The "101 uses for a winch" thread

[sudso]

Not really driving advice but....
The west side of my house has been looking a bit weather beaten for a while so I decided to spruce it up with a sander and paint ready for Christmas.

The eaves and facias are getting done 1st. and having no trestle ladders I came up with an idea

I fixed a piece of structural 5 ply onto the roof bars of my Rodeo to stand on, hitched the winch hook to my other car at the other end of the driveway, and away I went.
I just winched my way along and sanded the whole length of the facia without climbing up and down and moving planks and ladders ;D
Tomorrow night the paint goes on.
Job's right ;)

Just wondering what other stuff you or someone you've seen have used the winch for winch has been used for.

Others I've heard of is pulling tree stumps and our local cops recovering stuck CFS trucks (with an 8000lb Warn!)

[uted]

reckon your effort takes the cake ;D

they say necessity is the mother of all inventions 8)

[kingchevy]

Have heard of people using them to change tyres in there front yard how safe it is I dont know?

I was going to use mine for fishing for sharks at the beach by hooking some super strong nylon or braid type stuff and tying it to the end of the winch and using a tinny to run it out then waiting till we hook a mass shark and winching it in ;D

[sudso]

kingchevy wrote:
I was going to use mine for fishing for sharks at the beach by hooking some super strong nylon or braid type stuff and tying it to the end of the winch and using a tinny to run it out then waiting till we hook a mass shark and winching it in
Nothin like given 'em a spoting chance eh? ;D
I'll remember that one next time I'm down the surf wetting a line we get a few good size bronzies over the west coast of SA.

[sudso]

RoeDeo wrote:
they say necessity is the mother of all inventions
Yes I amaze myself sometimes! ;D
(head starts to swell)

How I got the idea:

I reckon my next door neighbour has got it in for me
I should have have mentioned that he saw me struggling at first with a single ladder and offered me his trestle ladders and plank.

One of the trestle ladders was tied with string at the bottom to stop it spreading, as the chain was gone, and as I was climbing up I grabbed the 2 posts of the top of the ladder which strained and snapped the string.

Result?:

Almighty crash, 1 ladder narrowly missing my beloved Rodeo, hurt pride and surprisingly the paint tin which was on the plank landed on the plank and didnt tip over! Just a bit of spilled paint.

The missus awoke from her nap and ran outside to see what the commotion was.
No "you alright dear?" Just checked that her car wasn't damaged, said "not bad for an ex safety officer ::)" and went back inside.........gotta love her ;D

So after that I racked my brain for the alternative. ;)

[kingchevy]

I'm just a bit worried I have heard of this guy getting his car pulled into the water by something realy big but it could be rubbish.

[Mick.]

I'm just a bit worried I have heard of this guy getting his car pulled into the water by something realy big but it could be rubbish.
Up here in Newcastle on Stockon beach these guys have been game fishing for Great white sharks with there hilux. ;D Basicly what they do is paddle out the bait on a surfboard and drop it in a school of fish and sharks than paddle back in. They have caught about 11 great whites so far (tag and release) and its all on video.They have a game fishing chair bolted to the bullbar. :D They done a story on them the other night on A current Affair. The only problem is after it was on TV its now ilegal to do in NSW. :P

Cheers Mick.

[Mick.]

I use my winch for removing trees and tree stumps. I'm always getting one of my mates ringing up asking me to pull something out wheather it be a stump or a whole tree. ::) I've used my winch like a crane before for dropping some big block and tackles that I found at an old mine. I through a tree truck protector over a steel beam in the roof than connected my snatch block to that and there you have your own instant crane. ;D

[Patrolman Pat]

A mate of mune uses his winch to lift his roof rack off the car with three snatch blocks. He then ties is off to the roof trusses in his garage and it's up there ready for next time he needs it.

[rat patrol]

Hay Pat
Was wondering if your avtar is you on point duty at a busy intersection in peak hour? ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
Cheers
Rat

[sudso]

My neighbour saw what I was doing this arvo and called me lazy.(tongue in cheek)
Then I told him what happened with one of his trestle ladders and he was like... :-[

[GQANDGU]

I store my boat (18ft Runabout) in a Carport in the back yrd. Virtually impossible to get a vehicle all the way back to tow it straight out (I have 3cm clearance to the side of the house. While I can manage to manually push it out to the front, it is far easier to run out the winch rope, hook the winch on, and reel it back in. Only needs slight guidance to keep it going straight. Also gives me a check on whether the winch is working OK.

[christofurry]

Other than dragging my hilux out of trouble I used my winch to lower a mate down into the sewer to retrieve a cricket ball. You know the story, sunday arvo cricket in the street with a few beers, only one tenno. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Also used it to winch a mates car out of the carpark, so when he came back from surfing his hilux was no where to be seen.

Gotta love 9000lbs of pulling power. ;D

[sudso]

I've used my winch like a crane before for dropping some big block and tackles that I found at an old mine. I through a tree truck protector over a steel beam in the roof than connected my snatch block to that and there you have your own instant crane.
Love that. ;)

Now to work out how I can lift a large roller door onto my roof bars that I have to pick up next weekend.
hmmm?........2 or 3 snatch blocks maybe :-\

[mudlux]

Painting houes for a living I was wondering how to right off the winch for tax, now I have a story to tell the tax man when he comes knocking.
I once pulled an 11 ton 4x4 boom lift out after bogging it in someones yard, saved a heap of dollars not getting the towies out, but I don't recomend it.

