I read about winch cable damage from overtightening it while lifting the snowplow. I have a Warn winch and a Glacier snow plow. I don't care to break the cable due to over lifting the blade.

It is hard for me to imagine a winch without a limit switch to prevent this kind of damage. Every cable hoist in the factories I worked in had a mechanical lift limit switch, even the half ton hoists.

Warn sells a "hall effect" lift limit switch to prevent the winch from over tightening itself. Seems a little delicate for a rugged ATV.

Do these things work when the front of the machine is packed with snow?

Are their mechanical limit switches that can be added to the front of the fairplay to "automatically" shut off the winch before it stretches the heck out of the cable?

David

 

I had this one that came with my Can-Am OEM Alpine Duty snow plow: Can-Am New OEM Snow Plow Winch Cable Saver Limit/Limiter Switch Kit 715001591 | eBay

It has a magnet that gets bolted to the plow frame and a switch that is mounted on the quad at the spot the magnet will be closest too when lifted. Worked very well, even with snow packed in. I still had some cable issues with it so I switched to synthetic rope. Still had a couple breaks 2 winters ago when New England got slammed with heavy snows. Eventually the wiring got ripped out. Very chintzy wire plus having to unmount the winch caused it to break.

I re-wired it once and it broke again. So, I stopped fixing it and just watch until the blade is at a certain height (in my case even in the line of sight with my LED bar) and just stop.

This year I put a 1/4" synthetic rope inside a 3/8" piece of rope. Took a couple hours using a metal coat hanger to pull the 1/4" inside the other rope. I made sure I had enough to spool at least a foot into the winch with the blade down. So far that has worked well. I also sewed the two pieces together about a foot down the bigger rope from where the 1/4" went inside. Keeps it from bunching up on the rollers.

 

Thanks again for your reply Mr. Moose. Your experiences with the unprotected winch raising a snow plow 8" is typical of what I have been reading about. The who situation seems so avoidable. I think many folks do as you did, just be careful and don't over lift the blade. Easier said than done when you're working the winch, shifting forward to reverse and back, steering, and trying to avoid wheel slip. My bet your "super" rope will last a long time.

The factory electric hoists I'm familiar with had an arm connected to a rotary "limit" switch that cut power before the hoist wound tight. It was very robust method. It was all mechanical except for the switch itself. Electronics can be a problem on a hard working machine.

Here is another example of the magnetic "hall effect" lift limit switch that Warn sells. It looks similar to the one you got a couple of years life out of.

https://www.amazon.com/WARN-85950-Pr...t+limit+switch

Some guys have rigged their winch with a nylon strap for the winter. It doesn't break, but the winch still sees full stall torque which can't be great for long life or battery life.

I will get something to shut down the winch before it stretches the cable and stresses the gear train every time I lift the blade.

Merry Christmas...

David

 

Looks more robust than the Can-Am system.

Merry Christmas to you also.

 

Maby just slow down and listen to your winch instead of trying to do all those things at once.

 

 

I'm not likely to hear the winch over the engine with my diminished hearing. Feeble excuse from a feeble old man. So I need some technological help so the winch won't pull the cable 3000 pounds tight every time I lift the plow. The cable, the winch, and me will all live longer with some technological help.

David