Komrade
Silver Member
I have a river front property, and get a large pile of debris (mostly trees) every year as it's low lying flood plane.
Initially I wanted a mini-ex with a turning grapple.. But that 40K idea will have to wait (it has other potential uses on my property)
I do have a grapple for my L-Series tractor.. I've been reading about electric winches on these forums, but I never had one and barely operated one on a UTV once or twice.. I am still on the fence if I want to give up the brush guard and replace it with a hitch mount, but the purpose of my post is to get your opinion on electrical side, plus inquire further about winch types. Or maybe you tell me it's a waste of money all together.
I realize winches draw a lot of power.. I also realize they may overheat under heavy use.
I would imagine my use would be fairly heavy, e.g. pull a log 50-100 feet, then pick it up with a grapple and move it where I really want it
I have deep cycles solar batteries, for high draw they're rated ~<150Ah (200Ah otherwise).. I could have 2, or 4 batteries.. The more batteries, the more logistics to pull them out, but not that big of a deal I only need to do this 1-2 times per year.
I looked at winch amp draws, and 2000-4000lb ranges around 200A.
The alternator on my Kubota generates about 40A.
Q: Is my use case for electric winches practical given I have the batteries for it?
Q: How much of that 40A is available for battery charging (e.g. I have no other lights on)..
Q: Should the charging be done by a separate controller, or should batteries be "direct connect" to this batteries? Size of controller may depend on previous question
Q: What features/type of winch would be good choice for heavy duty use/minimize any overheating
Q: Is there a significant difference in performance/efficiency?
Q: other than remote control, are there any other features I should consider?
Q: what size should I get as related to tractor weight? Tracor with front loader is 4700, backhoe probably adds another 2000+.. So total is in 7-7.5k range. Not sure how that works with tire traction and pulling something heavy.. I know reviews say "bigger is better", but I not sure it should be much beyond tractor weight (e.g. 9.5K)
Q: do all winches have variable amp draw based on load, or should i look at specific ones.
I am aware of existence of log/skidding winches
1) they're 3-4K, and this solution could be <1K taking advantage of existing batteries (and making sure I don't kill them)
2) when I put one one, I lose the backhoe, which counterbalances any logs I pickup with grapple
3) I do not necessarily want to drag the logs all over the property
Initially I wanted a mini-ex with a turning grapple.. But that 40K idea will have to wait (it has other potential uses on my property)
I do have a grapple for my L-Series tractor.. I've been reading about electric winches on these forums, but I never had one and barely operated one on a UTV once or twice.. I am still on the fence if I want to give up the brush guard and replace it with a hitch mount, but the purpose of my post is to get your opinion on electrical side, plus inquire further about winch types. Or maybe you tell me it's a waste of money all together.
I realize winches draw a lot of power.. I also realize they may overheat under heavy use.
I would imagine my use would be fairly heavy, e.g. pull a log 50-100 feet, then pick it up with a grapple and move it where I really want it
I have deep cycles solar batteries, for high draw they're rated ~<150Ah (200Ah otherwise).. I could have 2, or 4 batteries.. The more batteries, the more logistics to pull them out, but not that big of a deal I only need to do this 1-2 times per year.
I looked at winch amp draws, and 2000-4000lb ranges around 200A.
The alternator on my Kubota generates about 40A.
Q: Is my use case for electric winches practical given I have the batteries for it?
Q: How much of that 40A is available for battery charging (e.g. I have no other lights on)..
Q: Should the charging be done by a separate controller, or should batteries be "direct connect" to this batteries? Size of controller may depend on previous question
Q: What features/type of winch would be good choice for heavy duty use/minimize any overheating
Q: Is there a significant difference in performance/efficiency?
Q: other than remote control, are there any other features I should consider?
Q: what size should I get as related to tractor weight? Tracor with front loader is 4700, backhoe probably adds another 2000+.. So total is in 7-7.5k range. Not sure how that works with tire traction and pulling something heavy.. I know reviews say "bigger is better", but I not sure it should be much beyond tractor weight (e.g. 9.5K)
Q: do all winches have variable amp draw based on load, or should i look at specific ones.
I am aware of existence of log/skidding winches
1) they're 3-4K, and this solution could be <1K taking advantage of existing batteries (and making sure I don't kill them)
2) when I put one one, I lose the backhoe, which counterbalances any logs I pickup with grapple
3) I do not necessarily want to drag the logs all over the property