A3 winch malfuction .

[flyxpl]

Went to a friends to pull a large rotton limb out of a tree . Went to use the A3 winch for the firstr time . NO GO . We could see the in and out air activated hyd. vavle going up and down , but the winch was doing nothing . I just pulled the branch out by driving backwards . When I got home and shut the truck off I flipped the engage switch but could hear no machanical noise . After tracking down the airline that activate it I could see the plunger on the valve looked a little rusty on top . Squirt some oil on it and twisted it with a wrench and the plunger broke loose . After engaging and reengaging several times it now works . I am glad I discovered this before I needed it out in te woods stuck somewhere .

 

[glcaines]

I've been negligent. I've had my A3 for three months now and have not tried the winch out. The wire rope looks new and the way it is coiled, I don't think the winch has ever been used. I'll check it out - thanks for the push.

 

[flyxpl]

I've been negligent. I've had my A3 for three months now and have not tried the winch out. The wire rope looks new and the way it is coiled, I don't think the winch has ever been used. I'll check it out - thanks for the push.

My reason for the post is I have done the same .Winch wound up perfect , probally never used . I have had the truck since August 2010 and never messed with the winch .

 

[wehring]

An extra

I have an extra one of those control boxes available for $200 if interested.

Justin wehring
979 997 3112

 

[motomacguyver]

When I went to use mine, I had to take a screw driver to pry the locking lever out. Plus a little PB blaster to loosen it up.

I believe the A3 winch has a hydraulic limited, bypass valve. As I could pull a mini van out of the ditch, up hill, with no problem. However at a dead pull of the duece that was High centered on a snowbank, with a full drum of cable, it started to pull and then just "didn't". (I was expecting to break the shear pin, just for the experiance, at home)

This seems like a great way to keep from breaking things.... Guess I'll have to move those snatch blocks up the list a little.

On the other hand.... anyone know how to "turn this up" a little? (the bypass valve)

 

[Stretch44875]

It's just a pressure relief valve somewhere. I'd get a gauge and check the pressure first, see if it's in spec. No idea where the test port or relief valve are, sure there is a TM somewhere to help with that.

 

[Nonotagain]

This seems like a great way to keep from breaking things.... Guess I'll have to move those snatch blocks up the list a little.

On the other hand.... anyone know how to "turn this up" a little? (the bypass valve)

That's the beauty of hydraulics. Once you reach the design limit barring a mis-adjustment, they stop working.

My mechanical winches on the old tow trucks would run until something broke. Hopefully it was the drive chain from the PTO to the winch and not the cable releasing all of it's energy into whatever was closest to it.