Winch (not wench) recommendations...

[AJMD429]

I want to be able to pull trees over enough to direct their fall when needed, or to pull a heavy deer carcass up out of a ravine (not often enough... ), or un-stick a vehicle rarely.

The first two uses mean NOT attaching it to my pickup truck due to do manyplacesi could get the tractor but NOT the truck, but I could have it on, or powered by, my small tractor. The tractor is too light (3,000 pounds max) to use as the anchor but I'm willing to be creative with pulleys and trees are all over our place, and slow speed is tolerable.

So I was thinking of a "Portable Electric Winch" that was designed to hook to a trailer-ball, or use a strap to hook to a tree.

Any of you use such a setup...?

[Blaine]

I've seen a couple of hand-helds that the back half looked like a chain saw setup....The guys claimed they worked just fine. Are you going to have electric everyplace you think you're going to use it?

[AJMD429]

I've seen a couple of hand-helds that the back half looked like a chain saw setup....The guys claimed they worked just fine. Are you going to have electric everyplace you think you're going to use it?

I looked at the 2-cycle ones that cost over $1,000, and don't need even a battery, but I think 99% of the time I'd have a 12 volt source available (the tractor can get nearly anywhere I'd need to go) so could cut the price in half and get a 12-volt one. I suppose in a pinch I'd be willing to backpack a fully-charged car battery to the site for a deer-carcass retrieval if the tractor couldn't get there).

[Griff]

Think WARN™ Multi-mount system

[Sixgun]

Think WARN™ Multi-mount system

Right. Griff beat me to it. With winches, you get what you pay for. Don't get no junk from Harbor Freight. You can mount it on a hitch and most tractors have a hitch mount..my Kubota does.

I'm thinking Warn 9.5 thermometric. You thinking of backpacking a battery??? These things will drain a battery in no time. Buy a four wheeler and mount a winch on that. You got the bucks. We loaded an elk on a four wheeler that had a small trailer hooked to it.---6

[Malamute]

If hand powered works for any of your uses, the people that make the come-a-long cable winches make a rope winch that has unlimited reach, or as long as your winch rope is. Ive looked them up online, prices are all over the map, at the local farm and ranch supply, I think they were about $40-some dollars with a 20' rope, the longer ropes were a bit more or could be bought separately. I think I have a couple 50' ropes for mine. I think the rope puller is vastly more useful than the cable units. Cable units have very little lift or movement range. The rope ones can start at the max length of the rope and continuously pull til you run short of rope and about 2 foot from your anchor point.

I made hand powered log winch with one, I could dead lift an 800lb or so log and move it around. The rated lift of them is a 1/4 or 1/3 of their actual usable capability. I think they are rated at 1500 lbs.

google Power-rope puller

[GunnyMack]

I have one of these, http://non-electric.lehmans.com/search?w=Power%20puller , was recommended to my by a logger. It's a bit bulky but it has saved the day on occasion.
I plow snow on my quad, a dozen or so neighbors as well. The first winch I bought for the quad was from tractor supply- JUNK! Burned out switch( not sealed) the first winter. Had to buy a second winch cuz the company wouldn't over night a switch, took a week to show up from factory in China! Then I burned up both old & new motors!

I finally bought a WARN- haven't looked back!!

[dkmlever]

I owned the Honda portable winch that ran on gas, with a capstain type system so as long as your rope was, you could tie on to something and winch it back. easy to secure to a tree, or a ball hitch, I spend the little extra to get Kevlar rope. These are not he fastest winch, and you must hold the rope close to the motor to keep it tight on the drum - but they work and although I would not want to carry it a long way, I have used it in the woods to pull elk out of tight spots. I used it primarily for tree work on the property until I bought the Farmi winch three point hitch mount on to my Kubota that ran off the PTO. These have a bull dozer type blade design at the base to prevent the entire tractor being pulled forward. These really are the best but are limited to only being used where you can get your tractor. I bought extension cables to increase my length of pull.

[marlinman93]

I got a Warn portable winch. I actually got the very first Warn prototype when they were testing it, and the company I worked for got the prototype to test for Warn. It is set u to slip into a receiver hitch, and we used it vigorously on a bunch of remote mountain top generator sites to pull and install 3,000-5,000 lb. generators. It's also pulled a few stuck vehicles out when they tried to drive off the edge of muddy mountains!
I got the old Warn when I retired as a gift, as the company said they figured I'd taken care of it for over 25 years, and it was out of production, so no parts support by Warn any longer. It sits in my garage mostly now, but whenever I need it to pull anything, it still does the job well!
I built up a strap system to allow it to be shackled to a tree and connect to the receiver adapter. I also built up a spare battery plug with jumper cable ends, so I can hook it up anywhere, and simply drop a spare battery next to it and clamp the cables on for power.
Mine looks a lot like this one, except it is mounted to a flat plate with folding receiver tube, and has a one piece cover that slips over during storage:
http://www.edgextremesports.com/store/W ... fgodUFID-g

I also own a "chainsaw winch" that has a 2 stroke engine, and can be coupled to almost anything. It's a very nice option, but not big enough to pull vehicles out if they're very heavy, or stuck good! I paid $75 used for it to use elk hunting. Has a lot of cable, but small diameter for under 1,000 lb. loads.
Looks like this one, but red and much less capacity:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/WINCH-Chainsaw- ... SwYIhWkGiY

[jeepnik]

Another for the Warn Multimount.

I've had a Warn on the front of my jeep for over thirty years. Yes the same winch (the wench I've had for 43). It's not the multi mount as they didn't exist then. But should this one die before me, that's what I'll get.

[marlinman93]

One more advantage of the portable Warn is it's ability to pull from either end of the vehicle! All you need is a 2nd receiver mounted up front, and a plug for the wiring, or battery clips. It can make the way you pull something out much easier if you eliminate the need for snatch blocks and do a direct pull whichever way is easiest!

[jeepnik]

One more advantage of the portable Warn is it's ability to pull from either end of the vehicle! All you need is a 2nd receiver mounted up front, and a plug for the wiring, or battery clips. It can make the way you pull something out much easier if you eliminate the need for snatch blocks and do a direct pull whichever way is easiest!

And, it's often easier to go back the way you came that forge on into the unknown. Especially with MUD. Yes MUD is capitalized as it is a creature unto its own.