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Winch on the front of a snowmobile??
Topic Started: Sep 4 2008, 02:44 AM (6,359 Views)
tolson
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Has anyone ever used a winch mounted on the front of a snowmobile when grooming?

One of our members (who doesn't groom very often) was grooming last year and he got off the edge of the trail and the Skandic SWT almost tipped over with the Ginzu still attached. It took several hours to get the Ginzu unhitched and everything pulled out with a manual winch.

Our club just purchased a new Yamaha RS Viking Professional, and some club members are concerned it's so heavy (800 lbs vs 500 lbs for the Skandic) that we should mount a winch on the front of it in case it gets stuck.

My thoughts are:
* you'd need a very strong winch and a very strong mount
* the front of the snowmobile is not strong enough to pull a stuck snowmobile out at a 45 degree angle across the trail
* you'd have a good chance of bending the frame on the snowmobile if the winch and mount are strong enough

My solution is to groom slower and don't get in this situation (he was going pretty fast and got off the trail several times on this day!).

Any thoughts??
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DOORIDER
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I think most clubs that have ever groomed with an Alpine have a winch on them.
Under the seat of the Alpine I groom with I keep a Snatch block . It greatly increases the strength of the winch.
Our club has looked into (for the skandics)purchasing one of the portable winches . They have a cable coming in from both ends and the winch motor in the middle. I'll see if I can find some info on them.
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Grooming-snow
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Your on the right track !

:myopinon: When you put the wrong equipment in the right hands your asking for problems!

Many X-county and snowmobile clubs have winchs that they use to help get them out of a problem.

If you go with a winch, try some thing like a 1500# 12 volt or even a manual come along, some thing that will (((assist))) you on get the unit unstuck.

If you need up with lets say a 6000# winch you will most likely end up with a snowmobile or drag being ripped in half or bent up pretty bad.

The other thing is take you operators out an practice with the winch showing them how to use it the right way will make a big different.
Edited by Grooming-snow, Sep 4 2008, 11:54 AM.
Click Here For My ((Webpage)))http://www.snowcountrygroomers.com
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couchsachraga
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I put a winch on one of my Alpines. I find it's helpful in rough terrain when breaking trail. Once the trail is groomed a few times it's not really needed. It's important to always roll a trail as wide as you reasonably can, and then use your finish groomer (Ginzu for you) to make it look pretty. That way you have a bit of extra working room that has been packed.

Falling off the trail does happen, but is almost always the fault of the operator.
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Steve.M
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tolson
Sep 4 2008, 02:44 AM
Has anyone ever used a winch mounted on the front of a snowmobile when grooming?

One of our members (who doesn't groom very often) was grooming last year and he got off the edge of the trail and the Skandic SWT almost tipped over with the Ginzu still attached. It took several hours to get the Ginzu unhitched and everything pulled out with a manual winch.

Our club just purchased a new Yamaha RS Viking Professional, and some club members are concerned it's so heavy (800 lbs vs 500 lbs for the Skandic) that we should mount a winch on the front of it in case it gets stuck.

My thoughts are:
* you'd need a very strong winch and a very strong mount
* the front of the snowmobile is not strong enough to pull a stuck snowmobile out at a 45 degree angle across the trail
* you'd have a good chance of bending the frame on the snowmobile if the winch and mount are strong enough

My solution is to groom slower and don't get in this situation (he was going pretty fast and got off the trail several times on this day!).

Any thoughts??
Todd,
We have a winch mounted on the back of our SWT Skandic-has gotten us out of trouble a few times!
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arly
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In our tool boxes we carry what's called a ATV RATCHET WINCH which only have a 800lb capacity. I'll attach a photo of one if that's possible. Using one of these plus a light weight tow rope we can usually catch a tree and tension it up enough to pull ourselves out. Our sleds are about 800lbs, plus whatever we're towing and weights we guess that's 1400lbs. If we can grab a appropriately sized tree it will bend lots and this keeps tension on the tow strap for long enough the sled can dig itself out in the preferred direction. (which is always to the left or right of the sled) Of course the tow rope and winch strap also stretch and all this spring action is very helpful. This is why we used these instead of a cable winch of sorts. Getting occasionally stuck is the norm on our trails. :D

PS We should add that this unit can pull you backwards, sideways or whatever direction your sled has something to attach to. If we bolted it down I’m sure we’d then need it facing some other direction. ;)
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Attachments: ATV_winch.jpg (21.08 KB)
Edited by arly, Dec 2 2008, 05:24 PM.
http://keweenawnordic.org/ [/url] keweenawnordicskiclub.blogspot.com [/url]
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Bob C.
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We have a 12 V winch that we can use on the back of the Skandics for pulling "stuff" out. It hooks around the ball hitch we use for the MM drag.

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tolson
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Thanks for the comments. We're going with a hand-winch/com-a-long for now. The portability is the biggest factor - being able to pull from different locations on the snowmobile / drag and at different angles.

Thanks!
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