.

I talked with a guy yesterday that swapped his R4 tires out for the new versaturf tires. Says he loves them. May give this idea a try.

Thanks everyone for responding.

 

[Xfaxman]

Rigging a tractor with a winch sounds comical. I've been around farming,ranching and construction over 70 years and never saw anyone rig a tractor with a winch.

I did:

And the front of the truck:

With a receiver mount:

 

[leonz]

Did the Massey Ferguson 240's backhoe hold the truck in place?

 

[chim]

I disagree in part. All the off road rags rate the HF 'Bad Lands' winches very highly and I have 3 and none have ever failed. Buying a name brand like Warn or Ramsey, you just pay for the name and I bet the internals were all made in the same Oriental factory too. I overbuy in pull rating always and I makes sure the electric cables are sufficient as well. I always use stranded copper welding cable to hook them up with crimped on and soldered Tweco solid copper lugs on the ends.

A winch is only as good as the power it receives and poor electric connections are no good.

Had 3 Warns (old Belleview 8K, 8274 and now a XD9000i on a multimount. Pleased with all of them with the small exception that the old Belleview was power-in only. However, after watching many vids of Matt, Fabrats, Casey and others I wouldn't hesitate to get a Harbor Freight 12K. Can't beat the price and it looks like they work fine.

Connections are via 2/0 welding cable with crimp lugs and 300A Anderson type plugs.

 

[oosik]

My Taco Wagon ( Ram 2500 Power Wagon ) comes, standard, with a WARN 12K electric winch. I wish I could show, via picture, how much heavier the wiring is in the engine compartment because of this winch. I got the Taco Wagon, new, in 2019 and have yet to need the winch. If I were to do SERIOUS 4 wheeling - a double fluke boat anchor would be stashed away on the pickup. There seldom seems to be a good anchor point when you really need one. A boat anchor was standard equipment when four wheeling in Alaska. The scrawny birch and spruce trees were NEVER good anchor points.