Freespool winch with engine off.

Northern Logger · December 12, 2015, 06:43:17 PM

Do JD winches allow freespooling with no pressure to the winch, in other words with the engine off?

kiko · December 12, 2015, 07:30:40 PM

Not as it is. A porta power with a gauge teed in to the brake line will allow it to free spool. No more than about 250 psi to release the brake clutch. The porta power will go way higher than that and bust stuff.

Northern Logger · December 13, 2015, 03:14:19 PM

Quote from: kiko on December 12, 2015, 07:30:40 PM
Not as it is. A porta power with a gauge teed in to the brake line will allow it to free spool. No more than about 250 psi to release the brake clutch. The porta power will go way higher than that and bust stuff.

Interesting way of over-riding the pressure line to the winch. The reason I ask is that I just met a guy with an old C7 who told me that he free spools with his engine off to save on fuel. I've used many different winches but not a JD, so I assumed that it was a JD winch. I know Clark and Eaton winches require pressure to release the brake on the winch.

tom h · December 13, 2015, 06:56:04 PM

I have a c7 skidder the winch control resivoir uses brake fluid and can release the winch with engine running or not.

barbender · December 13, 2015, 07:44:02 PM

My Gearmatic 19 on my Pettibone has the brake reservoir setup, so the winch can be released with the engine off. It's a nice system I think, especially since most machines of that era didn't have that great of a parking brake, you can shut it down in gear and not have to worry about it rolling. An old TJ I used to borrow had the winch release operated off the machine hydraulics, so the engine had to be running. I didn't care for that setup.

kiko · December 13, 2015, 10:59:32 PM

I see no reason why a brake cylinder set up would not work on a deere winch, as long as the same fluid is used in it as the winch. I am only familiar with the 4000 and 6000 jd winchs ; so i have no idea how the predecessors were set up.

Northern Logger · December 14, 2015, 07:54:43 AM

Quote from: tom h on December 13, 2015, 06:56:04 PM
I have a c7 skidder the winch control resivoir uses brake fluid and can release the winch with engine running or not.

Thanks Tom ... you clarified everything. I like this set-up. It allows a guy to shut-off his engine if he wants to save fuel on a large hook-up.