Attaching Winch to Front of Tractor?

[EdGooding]

Go big or go home, baby!!

 

[D&D]

Go big or go home, baby!!

4500 foot capacity Did they make a quick attach version?

 

[troverman]

Electrical power would be the biggest concern. If you look at the alternators on most <60HP tractors, they are like 45-60A. The battery is often <600CCA. There's not many good places to mount a second battery. If you insist on doing this, get a high quality deep cycle AGM battery. Some tractor companies offer an optional upgrade alternator - Kubota has a 130A, for example.

 

[DarkBlack]

Are you sure about that? WARN themselves say that the PW's winch is basically an M12000 with a reversed direction and low-voltage cutoff, and the M12000 maxes out at 440A draw (still way too much for a tractor, but then he's probably not talking about a 12K winch, either).

I agree..750 amps is highly doubtful.
It would require a complete circuit resistance of 0.016 ohms at 12 volts. That’s not going to happen in the real world. What will actually happen, is your vehicle wiring would quickly heat and quickly raise resistance at any currents even approaching such a high load. Secondly, your vehicle battery and charging system would immediately drop voltage under such a resistance (.016 ohms is basically a short circuit), down to say…10 volts, that alone limits current to 625 amps. Add in the wiring resistance and you’re probably actually limited under 500 amps

 

[future_vision]

I think it'd be most helpful to know what the winch would be used for, and how often.

About two years ago I installed an 18K winch on one of the Unimogs, one of maybe two dozen winches I've added to various vehicles, basically to be able to upright a tractor if needed.

That was the most complicated mount to make to date, due to very little space to work with, but being able to pull the skid steer out a couple of times made it well worth it.

View attachment 849897

Completely forgot I posted this question. It's a Harbor Freight 12,000 lb APEX with synthetic rope.

I see using it for multiple things. One is that I am clearing land and many of the trees and underbrush is in areas where the tractor just can't go. Too many boulders and such.

One of the other uses would be in a timber frame barn construction as well as some conventional stick frame construction. I envision being able to put together some pulley systems for lifting and moving timbers, trusses, etc around

 

[Fxfymn413]

The OP stated it is a HF winch which have a 10% duty cycle. If it is operated in accordance with that having enough battery to operate it should not be a problem.

I use an Anderson type connector for 12V power and have a ball mount welded on the front of the tractor so I can use a cheap HF winch to get me out of those situations where the tractor cannot get traction, but I'm not deeply buried, such as sliding off the road while plowing snow.

 

[future_vision]

Electrical power would be the biggest concern. If you look at the alternators on most <60HP tractors, they are like 45-60A. The battery is often <600CCA. There's not many good places to mount a second battery. If you insist on doing this, get a high quality deep cycle AGM battery. Some tractor companies offer an optional upgrade alternator - Kubota has a 130A, for example.

I'm not certain what battery I have on the tractor. It's a Kiot DK6010. I'll have to check next time I get over to the property it is on.

 

[future_vision]

Keep an eye open with some of the local farm auctions. Or, even tractor and dozer wrecking yards.

A small hydraulic winch might be very nice for a tractor.

Hmm. Never thought of that. Problem is I already sunk the money into this one. I guess I could potentially resell it but it's brand new so I am sure I would lose money on the deal.

 

[future_vision]

Are you sure about that? WARN themselves say that the PW's winch is basically an M12000 with a reversed direction and low-voltage cutoff, and the M12000 maxes out at 440A draw (still way too much for a tractor, but then he's probably not talking about a 12K winch, either).

I am. Harbor Freight Apex 12,000 lb

 

[future_vision]

Did you notice the crack in the lower left of that plate?

I actually didn't Good catch. What is the significance of that?