Outer Limits 4x4 Board

any reason you couldn't use a PTO to be able to winch in the front axle for steep climbs? obviously disconnecting the PTO drive before trying to drive the obstacle would be necissary, but any other reason it'd be a no no?

yes, i ask because i want to set up the 40 to be able to winch down the front, and there is a pto there already.

does the PTO winch have a brake on it?
when you disengage it will it hold its position?

80's_delirious wrote:does the PTO winch have a brake on it?
when you disengage it will it hold its position?

this is one of the things i need to find out. they don't have a brake, but i have been told that the worm drive gear that it runs off will maintain substantial tension on the cable.

don't u loose forward drive when u engage the PTO.

meaning that you'll have to adjust before the hill and hope its right


i remember reading a thread about hooking up a electric winch to adjust front axle and general consensus was it was too much hassle and modifying to be any benefit

the worm drive is the break in a pto but remember its BRASS not really designed for a shock load

popeyehj60 wrote:don't u loose forward drive when u engage the PTO.

Why not?

popeyehj60 wrote:don't u loose forward drive when u engage the PTO.

meaning that you'll have to adjust before the hill and hope its right


i remember reading a thread about hooking up a electric winch to adjust front axle and general consensus was it was too much hassle and modifying to be any benefit

no you don't. you can either winch and drive (put the t case in high or low) OR you can put the t case in neutral and dead winch.

but what i am planning would be - engage pto, winch down the front axle. turn pto off. drive with front axle still winched down.

it's done plenty in rock crawling rigs. i've seen the benefit. probably not in a winch challenge, or average track, but in the hard rocks, it definately helps.

Pcman, shockload? i doubt i'd do anything bar winch it straight to the bumpstops. unless i'm missing something. and isn't the brass just the sheer pin, wouldn't the worm drive take most the shock load?

I never had a pto winch so Im not sure how easy it is for fine ajustment, I run my winch to my diff and have it as a limiting strap It is handy for climbs to just pull it in a bit more and even on some side slopes I pull it right down to the stops to take as much angle as I can. But if it is not easy to do fine ajustment it would make it very hard.

Rhett wrote:I never had a pto winch so Im not sure how easy it is for fine ajustment, I run my winch to my diff and have it as a limiting strap It is handy for climbs to just pull it in a bit more and even on some side slopes I pull it right down to the stops to take as much angle as I can. But if it is not easy to do fine ajustment it would make it very hard.

in first/reverse, the cable speed is painfully slow, so shouldn't be too bad a control, not sure how quickly it stops spinning once the clutch is thrown, i haven't played round that much.

only thing is i don't want to stuff something

would you want yah diff to remain floating so if your front end comes up you still have traction?

prob a stupid idea but it came to mind

familybus wrote:would you want yah diff to remain floating so if your front end comes up you still have traction?

prob a stupid idea but it came to mind

not sure what you mean, and take that as my reading comprehension sucks, not a dig at you.

some interesting misconceptions here about PTO's

I have used mine for several years pulling a bastard heavy troopy around and getting me out of some very bad stucks in comps and hard wheeling.

Firstly the gears are not brass but bronze. At least that's what the manufacturers of Thomas winches told me.

They are supremely strong, i managed to pull down two 10inch sized trees while winching out of a creek. Yes they are inherantly braked on the worm gear and while i wouldn't want to shock load the drum and gears i imagine that they would be a hell of a lot stronger than the internal brakes that are already being successfully used on electric winches.

I would have thought that if you had the suspension winched down there would be no shock load unless you manage to compress the suspension further than what the winch was already compressing it by landing on it hard.

Yes you can winch while drive assisting but the tyre/winch ratios are fixed and don't match so if you get traction you'll over run the winch rope and birds nest it. But if you want drive and no winch you simply winch in, leave the dog clutch in but take out the PTO drive on the output box.

My 2c[/i]