Winch on M5700?

[swyates]

Has anyone mounted a winch to the front of an M5700 or similar? I am looking at the Warn M8000 winch (8000 # rating). It looks like I could have a heavy duty bracket fabricated to mount on the plate on the front where weights would normally go.
Thoughts/suggestions?

Thanks

PS. Does anyone know what the bolt specs would be for those threaded holes on the front? Largest bolt I have handy is an M14x1.5 and it was too small

 

[hodge]

What are your plans for it?
The rule of thumb, at least with trucks, is a winch that has double the capacity of the weight of the vehicle. Imagine it mired deep in mud, and having to move both the tractor and the mud around it. That would mean that 8000 lbs. isn't enough winch.
I have a friend in Haiti, with a Toyota Landcruiser. He installed a 15,000 lb Milemarker hydraulic winch- a real nice piece of equipment. It runs off of the power steering pump, works under water, and doesn't have the heavy draw on the charging system. I wonder if it would be able to work off of the hydraulics of the tractor?

 

[Eric McCarthy]

With the tractor alone weighing around 7 thousand pounds either get a 12k winch or a snatch block for the 8k winch and double your line strength to 16k. If it were me I'd go with the 12k winch and still get a snatch block and double the strength to 24k.

 

[Stumpy]

You could certainly rig it off the hydraulics as long as the pressure and flow requirements of the unit you get are within the capacity of your pump. A quick glance at one on the net says it requires 3-4gpm at 1500psi, about the same as most 3pt hydraulic pumps. If I remember right the hydraulic units are a lot more expensive though. Likewise make sure the alternator can handle an electric one if you go that route.

 

[swyates]

I might want to step up the rating for recovery purposes based on the weight. I was primarily thinking of using it to drag logs out of the forest where the tractor can't get into.
What I'm mostly concerned about how to mount it safely and to make sure nothing gets damaged.

 

[hodge]

That is a slow way to drag logs. Why not use a cable and snatch block? You can pull at any angle with the tractor, and pull 20 logs by the time you've winched one out.
You can also double up snatch blocks, increasing the pull by double, which in turn decreases the traction you need by half. I have a 70 foot cable that I found, which I rigged up with two snatch blocks. I pulled a Willys Jeep, all wheels locked up, with a Wheel Horse.
It isn't a slow pull, either. You can speed the tractor up- you can't speed a winch up. I'm not trying to tell you your business, I'm just thinking out loud. I believe in working smarter, not harder.

 

[Eric McCarthy]

I wouldn't recommend an electric winch for skidding logs. For one you can over heat the winch and foul up quite a bit of stuff. Also you could run down the batteries on the tractor by over working the winch and tear up more stuff that way. I agree with Hodge get a choker cable and skid them out or see if you can find a pto operated winch.

Electric winches are like welders they have a duty cycle and need cooling off so you don't over heat and melt things down.

 

[jbneedham]

use a set of tungs on the bucket and back up with log you should not even have to get off tractor.

 

[Tallahassee Kubota Man]

I have an M5140 which I attached a plate with a D-ring because I didn't have a good way to tie down the tractor when hauling. If I remember correctly the bolts on the frame were M16 x 3.0. I used longer bolts than the ones that were installed originally.