# Winch question.



## born2farm (Dec 24, 2007)

Well last year plowing I had some trouble with my winch being slow to lift the plow up. It is just the tiny stock winch, that came with the plow and I want to say it is only like a 100lb winch. If I put a longer cable on the winch and ran it up, and then through a pully and back down to the plow will that help me at all? If this fails I will go to a bigger winch, but since my grandpa still owns the bigger portion of the quad I dont want to put to much money into it till I buy it.


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## EaTmYtAiLpIpEs (Aug 23, 2007)

born2farm;815214 said:


> Well last year plowing I had some trouble with my winch being slow to lift the plow up. It is just the tiny stock winch, that came with the plow and I want to say it is only like a 100lb winch. If I put a longer cable on the winch and ran it up, and then through a pully and back down to the plow will that help me at all? If this fails I will go to a bigger winch, but since my grandpa still owns the bigger portion of the quad I dont want to put to much money into it till I buy it.


if it is a electric winch it is 1500lbs or bigger. I wouldnt run it through a pulley system.


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## rm25x (Sep 5, 2009)

If you run it through a pulley, then winch will have to work only 1/2 as hard. The downside is that it will be only 1/2 as fast...


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## sublime68charge (Dec 28, 2007)

did your winch struggle to lift the plow? or was it just lifting it to slow for you?

if its struggling to lift the plow then a pulley will ease the strain of lifing the plow but it will take 2x as long to lift it.

if its just lifting it to slow then you need to get a bigger winch which pulls the cable in faster.
or you could try adding a couple layers of cable to your drum. say with the drum empty 1 revoluation pulls in 6" of cable. with it 1/2 full the same revoluation will pull in 10" of cable and so on. Though the lager the roll the less pulling power you have.

How old is this winch? maybe it need's to be taken apart and new brush's put in on the motor of it?

just some thoughts for you.

sublime out


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## jomama45 (Dec 25, 2008)

Going through ONE pulley will not result in any reduction to the the rate of the pully. It could result in less "friction" though, because the normal angle that the winch pulls on the plow is far from efficient. I wish I could recall who manufactured the set-up, but I have seen a pulley built in higher than the winch (so it pulled the plow up straight) & was impressed by it. To the OP: make sure you have a roller fair-lead infront of the winch, as the stock fair-lead sucks.

I should note that in theory, the plow "should" lift faster without the pulley merely because the stock set-up approach angle. In reality though, the stock angle strains the electrical system enough (normally) that I don't think the pulley could possibly be any slower.


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## born2farm (Dec 24, 2007)

Thanks guys...i might buy a pully and try it before winter gets here. I think thought that the only way to get what I want is to buy a new winch. Ill just keep the old one around for a spare or maybe put it on my mower.


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## B&B (Nov 4, 2006)

Here's how you want to do it with a pulley arrangement if you have the space. I built this setup for a local sidewalk guy several years ago as an effort to prolong not only cable life but to help reduce the stress on the winch and electrics due to the sever cable angle most of these ATV setup have when it's run straight from the drum to the plow. He used to get a season out of a cable and now he hasn't changed the cable since I did the mod. Just checked it again last week and the cable is still in near perfect condition. This will be it's fourth season running..


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## woodchuckcanuck (Sep 15, 2009)

I've got a 2000lb stock Warren winch on my Kodiak 400. Seeing your pics just posted made me think about mine. My winch has rollers above and below where the cable exits the reel. I experience at least 2 cable breakages a season and that's just plowing my own driveway due to wear. The cable is about 5mm diameter. The roller diameter is about 20-25mm. Maybe a larger diameter, like a pulley, would reduce the stress. Thanks for posting the pics. It gives me an idea.


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## rm25x (Sep 5, 2009)

jomama45;816700 said:


> Going through ONE pulley will not result in any reduction to the the rate of the pully. It could result in less "friction" though, because the normal angle that the winch pulls on the plow is far from efficient. I wish I could recall who manufactured the set-up, but I have seen a pulley built in higher than the winch (so it pulled the plow up straight) & was impressed by it. To the OP: make sure you have a roller fair-lead infront of the winch, as the stock fair-lead sucks.
> 
> I should note that in theory, the plow "should" lift faster without the pulley merely because the stock set-up approach angle. In reality though, the stock angle strains the electrical system enough (normally) that I don't think the pulley could possibly be any slower.


 Not correct, if the winch cable goes through a pulley mounted on the plow frame, then back up to the ATV, then you just cut your speed in half and doubled your pulling power.
Thats how a snatch block works for recovery.

Now if its done like B&B has shown, then your just changing the lifting location, which will have no effect on speed/power.


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## jomama45 (Dec 25, 2008)

Re-read my post, I was talking about the same idea as B&B posted.


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## rm25x (Sep 5, 2009)

woodchuckcanuck;819078 said:


> I've got a 2000lb stock Warren winch on my Kodiak 400. Seeing your pics just posted made me think about mine. My winch has rollers above and below where the cable exits the reel. I experience at least 2 cable breakages a season and that's just plowing my own driveway due to wear. The cable is about 5mm diameter. The roller diameter is about 20-25mm. Maybe a larger diameter, like a pulley, would reduce the stress. Thanks for posting the pics. It gives me an idea.


Moose and Warn both offer roller fairleads designed for plow lifting with a larger bottom roller. Moose is about $28 and Warn is about $50.


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## rm25x (Sep 5, 2009)

jomama45;819114 said:


> Re-read my post, I was talking about the same idea as B&B posted.


I know, I just wanted to clarify for him when you said:

"Going through ONE pulley will not result in any reduction to the the rate of the pully."


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## rm25x (Sep 5, 2009)

born2farm;816748 said:


> Thanks guys...i might buy a pully and try it before winter gets here. I think thought that the only way to get what I want is to buy a new winch. Ill just keep the old one around for a spare or maybe put it on my mower.


you never did say what your currently using for a winch to lift the plow...


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## born2farm (Dec 24, 2007)

thanks for all the ideas. What B&B Posted is what I will probably end up doing. Right now I have a 100lb Warn winch that came with my plow. It is mounted directly to my plow and is made to hook in a strap off the rack. I hooked the pully to the strap, ran the cable through it and then ran it back to the plow. It is still slow so I am going to buy another winch. Probably either a 2000 or 3000lb


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## born2farm (Dec 24, 2007)

well I added a 3000lb winch to the quad today, and I am wishing I added it last year. What a difference. The plow reacts as fast as our truck plows. I highly recomend Champion brand winches for anyone looking for a cheap winch designated to snow plowing. 100bucks and it is a nice winch. my only complaint is the size of the controller compared to my old warn, but I was actually able to mount it to the front rack and its still in arms reach.


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## massbowtie (Feb 19, 2003)

*nylon rope*

i got a piece to use for plowing on my atv so i didnt ruin the cable. the stuff i got is rated for 20k. its flat about an inch and a quarter wide.local telephone companies use it to pull underground cables etc. good stuff it will last,i still have the same piece for the last 3years with no signs of wear. oh and make sure the bottom roller is actually rolling.if its bound up and not turning it will cause unnecessary drag.


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## rm25x (Sep 5, 2009)

Yep adding a real winch is the best thing you can do. 
Adding a large bottom roller fairlead, or a high mount pulley is the second best.


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