[sudso]

christofurry wrote:
Other than dragging my hilux out of trouble I used my winch to lower a mate down into the sewer to retrieve a cricket ball.
Pheeeeew! I bet no-one wanted to catch the ball after that!

[Ozjunk38]

A mate of mine used his winch to stand up the walls and hold them in place when building his house. Saved alot of gut busting! :D

Also used a winch to clear the dirt out from underneath the grandfathers house. Got hold of an old Front end loader bucket, filled the bucket by shovel (couldn't stand up underneath the house) then winched the bucket out from under the house.

[baby_troupe]

We did a trip to Newnes a few years back & a troopy busted a front spring hanger.
We used mu small hand winch to hold it togther while he drove to Lithgow to get parts.

Wasn't the best solution, but was the best we had available at the time.

[Stevencc182]

I gotta get me a winch to try some of these things out :D

[Mick.]

I gotta get me a winch to try some of these things out :D


It's amazing how many extra friends you get when you buy a winch too. :D Some are that friendly that they will ring you a 2am in the morning to see how your going and if your not busy come and pull them out. ::)

Cheers Mick.

[RedGQ]

As most of you would recall on "The Gods must be Crazy" you can reliably lift the front of the car to do work underneath by winching off a large tree branch :o ;D ;D

Probably not recommended 8)

[2 BRUTAL]

The Mrs wanted the cloth's line shifted to a better spot on the weekend, after digging 2' all around it with a crow bar and only getting the thing loose I got the shits and got the truck out and hooked the winch and TTP around the top of the concrete slab and starting winching, damn thing ended up being concreted 4' into the ground,
So it saved me a lot of time and effort, the worst thnig was I then had to dig the new hole 4' deep to get it back in as I couldn't break any concrete off it. >:(

[brooksy]

The Mrs wanted the cloth's line shifted to a better spot on the weekend, after digging 2' all around it with a crow bar and only getting the thing loose I got the shits and got the truck out and hooked the winch and TTP around the top of the concrete slab and starting winching, damn thing ended up being concreted 4' into the ground,
So it saved me a lot of time and effort, the worst thnig was I then had to dig the new hole 4' deep to get it back in as I couldn't break any concrete off it. >:(


Jack Hammer my friend, Kennards.

brooksy

[Wotton]

A mate of mine used his to straighten out his bullbar after he hit a roo. did a pretty good job too!!

[weaponlux]

The Mrs wanted the cloth's line shifted to a better spot on the weekend, after digging 2' all around it with a crow bar and only getting the thing loose I got the shits and got the truck out and hooked the winch and TTP around the top of the concrete slab and starting winching, damn thing ended up being concreted 4' into the ground,
So it saved me a lot of time and effort, the worst thnig was I then had to dig the new hole 4' deep to get it back in as I couldn't break any concrete off it. >:(


Jack Hammer my friend, Kennards.

brooksy

Jack hammer not required
dont ask me how its hooked up, i didnt have time to investigate...
i saw a guy using a winch with some kind of log splitter, sure it would work for concrete if the jaws are strong enough.
the cable wraperd some part and there was a frame with a couple of snatch blocks involved, and a spring that looked like the main off my lux.

[Adomw]

Guys

I used to repair videos for a living and the ones that were too expensive to fix would get left with us. We used to throw them into a miniskip bin. but people would steal them form there and being them back in for a repair quote ( because we stupidly had a free quoting ) anyhoo,

To stop this I used to stack 6 or 8 up and wrap the winch cable around the bundle and crush them he he. that was fun. Then we used to pave the whole rear car park with VCRs, CD and DVD players and then drive around in low range on them!!!

And Microwave ovens I sorted out by putting a High Lift Jack in them and jacking the top and bottom apart

Ado

[Mick.]

Guys

I used to repair videos for a living and the ones that were too expensive to fix would get left with us. We used to throw them into a miniskip bin. but people would steal them form there and being them back in for a repair quote ( because we stupidly had a free quoting ) anyhoo,

To stop this I used to stack 6 or 8 up and wrap the winch cable around the bundle and crush them he he. that was fun. Then we used to pave the whole rear car park with VCRs, CD and DVD players and then drive around in low range on them!!!

And Microwave ovens I sorted out by putting a High Lift Jack in them and jacking the top and bottom apart

Ado
I'd love to see the customers face if you did that to their video player than gave it back to them and said it was stuffed. ;D ;D

[dromana7411]

we used my mates winch to get a log that as jammes inbetween my chassis and the body. pulled it out nicley.

[Nitzan_GU]

I used my winch to pull a car body onto a car trailer. Body had no wheels so we used the winch to roll it over first then dragged it up the ramps on its roof....

