Winching In and Out of a Shed
 

Hello All,

I would like to set up a system where vehicles I am working on can be pulled into my shed at the start of the day and then pulled out at the shed at the end of the day. I am planning on getting one of the local bobcat operators in with their widest auger and did a hole where two steel I-beams can be concreted into the ground. One steel I-beam will be at the back of the shed.

Distances
The other I-beam will be 18 metres (59 feet) away from the front of the shed and be positioned in a garden. The total distance between the two I beams will be 27 metres (88.5 feet).

Load Capacity
The vehicles to be winched in and out of the shed range from a 1940 MCP Chevrolet Holden General Service truck to a Land Rover Defender.

Operational
Remote press button operation from inside the vehicle's cabin
A 12 volt battery operated system.
Possibly something like the type of winch that gets fitted to a four wheel drive vehicle. Instead, of mounting it onto a vehicle, mounting the winch on a steel frame that is hooked to the I-beam anchor point. Then the winch hook or shackle being hooked to the vehicle.

Limitations
My lack of knowledge about powered winches. I have plenty of experience with manually operated Tirfor winches - not powered ones

Background
Yesterday afternoon, I had another vehicle become inoperable while it was parked outside of my shed. I do have a tractor and other vehicles I could use to tow the currently immobile vehicle into the shed. As things some time go, the vehicle is parked right in a direct line to the bay in the shed where I park my daily driver. The same bay is the one where I park vehicles that I am going to work on. It has not been an uncommon event where a replacement part unexpectedly needs to be ordered from overseas. In the meantime the vehicle sits snug inside my shed, while my daily driver gets parked outside in all types of weather. This is not an ideal sort of situation.

So yesterday, when the current offending vehicle dropped either its clutch master cylinder or its clutch slave cylinder it got me thinking. Wouldn't it be good if I could just hook up a winch and press a button and be able to steer the vehicle into the shed to be worked on. If things go astray and more parts are needed - to be able to ... hook up a winch and press a button and be able pull the vehicle outside of the shed and then park my daily drive inside the shed so it is outside of the weather.

Operational Requirements
I do not want to hook up to any of the shed wall frames and place strain on them. Instead, one I-Beam will be located outside of the shed and be positioned very close to the edge of the shed's concrete slab. A small hole cut into the metal cladding and something like a sling located under the bottom shelf of some pallet racking. This sling will be the hitching point for one end of the winch. As mentioned previously, the other I-beam will be located in a garden. This herbaceously located I-Beam will allow the vehicle to be towed well out of the way so that there is unimpeded access to the shed.

So, given the previously provided information - where to from here?

What sort of winch, or possibly two winches would I need?
What sort of capacity would the winch need to have?
What type of material winch cable would be best?

Oh, one last limitation - it would be a system where no cables are left laying across the ground after the vehicle has been repositioned.

Hopefully, I have included enough information for more winch-learned people to work off. If you need more information please let me know. I greatly appreciate the opportunity to access your insight. The door for constructive suggestions is now opened!

Kind regards
Lionel

From a language perspective, Tirfor is a shortened English spelling of the French pronounciation Tire Fort or Pulls Hard.

Hello Terry,

Thank you for that insight, Terry! I was not aware of the link to French language. I come from an Arboriculture background (Tree surgery) and the registered product Tirfor® were the benchmark of the highest quality winches - back in the day.


Here are a couple of examples of the Tractel TU-8, TU-16 & TU-32 Tirfor® Mechanical Hoists/Winches

As per their description ....

Tractel TU Series Tirfor Mechanical Hoists/Winches Tirfor® machines are portable manual hoists used with maxiflex wire rope.They can be used to lift, pull and position loads over great distances depending on the wire rope length.
https://www.specialisedforce.com.au/...hoists-winches

While I do have enough length of the wire ropes for these winches to complete my goal; I would prefer to just push a button on a remote controller and have an electric winch do the work for me. Instead of swaying on a big lever moving it backward and forward - Then stopping to jump into the vehicle to make steering adjustments .... been there done that! An electric winch would follow the think smarter not work harder philosophy.

I just remembered a scene in the movie The Gods Must be Crazy where the driver gets distracted while winching a little short wheel base Series 1 Land Rover. The next thing the Land Rover is off the ground and moving up in the air to the tree branch the winch was hooked up to! ... Just found it on YouTube accessed 28th of May 2023 from,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RXV-p_Ec6Q

Kind regards
Lionel

Hello All,

I just had a quick look online and I found a 12000 pounds or 5443.10844 kg capacity winch for a four wheel drive that is on sale and has a $200 Australian dollar discount!

However, I do not know if this winch has adequate capacity to move the dead weight of a 30 CWT Chevrolet/Holdens General Service truck? So, I do not want to swoop on the deal and get left with something not capable of doing the intended job.

Would the 12000 pounds 5443.10844 kg winch be capable of the job or is it too under-capacity. If it is not up for the job - what capacity should I be looking for?

One good thing is that the length of cable shown in the advertisement for the winch was identified as 26 metres of synthetic rope. One question answered!

Kind regards
Lionel

Winch point in floor good idea.
 

Hi

Years ago I drilled a hole in the floor of my first shop, then drove a pipe through the concrete to flush with the surface, filled the space between the outside of the pipe and concrete with lead. I've used that for years to pull cars into the shop. I've used rope block and tackle, comalong, and just a block and cable to another vehicle.

When building my bigger shop cast another pull point in the floor that I've used the winch on my C60L winch to pull my C60S into the shop. All the efforts mentioned required lots of stops and starts to correct steering.

Your idea of a remote controlled electric winch just makes so much sense. One of those why didn't I think of it.

