Powerful Winch Powered By Rototiller Motor

Powerful Winch Powered By Rototiller Motor MISCELLANEOUS EQUIPMENT Miscellaneous 32-1-37 "It works great for winching old tractors and other implements up onto a trailer. I never have to worry about the battery discharging like I would with a conventional electric winch. The entire assembly mounts on a standard 2-in. receiver hitch so I can use it just about anywhere I want," says Bill Wilson, Thompson Falls, Montana, about his home-built, gas engine-driven winch. The winch was originally designed to be powered by a truck's pto. Now it's powered by a 5 hp Briggs & Stratton engine off an old walk-behind rototiller which has a "reverse" gear. The engine belt-drives a pair of large 12-in. pulleys through a jackshaft, which in turn chain-drives the winch. The engine came equipped with two small pulleys on one side which run in the opposite direction from each other. Pulling one way on a lever makes the winch go forward to let out cable, and pulling the other way makes it go backward to pull the cable in. The jackshaft drives a 16-tooth sprocket that chain-drives a 64-tooth sprocket to provide power to the winch which has internal worm gear reduction. The entire setup is mounted on a metal plate that'll fit any standard 2-in. receiver hitch. "It always has full power because there's no battery to discharge," says Wilson. "I came up with the idea because I restore old tractors and needed a more reliable way to get them on my truck or trailer. I used to have an electric winch, but I found it was unreliable. About the time everything was set up and we got the tractor ready to load, the battery would start to drag down. "By pulling one pin I can remove the winch and mount it on any truck or trailer equipped with a 2-in. receiver hitch. I mounted a receiver hitch on front of the truck's flatbed, just behind the cab, which is where I usually keep the winch. I also mounted a receiver hitch on the front of my trailer." Wilson says he believes in operating a winch slowly so no gets hurt. The reduction on his winch causes it to operate very slowly, and also gives it a lot of power. "My dad always said that you could pull a freight train with a lawn mower engine if you had enough reduction. It works great for pulling out tractors that are stuck in the field. One time I pulled out a tractor that had been setting in a field in Kansas for 30 years. Another time I used a snatch block and a doubled-up line to pull a big loader backhoe out of the mud and load it onto a trailer. I could hardly even tell the motor was pulling. The wheels were a foot deep into the mud, but it pulled it right out. And if someone wants to borrow the winch, they can use it with any 2-in. receiver hitch." He bought the winch at an auction sale and paid $50 for it. Both pulleys came off an old grain bin unloading auger.

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