Also used it when stuck up against a tree on the border track. Set the winch of at 45 degrees to the right and as I reversed away from the tree used the winch to keep the front of truck from sliding along the trunk.

http://users.bigpond.net.au/Colin_Jones/BorderTrack/DSCF0011.JPGhttp://users.bigpond.net.au/Colin_Jones/BorderTrack/DSCF0013.JPG

BTW the only damage turned out to be a cracked mirror glass - $100 from Nissan...

[MudRhino]

I'm just a bit worried I have heard of this guy getting his car pulled into the water by something realy big but it could be rubbish.


Perhaps he had hooked an oil tanker...

[crustyundies]

I have seen Shark fishing done off the Port Hedland Warf by a couple of cruisers. Awesome site to see them hall a shark up the warf.

just thought this may be of use to some people. here's how to winch in reverse with a front winch.
http://www.4wdlinks.com.au/albums/tom286/winch.sized.jpg

just set this up and winch in!

i know not many ppl carry 3 snatch blocks but if you can borrow from your mates this may get you out of the shit one day.

[EZYTFD]

All our work trucks have got winches on them, i haven't seen one of them drag a vehicle yet!
We use them to pull big electrical cables into conduit when the run is a few hundred metres.

[oiler]

The only use I have had for my winch for the past 7 years is to set up a flying fox for the kids. The first time was at Long Plain hut in the Snowies and over two days there were hundreds of trips down the wire.

I use a good quality, well greased snatch block and a handle off a water skiing rope. Make sure the kids don't smash into the front of the truck (learn't that by trial and error). It works great over a creek where you can drop in the water.

The LC flying fox now gets setup 4 or 5 times a year and is always a hit with the kids (and big kids).

[brokelux]

just thought this may be of use to some people. here's how to winch in reverse with a front winch.
http://www.4wdlinks.com.au/albums/tom286/winch.sized.jpg

just set this up and winch in!

i know not many ppl carry 3 snatch blocks but if you can borrow from your mates this may get you out of the shit one day.


wtf how does that work?
makes no sense to me the winch is still gunna pull the car forward to the first anchor point unless that first point is part of the car itself????

[brokelux]

ok sposing the green dot at the back of the car is attatched to the towball wouldn't this only pull the car sideways????

or pull the trees on top of the vehicle ???

please explain for us less minded people

um yeah ive tryed to work out how this works myself but havnt really looked too far into it. ive just seen it done before (well actuly seen winch fowards with a rear winch). i mightn't have it quite right but thats how i remember it anyway. i have seen it done though.

tom

[BUG]

I haven't done it as yet but I was thinking I could use the winch to hang & clean my next Sambar or pig I shoot ;D!!!

[nostuhere]

I have a mate who works for the water board, some of the blokes were struggling o oen a pit lid so he parked above it and used the winch to lift the lid off.

He reckons he had the suspension bottomed out before the lid let loose.

;D

[1tuf75]

yeah winches are great for lifting sambar up into trees for cleaning and also tie them off with a seperate rope and just reverse the ute under them for when your out by yourself. Beats busting your ass lifting them on to the back

[macca96]

I have heard from a few people in melb that there is some people going around de-clutching the winch running the cable over your roof and hooking it onto your tow bar then shorting the motor with wire and crushing your roof. I will try and get some pics

[Mick.]

I have heard from a few people in melb that there is some people going around de-clutching the winch running the cable over your roof and hooking it onto your tow bar then shorting the motor with wire and crushing your roof. I will try and get some pics
I think it's an old wives tale mate. ;)

That rumor has been going around for years and know one on here or any other froum where i've seen similar threads has been able to get pics or confirm it's actually happened to them.

I even questioned several insurance accessors and they hadn't seen any pics of it happening let alone accessed a 4wd that it had actually happened to.

If you can get pics than that would prove it's not a myth. ;)

Cheers Mick.

[Peter ST_R]

I have heard from a few people in melb that there is some people going around de-clutching the winch running the cable over your roof and hooking it onto your tow bar then shorting the motor with wire and crushing your roof. I will try and get some pics

What a scary thought!!! I think I will get a hand winch when I find the dollars.

I have heard of people wreking their bull bar with PTO winches because they have hooked the winch into the recovery point and forgotten to disengage the PTO.

[sudso]

I have heard from a few people in melb that there is some people going around de-clutching the winch running the cable over your roof and hooking it onto your tow bar then shorting the motor with wire and crushing your roof. I will try and get some pics

The local sargeant here told me this was done to a paddy wagon by a couple of locals up north a few years ago. I wont say exactly how they shorted it cos some dickhead might read it and get funny idea's. A big c**t act if you ask me though.

[Ezookiel]

just thought this may be of use to some people. here's how to winch in reverse with a front winch.
http://www.4wdlinks.com.au/albums/tom286/winch.sized.jpg

wtf how does that work?
makes no sense to me the winch is still gunna pull the car forward to the first anchor point unless that first point is part of the car itself????

It works if you mount rollers in your front and rear barwork and run the cable round them.
I was standing trying to work out what the rollers on the corners of one vehicle were for, and that was his explanation. You run the cable round your vehicle on the rollers, and then off the back to an anchor point.
What the ADR would make of a roller wheel on the corners of your barwork though would be anyone's guess.