Winches, hydraulic versus electric

Or local fire ran into an issue when the were winching a horse up a 700 run on a steep hillside. Unaware of duty cycles, they burned up two winch motors.

My question is, what are their options to avoid this problem? I thought a hydraulic winch, but the problem with those is they need to freewheel out. Are there models that don't spin freely to roll out? Are there electric ones with duty cycles over an hour? What are some other options/solutions?

Most winches, regardless of the drive type, will have a free wheel mode, if you need it. However, there is no reason a hydraulic winch HAS to freewheel out. If your running a solenoid valve to control the flow, all you have to do is use a double acting valve to allow reversal of the motor.

If you plan to do a lot of high duty cycle work, then a hydraulic will definitely be your best bet as many can run off a simple power steering pump. I would imagine on a fire truck you'd be able to drive off a PTO pump a lot easier.

That said, a worm gear winch is typically going to put less stress on the motor than a planetary type. I've got an 8000 lb, worm gear drive, Warn on my old Jeep J10. I've used it long and hard without ever having any problems. Once I used it to get am 806 International, with a full bailer, unstuck. I got the combination moved enough to unhook the bailer, and then got the tractor out. From there I shifted position, tied the rear bumper to a tree, and drug the bailer nearly 100 yards uphill. All of this happened over about a 2-3 hour time span. The winch is still going strong.

On the hydraulic side, take a look at the link below. Braden, now apparently Paccar, has been making hydraulic winches for a long time. Something like the AU8, which has a free wheel capability, would be the type you probably need. They can also be set up with a long shaft off one end to allow it's use, with ropes, as a capstan if you need that capability.

That all said, if I was going to choose a winch for the type use ya'll need it for, I'd go with a worm drive, regardless of the drive. I say this because a worm drive, by design, is typically going to be self locking. In other words, the cut of the gear teeth work together in such a way that it doesn't need a brake to keep it from freewheeling when in gear, unlike a planetary style winch will always need a brake.

Good luck in your search, and I hope this helps.
Paccar winches

Ramsey winches

I had a milemarker 10.5k hydraulic on a jeep, ran off the P/S pump. This winch had two shift levers, one lever engaged winch ( power or freewheel ) the other was range ( low/high). I think most winches can freewheel, not sure of any that don't.

About the only benefit to hydraulic was the duty cycle. They will pull all day long. The no load line speeds are slow, that's why they have high range, but its still a lot slower than most elec winches. I pulled several dead jeeps including mine up a steep hill, really pulling hard for at least 2 hours with no problem.

I had a milemarker 10.5k hydraulic on a jeep, ran off the P/S pump. This winch had two shift levers, one lever engaged winch ( power or freewheel ) the other was range ( low/high). I think most winches can freewheel, not sure of any that don't.

About the only benefit to hydraulic was the duty cycle. They will pull all day long. The no load line speeds are slow, that's why they have high range, but its still a lot slower than most elec winches. I pulled several dead jeeps including mine up a steep hill, really pulling hard for at least 2 hours with no problem.

Sorry, I have no idea how that post duplicated, I only hit the submit once but the website reloaded itself after my post.

Trouble with worm gear winch is they are less efficient ie take more power than a spur or planetary winch.

A light load like a horse shouldn't burn up an electric planetary, was it powered out under load? The self locking brake in them doesn't like that.

Go hydraulic and never look back. Low voltage DC is the most inefficient way to transfer power known. It is used to start engines because a storage battery is the easiest, most cost-efficient way to store power, but for other purpose than that, it stinks. It would take a hell of an alternator to keep up with the demand of an electric winch under high duty cycles. I converted my plow truck to hydraulic lift off the PS pump and it raises/lowers faster and doesn't run the battery down in high duty cycles. I have a hydraulic winch in the bed of the truck and it freewheels by moving a lever to the disengage the drive, no problem.

My comment is based on a 1 ton hay truck with a round bale (5x6 roll) spike on the rear. Mine was self built "old school" with a winch and pulley system to reduce the size of the winch (slower but cheaper). The real trucks had hydraulic pumps driven by an automotive starter and were hydraulic cylinder operated. Much better than mine but more costly, which had I known earlier, would have been worth the added investment.

As a stop-gap until the winch can be upgraded, can you train the guys in charge of the winch to include some cool-down time when they operate it for extended periods? The operator's manual or the manufacturer's support website should be able to recommend a maximum run time before it needs to cool, and what the repeat run-cool down cycles need to be.

It is a fire service, so time is often of the essence. The of course pay attention to duty cycles but quite often 10 minutes of operation requires 30 minutes of cool down. Not an acceptable scenario in fire country. In one respect, it was very fortunate this happened with a horse instead of a person of firefighter. Some of the guys are not too keen on the animal rescues and a few of them are repeats, that is the same animal getting stuck in the same spot, but the welcome the training and opportunity to learn. They are able to find weaknesses, like not understanding duty cycles and limits on equipment, and make changes and corrections to be more effective.