Riding today with a friend when we came to an area too steep to climb without going over backwards. Bear was able to winch himself over the bad spot with his electric winch but used the engine as well. Hadn't thought about it but often it requires both a winch and wheel power to get where you need to go. Hand crank or ratchet winch would make this very difficult to do.

Maybe the cost of an electric would be worth it.

 

I am sure that there would be times that I would want a power one because it is easier and in situations like tencubed described, but I am just not sure if it is cost effective for me. What would be the cheapest best quality electric winch?

 

Might want to keep a block and tackle handy. Just in case it's really stuck in the mud. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

 

Now that I think about it, if you want a cheap winch, ebay has plenty. No guarantees on quality, but they are priced cheap.

 

cdrmotorsports - The power lines between Lancaster, MA and Mason, NH go through Townsend.

I have riden most of the powerlines, that have trails on them, in Townsend.

They keep building houses so even the power lines are getting hard to ride, that is why I go to NH alot now.

If you ever ride to Mason, let me know. We have been trying to find a way to get to Mason but keep running into houses that have blocked the trails.

 

Will do. I have to make sure my Trailblazer is up to the task before I try to do that. Before long there are going to be houses right under the power lines. I hear that some of the lines run through privatley owned property that had been leased out to the power company. Gets a little sticky with land owners. I buddy of mine has been threatened with a sawed of shotgun on some power lines in Sterling. I have been thinking about putting the ATV in the truck and driving to Mason and try to wrk my was back. I know going over Route 2 is a pain. You either have to go over it on an overpass or there is a gulley that runs underneath it.

 

Cabela sells one that is the same as that one. With that little handle on it, I would be afraid I wouldn't be able to move it enough to make it work, maybe if you had a breaker bar with it[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img] For the price I would look at a electric winch. I have a champion on my suzuki and it has no problem pulling out other quads[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img] It's been on the quad for awhile and it works when I need it to[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

I don't think a person necesarily has to mount the winch on the quad. Just having it in the toolbox would do. By taking the winch and mounting it on a small pad, having a cable long enough to go around an object and come back to the winch pad and click on. If you make it so that where the cable hooks to the pad it is separated somewhat it will tend to try to stay level. By welding a pipe say a couple inches tall behind the winch you can put a handle, like one on a hyd jack, to hold it upright while you are turning the crank. In this fashion you can be high and dry while winching your rig out of the muck and you can pull it in any direction you want. also you might want to make the pad long enough so you can bend it up in front of the winch so as to make an eye for the cable to guide the line onto the winch.
You know, I think I will start making these, any takers?