“Undersized” winch question...

[steward23]

I am looking at a small skidding/logging winch for light work, maybe 2000 lbs or so.  The winch is rated for 6600 lbs and is recommended for 30-60 hp tractors.  My tractor is 75 hp, 540 PTO.  The manufacturer's website recommends against undersizing winches due to risk of clutch slippage or burning, but several people (with financial interest) have told me it'd be fine.  Does anyone have experience running an "undersized" winch?

[thecfarm]

What kind of winch? Not that what kinds matters. They all do the same thing.
I bought three 8 foot chains and 3 chocker hooks. I made each chain 4 foot long,put the hooks on the ends that had no hooks. I use them more than the 8 foot chains. I thought about doing that for years. Much easier to run 6 inches or a foot through a keyhole than 3-4 feet of chain. I also run 6 chockers. Sometimes I use all six,sometimes only one or two. Can be a bother to use all 6 when it comes to unhooking,but I use a small round bar that I keep on the tractor to move the small trees around.

[Ed_K]

 I ran a small winch rated at 4000# for a 25 hp tractor on an old massey model 30 52 hp for 4 yrs and never had a problem.

[mike_belben]

It is all a case of your ability to shrug off the expense of failure.  If its an undersize winch in a barn collecting dust, that is a lot less risk than ordering a brand new one plus tax and ship. 

The gearset in a winch will be rated for load on the line.  Flat dragging vs getting the butt up in the air of the same log will make a huge difference in load on the line.  Dont flat drag, dont get tangled up or manhandle and youll probably be ok. Or atleast a lot better chance of it. No guarantees in life.

[47sawdust]

My brother runs a Farmi 290 winch on his 25hp Kubota.A neighbor runs the same winch on a 55hp John Deere.Common sense is always the key.

[Maine logger88]

I've seen a jl 303  farmi which was around a 6600 lb winch ran on a 75hp JD it seemed to hold up decent but the guy was only pulling fir pulpwood with it. I on the other hand wore out the clutches in my farmi jl303 in a year running it on a farmall M but granted I was trying to pull large hemlock and pine with it

[g_man]

The thing that will burn up the clutch is putting a load on greater than 6600 lbs that the winch won't pull or get the log/tree hung up and stuck and then keep letting the tractor spin the clutch w/o the cable moving. So if the cable stalls or slows down during a pull with full pressure on the clutch just let off on the clutch don't let it slip and go fix the problem on the log end. Free it up or cut it shorter to lighten it. If you stick to light work like you plan you won't have any problem like that. The maybe bigger potential problem is that the winch is built for a 30 hp size 3ph which has a modest lifting capacity. With the bigger tractor you can lift a much bigger hitch than a 30 hp jobber. When you start skidding it out the big hitch can/will over stress the relatively light frame work of the winch and bend things up. Again just use common sense - you will be fine.

gg

[711ac]

I have heard about possible driveshaft angle's being off and premature u joint wear. But u joints are pretty cheap. ;D

[Mountain_d]

If I was you I would get a 10,000 lb winch if you have a 75 HP. I am sure you will find good use for it. There may not be much price difference and the bigger winch may be easier to resell. I used a 10,000 lb winch on a 50 HP tractor for years and had times I wish I had a little bigger winch. It does not take much of a snag to bring things to a stop when witching in. In theory it sounds like 6000 lbs is all you need, but when your butt skids into a small stump the 6000 lbs gets chewed up pretty fast. Those winches are great pieces of equipment. I have a skidder now but can't bear to sell my winch. 
Mountain.