Other power sources for sprocket-powered winch - am I missing anything?

[Trango]

Hi Gang,

I traded for a big Garwood/Braden-style winch, which did not come with any power source, save for a roller chain sprocket on it. I would guess that it was originally PTO-powered, but that's honestly anyone's guess. I figure that mounting it and powering it is one of the little supplemental projects I can do on my project, once it's "done" and fully driveable.

I am curious, though, about what the prevailing wisdom is for powering a big, standalone winch. I want this winch to be detachable (maybe with a clevis'ed mount, or something along those lines), and so the power therefore also needs to be detachable. Winch is about 350 lbs as is (without power source), so it's not prohibitive to lift into place with a couple of guys, or a cherry picker. If I do the power source correctly, I could even use a boom or a tree, and the winch power itself, to pick it up and then lower it.

The difficulty is that there is very little room to run a PTO shaft, even a very flexible one like a Lovejoy or other ag-sourced shaft.

So, I'm looking at Hydraulic or Electrical. I'm somewhat familiar with pros and cons of each.

Hydraulic:
Strengths:
Limitless power, as long as the engine is running
Motors are small and torquey
Once the system is plumbed, hydraulics can power other devices down the road

Weaknesses:
Difficult to plumb
One leak and you're done (although setting up hydraulics so they don't leak isn't terrifically difficult)
Require PTO installation either on tranny, crankshaft, or transfer case

Electric:
Strengths:
Easy to wire/control
Not tied to engine being running

Weaknesses:
Motors are prone to overheating
Motors are bigger and heavier than hydraulic motors
The motors are current hogs
Running time is also limited to battery capacity

As I anticipate very infrequent winching, my thought is that electric will be the way to go. I was thinking of using a surplus, 28v starter motor (or even run a 14v motor on 28v), and put the correct sprocket on that (I'll of course have to look up the specs on the winch, figure out input torque, and size everything accordingly).

All of the above said, am I missing anything?


Best,
Bob

 

[Trango]

BTW, one thing does occur to me - this engine is equipped with a power steering pump, which might permit me to easily plumb in a spool valve for winch control, although this would still be somewhat of a pain to power from in-dash.

 

[73m819]

Hyd. power though the ps pump wont have enough VOLUME, a stand a lone power (hyd) source, with some long quick connect hoses would be a neet set up, build the winch, power source on a set of small skids would be another option, this would give a totaly stand a-lone winch

 

[m16ty]

Hydraulic:
Strengths:
Limitless power, as long as the engine is running
Motors are small and torquey
Once the system is plumbed, hydraulics can power other devices down the road

Weaknesses:
Difficult to plumb
One leak and you're done (although setting up hydraulics so they don't leak isn't terrifically difficult)
Require PTO installation either on tranny, crankshaft, or transfer case

About the only real weakness you listed is the requirement of a PTO. A hyd system is no more difficult to plumb than an electric winch is to wire. Hyd is the most versatile system.

You said it is a big winch. How big is big? If it's a 10,000 or 20,000lb winch you're going to have trouble finding a electric motor big enough to run it. If you do find one it's going to draw a bunch of amps.

Are you mounting it on the front or back?

 

[gimpyrobb]

If it has a chain sprocket on it, it could be a 45klbs drag winch from a wrecker.

 

[Trango]

I'll see if I can dig some data off of the winch this weekend. It's well painted over, but may have some information under there somewhere.

 

[gimpyrobb]

Does it have cable on it? If its 3/4, its a wrecker drag winch.

 

[m16ty]

If it's a wrecker drag winch it will be a Tulsa. It will say "Tulsa winch" on the end housings and have mounting holes in the bottom (3/4" I think). They are way too big to mount on the front of a deuce. There also too big to mount on the back IMO.

They are a pain to use because they don't have a engagement lever on them to freewheel the cable out (you have to power the cable out). Even if they could freewheel that 3/4 cable would be hard to drag.