"Azie L. Magnusson" <maggie11@mchsi.com> wrote:
> Opionins please!!!
> I'm planning to try to rig up a Hydraulic winch on one of my
> treasures and I'm wondering if a P/S pump has enough
> strength to pull it.. I know I'll have to add capacity, but I have
> that figured out..
I'm certainly no expert, but seeing as how nobody else has chimed
in on this one yet, I figured I'd throw my $.02 in. I don't see why
this wouldn't work. Actually, I am pretty sure that MileMarker
winches use the power steering pump of the vehicle they are installed
on. You might want to do some searching to see if you can come up
with a MileMarker installation PDF or something online, that might
have some clues for you.
The only thing that comes to mind is that a power steering pump
might not have the same output volume as a purpose built hydraulic
pump, but it should still work the same, just might be a little slower
due to moving a smaller volume of fluid. Then again, this might not
be an issue at all, since MileMarker has obviously figured it out.
I am sure you're already aware of this and have considered the
pros and cons, but the major drawback of the hydraulic winch is that
the motor must be running in order to use the winch. Granted, the
situations where you need to winch and your engine cannot run are
probably rare, but an electric winch is nice to have for those
situations where you hydrolock in a mud pit and need to pull yourself
out. (Not that I would know anything about that...) ;-) Its kind've
like a parachute - the odds that you will need to use it are pretty
rare, but when you need one, you REALLY need it. :-)
It sounds though like you've already got the winch and are looking
to retrofit it to the vehicle as opposed to making a new purchase
decision, in which case the economies of a winch you've already got
versus a winch you need to purchase are pretty obvious. Plus any
winch is better than no winch. :-)
--
-Jon-
.- Jon Steiger -- jon@dakota-truck.net or jon@jonsteiger.com -.
| '96 Kolb Firefly, '96 Suzuki Intruder, Miscellaneous Mopars |
`-------------------------------- http://www.jonsteiger.com --'
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