Re: (ET) wheel horse c-185 lift using a small winch for mower lift?

[Larry Chace <RLC1 etnainstruments com>]

My I-5 came with a 12v winch that a previous owner had mounted in 
place of the standard lift.  He used the old lift frame, welded it 
vertically to the front bumper, and then attached (welded!) the winch 
to the frame.  He used the winch's original F/R switch, dangling at 
the end of its power cord.

I decided to use the original lift switch to operate a pair of 
DPST-NO relays, one wired for "UP" and the other for "DOWN".  That 
keeps the "look and feel" of the original control while operating 
this winch that needs polarity reversal.  It also keeps the motor 
current away from the switch.

This winch has no problems lifting the mower deck or the snowthrower, 
though I did have some additional angle irons welded on and then 
fitted some supports that run from the winch down to the clevis pins 
(where the mower mounting arms attach), giving much more support when 
the winch is working hard.  Before doing that, the front bumper would 
twist a bit under heavy load.

One tiny disadvantage is that the winch sticks out about 4" further 
than the original lift's "derrick" .  That means you can't flip up 
the mower deck for easy cleaning.  ALSO, if you are backing up and 
the mower decks stubs its rollers, the deck can tilt up suddenly, 
nicely smashing the top of the center mower motor into the winch. 
Guess who wins that confrontation!!!  (Gee, it might have been a good 
idea to mount the winch higher, so that it would clear the tilted-up 
mower deck...)

Luckily, an E15 found its way into the garage and so it takes over 
the mowing duties, leaving the I-5 for hauling rocks and firewood and 
for snowblowing, jobs for which the winch is either not needed or 
perfectly suited.

Larry Chace, Ithaca, NY  I-5 and E15