Good point about the limits of the comealong. The only way would be to carry two sections of rope. The other being used for tying the quad off so you could rehook the comealong for another bite.

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Andy Bassham *(1999 Arctic Cat 500 4x4, 1989 Honda 300)*

 

And by the time I buy all that rope and chains and what ever I would have spent less money on that 30,000-Lb winch.

 

For Boner
At least you didn't say, "I should have had a Max6x6!"
ps-I liked the emphasis of: VERY BIG DITCH, instead of just writing:a very big ditch, part. That scared me! Cause you know why. I have the 3WD action going . I am surprised someone didn't tell you to just go around it and forget the winch!

[This message has been edited by TxDoc2 (edited 12-08-1999).]

 

And all this time I thought that your quad was broken because you said that you never experiensed 3wd(that was you wsn't it?)

 

TxDoc2, I've seen "hand winches" advertised for ATV's but have no experience with them. A 900 # marine (boat trailer) hand winch with a pulley block provides 1800 # of pull; looks like this device would be a lot better than nothing at all when stuck in the boonies. The short pull of the comealong is solved with the spooled rope or cable on the winch. Some thought should go into anchoring the hand winch to the quad (e.g., a bracket bolted to the winch and attached to the rack with U-bolts). Some sort of fairlead might be a good idea for angle pulls; a boat trailer winch is designed for pulls in the same direction so no fairlead is used in its intended application.

Tree Farmer

 

Thanks TreeFarmer. Warn told me that the brake in their small winches have a spring that retracts and expands and has the capacity to hold the load safely. They will generate heat if used in a repetitious commercial application. They also said winch with a "shunt" braking system uses an alternative path with the armature giving it a very slight brake, but not one that will hold an ATV on a steep incline or or an auto on a trailer with a steep incline. They also said the "shunt" switch was designed to power in and out for winching purposes "only".

 

TxDoc2, I believe the Warn spring brake (optional extra (Part # 22142) on A2500 & A2000 models) functions similarly to the internal spring brake standard on the SuperWinch ATV2000 (optional extra (Part # 87-22541-01, $ 22.00) on the T1500 model).

As mentioned, the shunt brake alone will not hold a load safely on small planetary-gear drive winches.

Even with mechanical brakes, none of these winches is certified for overhead lifting, a qualification requiring a 5:1 safety margin.

Tree Farmer

 

When I buried the AC in the lake, the winch alone wouldn't hold the quads weight off of the ground when i winched it over sideways. I had to winch it to a point where it was at the middle of its tilt and there wasn't as much weight on the cable. It will hold it pretty good on a hill, but not if it is supporting a 650lb quad that is having 2 tires lifted off the ground solely by the winch itself. Its still a good idea to set that parking brake.

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Andy Bassham *(1999 Arctic Cat 500 4x4, 1989 Honda 300)*

 

Tree Farmer--I agree with what you said 100%. I put the brake on for added safety and in case I ever found myself in a situation where my engine may be dead and my battery low and wanting to hold whatever position I had attained. Plus, I now how useful the brake on my truck winches have been.
Andy-do you have a Warn 2000? Do you have the brake kit? If you don't, it really is easy to install, if you want to. I am not any kind of master certified mechanic and I did it. Of course, I asked them about ten times-"do you have to be a graduate of the motorcycle mechanics institute?"

[This message has been edited by TxDoc2 (edited 12-09-1999).]