Snow cat winch

I am looking at a new winch for my snow cat. It came with a 1500lb warn winch works good, is this big enough?? I know you can double line the winch for 3000lbs of pull is this enough when you are really stuck??? I am looking at a 4000lb warn I will be able to mount it on the same setup the 1500lb winch had and use it on either end. So what do you think???? Snow cat weighs 2500lb empty.

Did you know that a winches strength is measured on the first wrap on the drum? Each additional wrap lowers the pulling strength accordingly

Thanks for reminding me!!! So what would you use????

I don't think even a 6000 pound would hurt . You could also just run a double snatch block if need be, with a lighter winch. Just make sure you don't over stress the cable size. I would run a isolated batterey .

Hello all!

This is my first post so here goes. The rule of thumb that we use on the Jeeps is to double the vehicle weight. An example would be my 4000lb Jeep CJ has a 8000lb winch.

We use this theory because the quagmire creates a kind of suction when the vehicle is stuck. I would think this same principle would apply to snow machines.

Once again, hello everyone!

Hello Skidozer How are you doing?? Great to hear from you!!!

Another note from the jeep side of life..lol


The rule of thumb that I learned was to size your winch for 1.5 - 2 times the weight of your rig. Another factor that comes into play when pulling is resistance. This would be in your case the deep snow. It is nearly impossible to put a number on this while in the field. Unless you are some tpe of super brain! Which I am not.

I use 9000lb warn units on my jeeps wich weigh in about 4000lbs

I do not know how many batteries the snowcats use, but I would try to have two batteries on them and a larger alternator. Even if you have a large enough winch you need to have the power to run it.

Make sure you place a weight on the cable. This will help it fall to the ground if it should snap. Be sure to keep your passengers away from the line as far as possible.

Or. You can convert to a sythetic line such as Amsteel Blue. It is lighter and falls to the ground if it should break. Does not kink on your winch like steel will do after several uses. You can also field repair it with out extra hardware.

Use a tree saver strap around a tree. Do not wrap the cable around the tree. It will damage the tree. I use one that is 3" wide and about 8' long.

Another nice thing to do is install in cab controls for your winch. There are some panel kit out there or you can get switches from Radio Shack and do it yourself.

Warn has lots of information on their site about winching techniques.

There are lots of good deals out there even on e-bay too. I bought a used 8274 Warn 8000lb unit a few years ago. It did not have a cable. Think paid about $400 for it. I have an Amsteel Blue line on it. The winch works great! It can carry 150 feet of line on it. It is really my favorite out of the three that I have. Hardly ever grunts when under load.

Another thing you can do to is get an extra cable with two loop ends on it. this is helpfull if your winch point is farther than your cable will reach.
We aslo use it to pull the jeep behind us when we do not have a straight pull path. We set up a snatch block straight ahead of the stuck jeep and the cable runs to the pulling jeep. Saves alot of time when your on a tight trail and it it tough to turn around.

Just make sure you pay attention to all the load ratings on each part of the system. It is like a chain. As strong as the weakes link. And on that note, do not use chains.... if at all possible. Bad thing happen!

Well I hope I did not blab to long. I guess I finally saw something I could reply to in this part of the board and share my thoughts.

I would buy a snowcat too.. but I have no place to run the thing. I would have to trailer it everywhere and I run my jeeps in the snow anyway!

Plus my wife would probably kill me..LOL or at leats kick me out..LOL

Have fun and be safe on those snowy slopes!

cj7 said:

Or. You can convert to a sythetic line such as Amsteel Blue.

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A great recommendation!

Regarding the synthetic winch line... anyone have trouble with it becoming one large frozen mass? ..any worse than cable?

