The battle is joined.
The 850C is deep in a pit, to hold its position. The 850J starts to slide
back under the tension in the wire rope.
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When it comes to assessing winch performance, nothing tells the story quite like an actual field test. Engineers may do calculations, and marketing people may write spec sheets, but a good old-fashioned pulling contest really puts the matter to rest.
The Oklahoma prairie was the scene of the latest battle of the titans. Here, the search for oil and gas is as active as ever, and top-performing equipment is a requirement, not a luxury. Winches play a key role in this quest for oil, helping to move large pieces of equipment efficiently and quickly. The Allied WH6G hydraulic winch (see Winchlines, Vol. 25, No. 1) is a popular choice for the new John Deere J Series tractor because of the well-established reputation of its predecessor, the PTO-driven W6G winch.
Early versions of the WH6G winch were well accepted, but it was discovered that some of the most demanding customers needed even higher line pull. Allied quickly introduced a lower gear ratio version of the winch, to boost line pull right to the limit of performance. Easy to talk, but would it pull? And more importantly, would it survive?
The challenge was on. In April, Allied winch engineer Eric Predeek traveled to Oklahoma to support a field test of the WH6G. Jim Meisner, Vice-President of C.L. Boyd Co. Inc., John Deere dealer in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, organized a classic tug-of-war to prove out the new winch.
The challenger: A John Deere 850J outfitted with WH6G winch with low-speed gear ratio.
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The opponent: A John Deere 850C, buried to the top of the tracks.
In between: Factory-new wire rope, 1-1/8-inch in diameter, with a breaking strength of over 100,000 lbs.
The wire rope is oversize for this test. The maximum approved wire rope size of 1-inch diameter is easily broken with the WH6G winch, and a more rigorous test was needed.
To generate the resistance, the dozers had to be dug into the ground to avoid sliding with this much line pull. Both dozers ended up buried to the top of the tracks.
As the cable approached its breaking point, it crackled like electricity and smoked with the energy to resist. But in the end, the cable could not sustain. Its steel fibers gave way one by one under the relentless pull of the mighty WH6G winch. A clear victory for the challenger.
Well, it’s not the contest you’ll ever read about in the sports page, but it’s clear that Allied’s newest winch is a top-rank performer that has proven itself to deliver everything that oil field customers could want. It delivered over 100,000 lbs. of line pull, and showed no weakness at any point in the system.
C.L. Boyd’s customers at the field test had plenty of positive comments about the WH6G: High line pull, two-speed motor that supplies fast line speed with light loads and slow speed for heavy pulls, freespool, brake-off, rugged frame with internal motor well protected inside the winch case.
The WH6G winch and the WH5C winch are a part of a new series of Allied hydraulic winches designed for today’s hydrostatic tractors. Both are derived from the well-proven W5C and W6G PTO-powered winches. They share the same frame and gear train of their PTO winch cousins for maximum parts sharing. They look, feel, and pull like a true dozer winch.
Unlike a hydraulic winch derived from a crane winch, the WH6G winch comes with freespool as a standard feature. A modified crane winch doesn’t permit freespool capability.
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The battle is joined.
The 850C is deep in a pit, to hold its position. The 850J starts to slide
back under the tension in the wire rope.