Cheers Phil

There are some considerations to the electric winch. First is the rating. Usually the rating indicates the maximum load when setup for a 2:1 pull: that is to say you are using a snatchblock and cutting your line speed in half.



Next will be the duty cycle. Some are better than others. I was always partial to the warn winches of yesteryear. The good old 8274 series winches gave stellar service, and can occasionally be picked up off kijiji for $400-600. Most guys removed them off some older vehicle they scrapped, and with today's light frames and aerodynamic plastic front bumpers, the huge winches of yesteryear do not find a place on today's vehicles.



With the flood of Chinese made winches on today's market, both Ramsey and Warn have had to follow suit with the cheap, non-repairable electric winches. I will admit to having one mounted on my trailer, and it will pull the load on as long as I have plenty of battery. Your battery supply will be a consideration for your setup. In my days of looking for trouble when offroading, I actually melted a battery post when winching a huge log.



Perhaps a good alternative would be to install a PTO type winch off a military truck on your post, and power the PTO winch with an old electric motor thru a chain and gears. Then you are not maintaining a battery (or batteries) for the job. Around here, the winches off the old deuce and a half are easy to find and are rated at an honest 10,000 pounds. The hydraulic winches off the MLVWs are also about, but then you are putting together a hydraulic power pack to power it.



Another thing to watch is if you are using the full spool of wire. If the winch is out of sight, the wire can bunch up and jam. With the wireless features of a lot of todays winches, you can be at the pulled end of the cable operating the winch from your remote or from your smart phone.



All this said, the rolling resistance of a vehicle is only 5% to20% of it's weight, depending on the ground surface. If the tires are full on the vehicle being pulled, the ground is relatively hard, and you are not going uphill, then a 10,000 pound vehicle only requires a winch pull of a few hundred pounds. But as soon as you add a flat tire, a dragging brake, an incline, the load all goes up from there.



On my new (to me) 2018 RAM diesel truck, I added one of the heavy duty front winch (anti-deer) bumpers and installed a 10,000 pound Dodge/Ramsey winch. I have only used the winch a couple times, and it was a back-saver. I recovered an old P-20 water trailer from the scrapyard which required moving some very heavy and awkward steel out of the way, then pulling the trailer out of it's mud resting place. The winch gave stellar service and I did not even shed a drop of sweat. It made the total installation worth every penny.

Hello All,

After some discussions with a colleague who was formerly a boiler maker in the mines, I have progressed further along the path for the proposed project.

I had initially thought of having the steel anchor point at a height where it would be easily seen and not tripped over. However, my colleague raised concerns about how something out of the ground can act like a lever and multiplies the stress that could be placed at the point the steel leaves the ground.

So bearing this in mind I reverted to my trade as a landscaper which included installing in-ground irrigation systems. I remembered things like the in-ground valve box similar to the one shown in the photograph. Since a bobcat is going to be digging the hole it can go a bit deeper and have the anchor point coupling below the valve box's lid. The lid can be flush mounted to the ground level , resulting in no trip hazards, where the mower and other vehicles can be driven over it. All tucked away - all safe and sound.

Since the 4WD parts retailer has their 12000 pound winch on sale - reduced by $200, I bought one. I looked at some reviews posted by different forums - independent of the company. I also checked on Facebook Marketplace for their range of second-hand winches. Some were dearer second-hand than the 4WD place's new winch. However, the second-hand ones would not come with a warranty. Other second-hand winches needed repairs and new replacement parts. Or they did not have the same capacity.

I will be making a unit where the winch fits on a trailer receiver that can be slotted into the towbar at the back of a vehicle. Also, with the aid of a 1300 mm x 50 mm x 50 mm square hollow section with a 5 mm wall thickness I will be converting my old Jeep Commander tow bar so it can bolt into the front of the currently front-bumper-bar-less Defender; while having brackets mounted for my range of other vehicles - including the current bumper-bar-less Chevrolet. I took the bumper off to have more room to move at the front of the shed.

Just have to go to the local scrap yard for the steel anchor point and arrange for the bobcat bloke to bring his toys with him. Also, a mini-mix concrete truck. Plus, a trip to the hardware store for two valve boxes. Then everything should come together!

Lionel wants to winch the Defender into the shed. Hook up winch unit. Sit in Snowy's cab ... press a button and steer. At the end of the day after working on Snowy or whatever project vehicle. Swap the winch unit to the back and press a button and steer the vehicle until it is parked for the night. Then the daily driver can resume residence in the shed.

Thank you every one for your contributions. I will keep you updated!

Kind regards
Lionel

The question is the frequency of the winching operation. The other is utility of the winch. The Tirfor style are magnificent and so reliable. I am a huge fan and have four different flavours of them. Much under appreciated and much under respected. Great control in and out, no batteries required, just so useful and honestly with a snatch block and the rolling resistance of a vehicle on wheels they work really well. Also the whole length of the line passes through the body so there is no birds nesting of cable n a drum. Plus they have a frewheel setting to reset easily. Stay mechancal, you will not be sorry. One day I hope the makers of Tirfor cut me a commission cheque......

Hello Robin,

I have used Tirfor winches extensively throughout my trade in Amenity Horticulture which included Tree surgery - Arboriculture. The Tirfor winches are something you can depend upon. I also have a different range of them. The thing is they do not eliminate the need to get into and out of the cab to adjust the steering. I intend to pull the immobilised vehicle into the shed and out of the shed on a daily basis to do things like rust removal. Not just quick replacement of clutch hydraulic cylinders for the current vehicle in question. This daily repetition has influenced my decision to go to an electric winch system.

Even better news is the winch arrived today. The not so good news is that it is a public holiday tomorrow here and all the metal merchants will be closed!

Kind regards
Lionel