Front or Rear winch?

[Antichrist]

Not near as elegant, but I've actually just run the cable underneath and to a rear anchor point a couple of times and it worked fine. Upon inspection, both the wire rope and undercarriage showed no ill effects.
In looking at the video I noticed this one, that I've had to do.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9PuUn-acvc
Only in my case I couldn't allow the front end to move forward, so I added a chain to anchor the front in position and just pull the rear around.

 

[mrchips]

i took an advanced winching class, and some of the ways to hook up straps shackles and extensions was impressive. You could pull yourself backwards, forward and sideways at the same time etc. So I think you need the winch in the front for the forward momentum problems that you would run into, as you could always pull yourself back without going under the rig as stated before. Need to carry multiple snatch blocks, tree straps, extensions and shackles.

 

[Antichrist]

i took an advanced winching class, and some of the ways to hook up straps shackles and extensions was impressive. You could pull yourself backwards, forward and sideways at the same time etc.

Forward and backwards at the same time? Is that how they make stretch limos?

 

[ntsqd]

Well, since no one else has mentioned it, I'm voting for in the middle with dedicated thru-vehicle routing & guides.

http://www.ebroadcast.com.au/ecars/Foers/Winch.html

 

[Metcalf]

I love the idea of the Vector winch system also....

Downsides first...

-Generally you have a hard time seeing the cable spool on the drum. With the proper drum mounting distance away from the first pulley this could be minimized for sure. I know in a lot of Ibex and competition rovers that use this idea the winch drum is visible behind the front seats to help with this problem.
Using a synthetic winch line also helps with this problem since it stands up to bunching and crossing much better on the drum.

-Packaging. Getting the winch mounted in the center along with all the pulley system and routing for the front winch line can be very complicated.

Upsides....

-You can winch frontwards or backwards easily with a single winch ( though you are always in double line to the rear )

-Central weight distribution

-You can rig a trolley really easy. ( trolley= attaching a snatch block to the front and rear with the lines back to the car. You can basically make a tension rig where you can drive along the cable. Very handy for slick sidehills)

-Better approach and departure angles.

-Hidden winch factor. With a little work to cover the mountings most people would never know you had a winch.

 

[michaelgroves]

Well, since no one else has mentioned it, I'm voting for in the middle with dedicated thru-vehicle routing & guides.

http://www.ebroadcast.com.au/ecars/Foers/Winch.html

It's an intellectually interesting idea, but would you really want to do it that way for an expedition truck? It gets dirty under there, and you can't see the line spooling onto the drum, and you can't fix/maintain it, and the rearwards pull is always a double, and any forward pull puts a double-line pull on your rear chassis member...

 

[ntsqd]

Given that my Warn M8 has been sitting, cableless, on the garage floor for the last 8 years any winch location might be preferable to none at all. Then again, in that time I've wished it were with me exactly zero times.

The electric (& hyd) winches used on flatbed tow trucks employ a device to insure that the cable winds onto the spool without crossing. It isn't 100% because the pull isn't always square. In a midship mounting that has dedicated guides that wouldn't be such a problem since the line will always be fed onto the spool from one particular spot.

I'm not too concerned about an off center winch location. If trucks like Libelula can be offered for military contract consideration with a midship, outside of frame rail mounted winch (& some really cool, easily threaded guides) then I suspect that it is one of those things that is more important on paper than in real life. If it really bothered me I'd place a couple guide sheaves where needed to put the exit(s) on center.

 

[Capt Eddie]

I mounted a Warn 12000 on a plate with 2-2 inches male tube that fits inside two 2 inche receivers that are mounted on the front and rear of the truck. Now I just move the winch to the right location for the pull. I do have a spare battiery mounted at the rear also.

 

[Antichrist]

The electric (& hyd) winches used on flatbed tow trucks employ a device to insure that the cable winds onto the spool without crossing.

There was an Australian winch sold in the US in the 80's that had that feature (plus it could be cranked manually in a pinch). For the life of me I can't remember the name of it though. Guess if I really want to know I'll have to call the dealer who osld them.

 

[G-force]

During my year in the Norwegian army, i drove a 10 ton Scania truck. It had a center mounted winch, rigged with several pulleys for both front and rear pull.

From the drum, the winch line first went to the back, trough a snatchblock, and then all the way to the front.
I do remember it to be 12 pulleys in total.
The rear snatchblock was easy to dismount and pull out from the truck, to rig a doubble line pull. Just make sure you locked the end of the winch line in the front of the truck.
In the front it was a single line pull, as for an ordinary front mounted winch.

6 ton pulling in the front, and a wapping 12 ton out the rear. Pretty clever, and very versatile.

 

[R_Lefebvre]

Sure seems to me like a simple light winch like an M8 would be cheaper/lighter/easier way to be able to winch backwards than some of these rigging setups. Plus, you also get the benefit of a redundant system.

 

[92 red cummins]

Sure seems to me like a simple light winch like an M8 would be cheaper/lighter/easier way to be able to winch backwards than some of these rigging setups. Plus, you also get the benefit of a redundant system.

I'm with you on this one. simple and effective

 

[CanuckMariner/Nomad]

working demo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Envop0d-qAc
on how the rigging works

Thanks for posting this, very informative!

 

[CanuckMariner/Nomad]

My trick under my hat is a HiLift Extreme rigged to work as a winch to pull me back if I CANNOT go forward.

I too keep a Hi-Lift just for that inevidability!

 

[JIMBO]

:sombrero: I use a 2500 lb remote winch mounted on a 2" hitch stock

Of course I can't do any heavy recovery and the unit only weighs 25 lbs, but I can position it anywhere I have a std hitch, doesn't have to be my vehicle/trailer

I have used it several times, to position the trailer over rocks, for a better hookup and once to move a log behind me (don't ask)

It's covered with black canvas, to keep the flora and fauna OUT !!

:costumed-smiley-007:safari-rig::safari-rig: JIMBO