Recovery Winch Simplifies Installation, Reaches New Applications

A Recovery Winch—What’s that? Good question. The idea is to have a winch that can use existing tractor hydraulics from the ripper circuit to drive a winch with sufficient pulling power to pull the tractor out of a bog. It has the advantages of easy hook-up and lower price. Yet it also can deliver the fine line control of a hydraulic winch for applications that demand precise positioning of a load.

“This would have been unthinkable a couple of years ago on a dozer winch. Now we have done it with the new WH series winch,” said Allied Winch design engineer Eric Predeek. “Best of all, installation is a simple matter of bolting the winch behind the tractor and hooking it up to the ripper circuit. All very quickly.”

The new WH6GT Recovery Winch is the latest addition to Allied’s expanding WH series family of hydraulic winches. The existing WH winch family also includes the WH5C Hi-P (High Performance) hydraulic winch for 140 HP dozers, and the WH6G Hi-P hydraulic winch for 180 HP dozers. The WH series winches are powered by hydraulic flow and pressure instead of the traditional tractor PTO shaft.

The WH6GT Recovery Winch is built on the success of the WH6G Hi-P hydraulic winches used extensively in demanding oil field applications. It delivers both high line pull and fine speed control on 150–185 HP class dozers such as John Deere 850J.

The Recovery Winch is easier to install than a PTO winch or a hydraulic winch that requires an auxiliary pump. Instead, it just taps into the existing ripper circuit for its power. The WH6GT Recovery Winch is especially suitable for applications that demand precise line positioning, such as power line sagging, or occasional use in heavy line pull such as equipment rescue. The relatively low hydraulic flow in the ripper circuit is adequate for such applications without the complexity and expense of a dedicated winch pump. For applications where fast line speed and frequent use are required, such as logging, the WH6G Hi-P winch with a high output winch pump mounted on the tractor would still be the better choice.

Behind the simplicity of WH6GT winch is a lot of fine engineering. It utilizes the well-proven gear train and winch frame of the W6G PTO-driven winch, a reliable performer on Caterpillar D6, Komatsu D65, John Deere 850, Case 1650 and Dressta TD15. Allied engineers replaced the PTO-driven clutch and brake inside the PTO-driven winch with a hydraulic motor and brake assembly.

The Recovery Winch features a temperature shut-off switch to protect the implement circuit and the winch against overheating. The operator still has the option of using an override switch to release a load before shutting down the winch to cool off.

The full potential of the WH6GT shone through recently in power line sagging operations on a Cat D6N at Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) in Oregon. BPA is a federal government agency managing a series of hydroelectric dams and power grids on the Columbia River system. It uses the winch on the D6N to repair downed high voltage power lines and to service the resistors on transmission towers.

If a power line is blown down in a wind storm, or when hanging resistors need to be replaced, the power line has to be lowered to the ground. BPA would string the winch cable through a block on the tower some 150 feet above ground, then attach the winch cable to the power line to lower it to the ground. When the power line is ready to be raised again, the winch pulls it back up.

The high cable capacity on the winch drum is especially appreciated by the operator. The WH6GT can take 400 feet of 3/4-inch cable, more than sufficient to accommodate the 300 feet required in the power line lowering and raising operation.

“Lowering and raising the power line require extremely fine line speed control and positioning. The WH6GT Recovery Winch excels at that,” said Predeek. “You can nudge the cable as little as 1/4 inch at a time if necessary.”

Randy McCulley, service manager of the local Caterpillar dealer, Peterson Tractor, liked the simplicity of winch. “This winch shares the same gear train as the W6F and W6G winches. There are hundreds of them in nearby logging applications. Allied has a well established parts network here, and Peterson is part of that network,” said McCulley.

Fred Kaiser, account manger of Caterpillar Defense and Federal Products in Mossville, Illinois, oversaw this winch project. BPA’s specs called for an oil cooler as an additional protection against hydraulic system overheating. Fred worked closely with Eric Predeek to incorporate the cooler behind the tractor.

Kaiser is pleased with the result. “This winch package looks nice, works well, and was delivered on time and on budget,” said Kaiser.