i'm wanting to put a winch on my '84 f150. and i was wondering if anyone had seen this done. i'm wanting to get a hydrolic winch. but i don't want to have the winch permantly mounted to the front. i was wondering if i ran hyrolic lines to the front and to the rear of the truck with quick disconnects and mounted the winch in a carrier that would go into a reciever hitch mounted at the front and rear so that i would be able to use the winch at either the front or rear. i was just wondering if anyone had seen this done before, or could foresee any problems i might have with this setup. any advice is appreciated.
lr

 

Your ideas are basically the same as mine. Difference is, most likely, is that you're probly going to be running the winch off your power steering pump, aren't you?, whereas I'm going to be running my SUperwinch 10K hydraulic winch off a PTO-driven pump. Are you getting MileMarker's hydraulic winch?? If you do, I'd recommend getting their hi-perf P/S pump. Also, when time comes, I'd also call MileMarker and ask for a list and prices for the parts you'll need to make the winch work.

I like the idea of using a receiver hitch both front and back for swapping the winch back and forth, but myself, I'm going to do it differently. I'm going to install the receivers inline with the frame horns. Having two receivers will distribute the force from the winch over two mounting points, instead of excerting it all one one hitch pin. And you can run quick-disconnects at both ends, just make sure the ends not being used are covered with tight rubber plugs. But keep in mind, the winch itself is about 100lbs, never mind the weight of the carrier the winch is mounted too. Mine's gonna weight almost 120lbs, not inlcuding the carrier.

Certainly alot easier and cheaper than mounting two winches, isn't it?
David

 

david
more than likely i'll run mine off my power steering pump. but i'm still in the planning stages at the moment. i've got some other stuff i have to get done to the truck before i can think about putting a winch on it. i'd looked at milemarker. they seem to have a good winch. does superwinch have a website? if you have it could you pass it along cause i haven't gotten to look at superwinch yet.
yeah mounting it to a reciever hitch would put a lot of stress on one point but i think that would be best way for me to do it...but i won't know until i get serious about putting a winch on the truck. since you'll probly get yours finished before i start mine let me know how it goes.
lr

 

I have alot of things I have to do before I can get to the winch myself - moving included! And going back to the receiver mount idea, I'd still recommend getting a winch mount with two receiver hitch mounts, instead of one, explained as I've said before.

Do you know a welder who can make your bumpers FOR you? Or are you a good enough welder you can do it yourself?

I guess we'll see who gets who's hydraulic winch on first, huh?...LOL I HOPE to have mine bought and installed sometime next spring, but we'll see.


Good luck!
David

 

BTW - the Superwinch site:

http://www.superwinch.com/hydraul.htm

After you get to the site, click the Down arrow, and choose what kinda winch you're interested in. Personally, I'd look at the 10K lb worm gear. It is heavier than MileMarker's....something to consider


Superwinch all the way!
David

 

david,
i wish i could wield that good. i'll have to get someone to build the bumpers for me. besides i don't have a wielder that could wield something that thick anyway. i doubt i'll have a winch on my truck any time soon. my prediction on time is HOPEFUlLY by late next summer. but i'll eventually get to it.
lr
thanx for the superwinch site address.

 

This is just my $.02 worth, but you may want to look into the electric winch. It is lighter, only requires power (which 2 Optima batteries will more than handle), doesn't have a problem with leaking lines, and doesn't require the vehicle to be running. The PTO is surely stronger, but if the truck is stuck in 5' of mud, and the engine won't start, the winch won't do much good.

 

I would agree. My XD8000i had no problems pulling my truck all over Tellico, ran virtualy al day with no problems. Pulled the truck out of everything no problem. I am just running the stock alternator and one battery, never a fear of draining the battery that day.

The winch has also pulled me out of being buried in Eastern NC mud up over the 35" tires. I used it to pull a bobcat (8000 lbs) sitting dead on its bellyplate in the mud, all four tires spinning uselessly. I had to double line for that, and chain the winch mount to a tree.

As to your removable receiver winch mount, On my old Isuzu, we had the winch mounted via two receiver hitches so it could be moved from front to back. The winch bolted to a plate of 1/4" steel, and we welded a 2" bar accross the bottom, and 2 2" bars about 2 feet apart to go into the hitches. That ended up being a pain. The winch ended being about 100 pounds to move, and drastically cut into the approach or departure angle, depending on which end the winch was stuck in. If you didn't have it in before you got stuck, you might have to jack the truck up to you could fit the winch into the receivers. The two hitch receivers didn't exactly line up, so you had to really work to get the winch in there, either using a hammer, or kicking one side, then the other, till it went in enough to slide the lock pins in.

It was strong enough, though, as I pulled out the Bobcat with this setup, just chained the custom pushbar bumper made of 4" tube and parts of a S-10 pushbar that the receivers were welded on, to a tree.

fordmando
78 F-150 4x4 400 4 on floor
86 Nissan 300ZX
George