winch

[fishhawk]

hey does any one out there know if there was a winch set up for the 440 crawler? if so where would i find one? hate to thing about getting this thing stuck in the muck and trying to get it out. thanks

[Lavoy]

There are a couple of different winches that will work, maybe more. There is the Carco winches, and the Gearmatic's. Both are going to be rated about the same pull, they just drive different, and have a little different controls depending on model. I guess I like the Gearmatic a little better as far as the way they drive the winch, I think it is safer.
Lavoy

[steamfitter99]

Lavoy, were these winches all driven from the pto? Do you have to have a pto shaft to drive the winch? Were there any hydraulic driven winches? Thanks, Tom.

[fishhawk]

ok so there is something out there made for the 440. now next thing is where would i find one and any idea on cost? and could you describe the reversing prosses on one?

[Lavoy]

Gearmatic's drive off of the PTO shaft, Carco's drive off of the high speed shaft. For both winches you remove the back cover off of the transmission, and replece it with a large adapter plate that mounts the winch to the crawler. Gearmatic drives off of the PTO shaft inside the trans, so no PTO needed.
The Carco winch is a straight gear drive, engage the shifter, let out the clutch and it pulls till you push in the clutch.
The 8A Gearmatic is a gear drive winch, but has hydraulicly actuated clutches that engage the winch drum. The 8G Gearmatic is the same as the Carco, but you have to hae the PTO lever engaged on the crawler before it has power.
Finding one is kind of hard, I have had 2 Carcos and 2 Gearmatics, so they do show up once in a while. As far as price, you are probably looking at $1000 and up for a functional or easily repairable winch.
I also have another brand winch, can't remember it right now, that bolts to a framework on the back of the crawler, and chain drives off of the PTO shaft itself. It is not nearly as heavy as the other two, partly because it does not have the large adapter plate to mount it, and it is physically a smaller winch.

Not sure what you mean by the reversing process.
Lavoy

[fishhawk]

by reversing i mean spooling and unspooling the cable on the drum

[Lavoy]

I am not 100% sure on that. The only way it can be done is if you have a reverser, otherwise, you have to spool out the cable by hand. With a reverser, you can rotate the winch the other way, but I am not sure if this is recommended. In any case, you would have to be very careful to have the brake off, or you will burn up the brake, or break something in the drive line.
You could not spool out a Gearmatic 8A under any circumstances in normal operation, as you can not disengae the brake at the same time as engaging the clutch. The brake is self applying, so it would really raise hell if you tried it.
On the 8G Gearmatic and the Carco, if you made sure to have the brake completely off, you should be able to power the cable out, but it would almost have to be a two man operation to be safe.
On the other brand winch I have, as long as the brake is off, and you have a reverser, it would be no problem, but would not really be necessary as it spools out by hand easily.
Lavoy