Getting Power to a Winch, 770

BobT_770 · Jun 4, 2012

I have a warn winch on a multi-mount and in conjunction with my 3-point receiver, want it to aid me in skidding large logs or felled trees that I cannot access.

The trouble is, I need to route 2 ga wire to the battery and things are really closed up tight up front, plus I have a loader.

I am thinking of, besides the pain of routing, getting another used grill and cutting a hole in it to allow passage of the wiring. I am also considering making the whole mess easily removeable since I can't see keeping winch power on the tractor at all times.

BTW, I may have a receiver tube welded to my hardly-used drawbar for a more suitable pulling location.

I intend to use this for my Jeep, my tractor and my trailer. Too small for the truck

Any thoughts welcomed

megaboz · Jun 4, 2012

I did something similar for my truck and trailer. I will suggest that on the tractor 2 gauge may be a little excessive. I ran 4 my trailer and truck for an 8k winch while it may not be completely suitable for a full 8k load it has pulled several 4k vehicles without issue. I used quick connects for everything.

I did cheat and use jumper cables since I was not planning on running the wire under the truck. I did save one end that had the jumper ends so I could plug on the cable I made to make easy to use jumper cables. If not going to use the winch a lot, I might suggest just running the cable external as needed. On my battery I wired it directly with a quick connect so I only had to connect my splice/jumper and then I can plug either the jumper cable end or my winch as needed.

namesray · Jun 4, 2012

your set up looks simular to my first winch set up on my kubota b7800. i was lucky and was able to have the battery cable fit through a gap in the front grill piece and ran my cable down along the front frame to conduit i run under the tractor to protect the cable from snagging underneath. my ground wire ran from the winch to a frame member behind the seat. worked great for me for 3 years, but bought a 7000lb 3ph pto winch. if i knew how to do pictures here i would try to show you my old setup. i am not good with computers or cameras for that matter. that electric winch i use to use still worked last time i took it off about a year ago. it worked for what i used it for, but in no way can it compare to the pto winch. i needed to go bigger and faster to suit my commercial firewood production. good luck with your set up.

BobT_770 · Jun 5, 2012

Thanks for the ideas.

I believe I should stay with the 2 ga wire - my winch is a 9.5xp which has 6hp. I only need 9 feet or so and at $4-5/foot that is not bad

I like the idea of maybe using a short quick connect pigtail on the tractor battery and a longer one from there to the winch quick connect - then i can just remove the grill for winching activities.

i do tree skidding sporadically but once i lose traction its all over and I have to get the truck - which is not fun in the woods on narrow trails. i figure with winch I can chain the tractor to a tree and bring the load to me.

is it ok to use the 3-point or should I be using the drawbar pull point? Thanks again!

megaboz · Jun 5, 2012

I don't know the specs for the weight between the two. That would be my main decision.

As for the gauge of wire, that's your prerogative, I was just giving a suggestion based on my experience. On longer runs, I definitely would go heavier. I would have went with 2 gauge myself if I could have found something that in lengths less than 200 feet but longer than 20 feet.

namesray · Jun 6, 2012

BobT_770 said:
Thanks for the ideas.

I believe I should stay with the 2 ga wire - my winch is a 9.5xp which has 6hp. I only need 9 feet or so and at $4-5/foot that is not bad

I like the idea of maybe using a short quick connect pigtail on the tractor battery and a longer one from there to the winch quick connect - then i can just remove the grill for winching activities.

i do tree skidding sporadically but once i lose traction its all over and I have to get the truck - which is not fun in the woods on narrow trails. i figure with winch I can chain the tractor to a tree and bring the load to me.

is it ok to use the 3-point or should I be using the drawbar pull point? Thanks again!

becareful chaining the front of the tractor to a tree and then pulling a large tree behind you with your winch. a lot of strain going on there. depending on capacity of your tractor and the pulling force of your winch, you could be over loading the tractor and be looking for trouble. be better to chain the winch to a tree and just power it with your tractor. then again, you might be ok with your idea. all depends on the capacities.

my set up was a kubota b7800 with fel, weight about 2700lbs. winch was a 3000lb pulling capacity electric winch. there was times the winch would haul the tractor backwards if the log being pulled got snogged or was too heavy/big. mine was attached to the 3ph, as is my 3ph pto winch that is 7000lb pulling capacity. the pto winch has a blade/spade that anchors it into the ground and its design actually puts most of the pulling strain down into that blade when winching. that is how a 2700lb tractor can handle a 7000lb pulling capacity winch. i believe if i chained my tractor to a tree, and pulled full load with the winch with blade in air, i stand a good chance of tearing something apart on the tractor.

you might be fine with your set up, just might have to keep the logs being pulled a little smaller. i am not trying to get you to over think this, just throwing out my thoughts i had along the way when i was going through this simular situation you are going through. as for guage wire, the heavier, the better the electric winch runs. my first ground wire was much smaller then my positive cable at first. winch ran. i was told to use a heavier guage cable for the ground and when i did it made a much noticable difference. ran much better with the heavier ground wire. good luck with your set up. i think it will work for you, just keep the proper expectations.

megaboz · Jun 7, 2012

Funny you mention about the spade idea. My buddy and I was talking about taking an old rear blade that is wore out and mounting the winch on it and then use the edge to dig in for the leverage. It definitely would help to take the strain off the tractor/3pt/drawbar if this something done often enough.

You have a very valid point about not tying off to a tree though. I think the OP has a VERY capable winch that could pull the tractor a part.

BobT_770 · Jun 7, 2012

I am an idiot. I guess I will just use it on tractor for stuff out of reach and just not chain the tractor but maybe chock the wheels and just watch everything carefully.

I don't want to damage my tractor - I use it too much for every darned thing. I lent it to a buddy for TWO days and had withdrawls!

A large spade where the winch is is absolutley the way to go on a tractor. I may look into this if i do alot of winching with tractor.

Check this out: [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QtZOReOYD4]Wallenstein FX Skidding Winches - YouTube[/ame]

Thanks for all the help!

megaboz · Jun 7, 2012

Oh I wouldn't go far as being an idiot, honestly never thought about that part myself!

Our original idea my buddy and I had was more along the lines of not having the tractor pulled instead of the object being pulled.

Really just depends on the circumstances.

namesray · Jun 7, 2012

wallenstien is canadian i believe. my friend has one and likes it. very simular to my fransgard v3507. and let me tell you, the areas in the video are all very simple terrain to work a winch on compared to the steep hills and narrow logging roads cut out of those steep hills i operate on and the winch still does a great job! run you around $3700 on up in price. mine has paid for itself a couple times over already. if i wasn't selling firewood, i would have stuck with my electric winch for just doing a little firewood each year. all depends on your budget and how you want to go about it. i really appreciate the speed and "no hassle" of the pto winch compared to my old electric winch. big difference for me as i do over 200 face cord of fire wood by myself each year. speed, power, and length of cable make the biggest difference. try your electric winch idea. it ain't a bad one so long as you are careful and don't overload the tractor.

when i used my 3000lb electric winch, i would just set the brakes and set the bucket down, sometimes digging the front bucket in to hold it when pulling and rarely did i have a problem. sometimes i would hook onto too big/heavy a log and it either wouldn't pull or it would pull the tractor backwards. if that the case, i would just go and cut the log in half and continue the pull. have to make 2 pulls, but sure beat carring each block of wood up to the logging road by hand a piece at a time.

anyways, becareful and stay safe. any type of logging can be dangerous. lots of things can happen, so just take your time and think it through nice and easy. main goal isn't the logs, it's comming back out of the woods each night safe. take care and good luck.