Does the battery on my lt 15 charge while the engine is running

[Jeremy2200]

I ordered my winch for my lt15 to load the big logs on the mill. The thing i am wondering is does the battery charge while my mill is running. I was going to put another battery up there with the battery used for cranking and cross them out so they are connected (kinda like a golf cart) and use the second battery for running the winch. I am not sure exactly how to do it but i know a few electricians who could help me out. THe main question is does that battery charge while the engine is running. The winch i ordered is a 8000lb warn. There is a good deal on them if anyone is looking for one right now, after rebate they are only 399.

[sgschwend]

Most folks will tell you that electric start motors have chargers. 

Here is a way to tell for sure:  measure the battery voltage before and after starting.  With a charging system the battery voltage will increase after the engine is started.

[ladylake]

 Right it should read 12.5 off and around 14 v running, if you had it discharged quite a bit it can take a while to get up to 14.     Steve

[pineywoods]

Yeah, there is a charger built into the flywheel on the motor, but it ain't much, probably 10 or 15 amp max. Hooking up another, bigger battery in parallel with the existing battery probably will not be a satisfactory solution. Better to remove the small battery and replace it with one big one. Even then, keep this in mind.  That 8000 pound warn pulls about the same amount of current from the battery as the starter on your pickup. It can and will pull even a big battery down in a hurry. I have one mounted on the front bumper of my toyota pickup. I have completely drained the truck battery more than once running the winch.

[jdonovan]

Yeah, there is a charger built into the flywheel on the motor, but it ain't much, probably 10 or 15 amp max.

That 8000 pound warn pulls about the same amount of current from the battery as the starter on your pickup. It can and will pull even a big battery down in a hurry. I have one mounted on the front bumper of my toyota pickup. I have completely drained the truck battery more than once running the winch.

The draw of the winch is directly related to load. If you setup to use the winch to roll vs a pure drag, you will use less amps to do it. Also with a LT-15 you'll load a big log, and then spend what, 45-60 minutes sawing, and offbearing? Even a small 10-15 amp charger will have quite a while to put the energy back into the battery while you are busy sawing.

That said said, I at a minimum would upsize to single larger battery. Physical size does not transalate to capacity, so make sure you look at the 'reserve capacity' spec on the battery. Also make sure the CCA's are enough to supply the winches needs. Dual batteries have some interesting failure modes where one bad cell can kill both batteries. If you wanted to goto dual batteries, I'd setup a switch so you only used one at a time, and the other was a spare.But thats probably more complexity than you need right now. Also put a volt meter onto the battery so you can monitor state of charge.

It looks like your a fixed installation, so if you've got power in the saw shed, a small charger on the battery will ensure you are always starting the day with a 100% full battery.  If there is no utility power there, a moderate solar panel on the roof could work if you're only loading big logs once a week.

[Magicman]

Welcome jdonovan, to the Forestry Forum.   

[Dalrymple]

As a warranty service center operator and winch service technician for Warn, I can tell you that jdonovan's comments are dead on target.  I'll only add that, since you must have bought the new VR8000, the winch pulls about 70 amps at no load and about 180 amps at 2000 lbs., which I doubt you'll exceed in your stated application.  Using that information and the battery reserve capacity spec that jdonovan mentioned, you can calculate approximately how much you're pulling out of your battery loading a given log.

[Bandmill Bandit]

This is a for what it is worth reply as well.

I have an LT40 HDG28. In most cases I find the hydraulic loading arms way to slow but then I have arrived at that opinion from the use of  a roll way that has about a 2 inch slope toward the mill bed from the bottom 14 feet off of a couple cedar power poles. I have yet to find an easier or faster way to get logs onto the deck. I do have to use my long handled peavy once in a while but mostly i use my short Log Rite cant hook to get em rolled in to position.

[Jeremy2200]

Thanks everyone for the replys. When i built my trailer for my lt15 i put a 1800lb hand crank winch on it and the first big pine i hooked up to stripped every gear on the hand crank winch so i figured i would go big or go home and not have to worry about what size log i could "roll" up the loading ramps. If the 8000 wont get it up there i figure i dont need to be sawing it anyway.

[Jeremy2200]

Got my winch up and running. Everything is working great. The battery is holding up all day just working by itself not connected to another battery. I can load logs with it and turn logs with it. When i get home each evening i just put the battery on charge and I am ready to go the next day