When I dozer shopping I saw a komatsu dozer with rippers and a hydraulic winch. Anyone ever done this or know anything about what it would take. Where would be the best place to tie plumbing in? What winch is appropriate? Where is best place to mount it? Any pictures? Thanks
I've got a Gearmatic hydraulic winch on the back of my 977. It's plumbed in upstream of the main hydraulic valve (which is inside the reservoir) with what Cat calls a 4th Valve. The nice thing about it is that it's mounted pretty high up with no PTO driveline to worry about. The biggest drawback of my particular winch is that it has no freespool. Not a big deal if you're working with a choker setter as you can pay out line to them but if you're setting your own choker you have to drop a bunch on the ground then drag it out to the tree, and of course 9 times out of 10 you'll have to walk back to the cat to let out that last foot you needed then go back and choke the log....... I'd definitely get one that freespools! Other than that I love the hydraulic winch! Here's a few pictures for you to look at. As you can see it has no trouble pulling some fairly good sized trees.