Can you use the Clutch Lever to operate the winch from outside?

[pitpawten]

NO!

I knew the lever won't disengage under load, however I didn't realize the weight of the cable alone is enough to prohibit disengaging!

I'd finished cleaning and lubing the cable and was winding it neatly. I'd stopped several times without problem, however at the last 2 feet or so the lever would not disengage.

It gobbled the last 2 feet in a blink and then started binding. I dashed to the cab and hit the clutch before any serious damage.



The cable wound up extremely tight digging into itself


The clevis end bound between the guard and the gearbox



And the chain pulled tightly between the two links





Though I was aware enough of the risk to keep myself out of the moving parts, I was dumb enough to try it anyway. Worst (or best) of all I had my 13yo son there and had been giving profuse "safety lessons" the whole time :/ He was not near the winch but hearing the grinding and seeing me running to the cab shook him...as it should have.


We had a good "even dads screw up" talk and post-mortem afterwards and we're thankful no-one was hurt and only minor damage.


Posting this as a "don't risk it" for others who are searching for shortcuts in the future.

 

[gimpyrobb]

Whats bolted to the left of the winch?

 

[cattlerepairman]

Thanks for posting this as a reminder. The winch looks innocent enough, but can become a dangeropus piece of kit very quickly.

Winching with this setup is one of the activities where you should take a second before you start, close your eyes and think through, step by step, how you will react if you had to abort in a hurry. That is especially important when you work ALONE, which is what many of us (have to) do, but operating the mechanical winch safely is really a two person job.

 

[pitpawten]

Whats bolted to the left of the winch?

Good eyes

That is a mount for the bed crane for lifting from the front bumper, particularly for lifting the heads off easily.

Built by the previous owner a SS member who had a thread on it methinks (kaiserjeeps iirc)

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Tapatalk

 

[M543A2]

For my trucks I mount a west coast mirror sideways on brackets angled to give me a cab view of the winch as it wraps. I position the truck far enough from the object being winched so I can, when the cable reaches the side of the winch drum, release the brakes and let the winch pull my truck forward, turning the wheels to set the fleet angle so the cable will evenly wind the other way across the drum then hold the brakes again. I also used a license plate light mounted to shine light on the drum for low light and night operations.

 

[MikeON]

Did anyone ever rig up linkage to the clutch pedal, so you could engage/disengage the engine clutch from the front of the truck?

 

[jasonjc]

Did anyone ever rig up linkage to the clutch pedal, so you could engage/disengage the engine clutch from the front of the truck?

Now that could work.

 

[snowtrac nome]

I would get a pneumatic cylinder and rig it up next to the transmission to pull back ,or push the release fork ,than mount a flipper switch up front to control it with air I have several older fuel trucks in the fleet and that is how pto engagement is controlled from the rear of the truck