Winches Whats a good location for an electric winch?

[dickfoster]

Since I have a mostly never used (used once) 9500 lb winch laying around, I thought I might install it on the tractor somewhere. It's a 1538TLB so there isn't a lot of space. It's pretty tight up front with the loader and the backhoe rules out the rear. Has anyone done this or have any great ideas? It seems like it could be a handy addition for dragging logs, stumps etc. or maybe even pull the tractor out of bind. The frame sure does look solid enough.

 

[George2615]

Someone else recently posted about installing a winch of a similar size on their tractor. I'm sure a mount can be made to support it but your tractor charging system will not have the power to run it. If you do decide to install this on your tractor you'll also need to find a spot to add a couple of fully charged deep cycle batteries to power the winch.

 

[teg]

On a truck... To sum up a couple of other posts, too much amps, not enough charging ability with your tractor, and wimpy batteries.

Best solution, build a 3 point hitch that can hold a couple deep cycle batteries (that you charge over night). Have yet to see anyone build one... also, the line speed on those winches are painfully slow. :2cents:

{Edit} Oops, too slow typing...

 

[CDN Farm Boy]

It's a bad idea. Surprising how many people lately are asking about running electric winches on their tractor (including me mounted on a skidding plate) Electric winches have a HUGE draw on the electrical system, well beyond what a tractor can supply. Even if you were to mount a couple extra batteries to go with it, the charging system is still not there.

My B3300 only has 12.5 amps from it's alternator. In my off-roading days, I was running a 180 amp with my 9500 Warn and still had to keep an eye on the charging gauge. I dismissed the idea as soon as I found out how small the alternator really is and that it's $350 if I fried it. Mine is fast and would have been a perfect fit for my logging winch but in the end, not worth it

Edit: Apparently I was even a couple minutes slower than teg......

 

[George2615]

Just an FYI to the OP. I have a 9000# winch on my tilt bed trailer. It runs on a separate trailer mounted battery for the short pulls I use it for such as winching a rolling vehicle onto the trailer. A rolling load doesn't draw the amps that dragging or skidding a load would. My truck alternator is 150 amp. I have a 10 gauge charge wire from the truck to the trailer which charges the trailer battery when towing. It is protected by a 30A auto reset breaker. My truck battery, alternator, and charge wire alone are not capable of running this winch without that extra battery on the trailer.
My tractor has an 85A alternator and a small battery. It may power a small 2K winch but not a 9K.

 

[dickfoster]

Someone else recently posted about installing a winch of a similar size on their tractor. I'm sure a mount can be made to support it but your tractor charging system will not have the power to run it. If you do decide to install this on your tractor you'll also need to find a spot to add a couple of fully charged deep cycle batteries to power the winch.

Well I never run the winch in my truck with just the alternator but the alternator does put out 90 amps, which is more than I expected. The stock battery looks to be a healthy size too, it's also larger than I expected. If the battery becomes a problem I'll replace it with a AGM battery or maybe two. I have a dual battery setup in my truck which I set up for rock crawling and I have a couple of spare AGM batteries should that become necessary.

I'm not worried so much about the electricals, as I am about where to mount the thing. I'd never attempt to use it like you would a real purpose built PTO logging winch. Just for an occasional pull when the need arises.

 

[dickfoster]

On a truck... To sum up a couple of other posts, too much amps, not enough charging ability with your tractor, and wimpy batteries.

Best solution, build a 3 point hitch that can hold a couple deep cycle batteries (that you charge over night). Have yet to see anyone build one... also, the line speed on those winches are painfully slow. :2cents:

{Edit} Oops, too slow typing...

I'm well aware of how much current a winch can pull or try to pull under load and that I can deal with. Been, there done that. I was just wondering about where to put the thing.

 

[George2615]

You can probably build a modified 2" receiver and mount it on or under your brush guard. Bolt the winch to a cradle mount that slides into the receiver with the loader raised and connect to the tractor battery. There is a big safety issue involved about getting under a raised loader to install the winch into the receiver. A thought crossed my mind about mounting the winch to the QA loader mount but a strong pull could tweak or bend the loader arms.

 

[dickfoster]

It's a bad idea. Surprising how many people lately are asking about running electric winches on their tractor (including me mounted on a skidding plate) Electric winches have a HUGE draw on the electrical system, well beyond what a tractor can supply. Even if you were to mount a couple extra batteries to go with it, the charging system is still not there.

My B3300 only has 12.5 amps from it's alternator. In my off-roading days, I was running a 180 amp with my 9500 Warn and still had to keep an eye on the charging gauge. I dismissed the idea as soon as I found out how small the alternator really is and that it's $350 if I fried it. Mine is fast and would have been a perfect fit for my logging winch but in the end, not worth it

Edit: Apparently I was even a couple minutes slower than teg......

Actually this alternator is pretty decent at 90 amps, much more than I expected. I've also had stock 60 amp alternators redone to put out 120 amps and it's not that expensive at about $100. You just have to know who does a good job of it and they just happen to be right down the road from me.

If push comes to shove I have a big high output Powermatic alternator laying around. Come to think of it, I could even add the spare underhood welder that I also have just laying around taking up space.

I guess rock crawling leads to collecting a lot of extra stuff and spending money your wife best not know about.

 

[CDN Farm Boy]

90 amps? Wtf! I never would have guessed that. If I had 90 on mine, I'd use my HS9500i on my skidding plate and not be that worried. Hmmm, maybe I should look into adding a bigger alternator rather than trying to find a decent PTO winch or a cough, reasonably priced hydraulic one