Eric

I have had 2 snow cats with winches on them. I have found very little need to use the winch to move the snow cat. I have used them to pull other vehicles back up to the roadway and to move obstacles such as trees that have fallen in my way. As to winching my snow cat, I have never needed to do that. I guess, if you should drop into an impossible hole somewhere you may find the need to winch yourself back out. I am not going to take that chance and will try to avoid situations like that. I have put myself in some bad places by depending on the winch on my 4X4 and decided I am too old for that much work......cables break, pto drivelines twist apart and other similar fun $$$$ things seem to happen...... A real snow cat with cleats can very easily go about anywhere you need to go under its own power.....and can also pull a big load behind with its traction ability.

mtntopper said:

I have put myself in some bad places by depending on the winch on my 4X4 and decided I am too old for that much work.

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Me too...

A little off-topic, but if I may...

I now go where I can in 2WD. When I reach the limit, I put it in 4WD to get out. I then rarely need to use my winch. Keeps me from damaging my equipment (and myself) as much.

OK, back to winches...

Eric

That is a good question about the freezing. I personnaly have not had that problem. Now that could be for a couple reasons.

One. I live in western pa. We do get snow but not tons like out west, but we do get freezing rain.

Two. The jeep gets to sit in a heated garage before a wheelin trip.


Like I said I have not had any issues of frozen lines. Thinking here a bit.

IMHO I would still choose the synthetic over the cable. Since it is so lighter and easier to work with. Even if it did get frozen together much easier to undo than steel. The Amsteel Blue product was design for us on river barges and boats. There are several variations of the line if you look up their site. I would think that since that application would be in freezing areas during the winter. The crew would want some thing that they can work with. So it must work out there?

I am alos thinking of mountain climber on Everest. Even though their rope may be different I have not herd of them having that type of issue. But I am not a climber nor do I study them too much. I just watch them on Discovery!

cj7 said:

And on that note, do not use chains.... if at all possible. Bad thing happen!

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So cable is stronger than chains? I was not aware of this with winching. What kind of bad things versus cables breaking?

I have a Superwinch ATV 1500 from Ebay that replaces my original that did not survive restoration - inside connections came apart and bolts were rusted so could not open up. I got my electric reconnected last night and found out my rotary dash switch is sparking. Took that apart and cleaned up. Now trying to figure out how to put second spring back in. I bought a 50 foot new cable for it but I think I am going to with a shorter cable on the winch since there is no free spool. I pulled out a truck last year with a 8,000 Warn on another truck with a single snatch block and it was amazing how much more pull we had with just several wraps on the winch.

79bombi

I did not mean to imply that a cable was stronger than a chain. The point above was that every piece of recovery equipment has a load rating. If you use something that is underated. The 'system' becomes only as strong as that lowest rated part.

Hence the old addage.... 'a chain is only as strong as its weakest link'

If you use a chain in the system it will get streched much like a cable does. It does a have a tensile strength. If the chain breaks it will act much like a cable does when it breaks. It will fly back toward the winch points. You or someone else may be standing near one of these points. Now you may not be able to dodge that flying piece of metal.

In my experience of watching chain break. It has usually been at the local mud bog drinking fest.. poor judgement is being used and old chains. They hook up the trucks and attempt to 'jerk' the other truck out of the mud. The chain breaks and flys into the trucks. Sometimes they are being so dumb they have passengers in the bed and they get hit with the chain.


My opinions are just that opinions bsed on many years of fourwheeling expereience and talking shop with many other fourwheelers. My reccommendation would be to follow the manufactures instructions as to how to use recovery equipment. Which is pretty much what we do when we use it.

After pulling the switch apart my friend noticed the sparking was from loose wires behind the switch that actually go to the winch from the switch. Now the winch is working.

Thats a cool little old winch

Do you know what year it was made? Looks good in the pics.

The old winch was original I believe as there is a thick metal protective plate that is part of the rear framework so it would have been a 1979. I got this replacement winch for $15 on Ebay which is identical to the original minus corrosion. I have not put it under load yet.

The one photo also shows the 1500 watt generator which works.

The owner I bought this Bombi from bought it in New York State to work on a a gas pipeline in a marshy area. I have seen other Bombis built for utilty work but not one like this. The ones built for utilitys seem to have large D rings built into the sides.

79Bombi