Installing a MileMarker Winch
Submitted by Glenn Baker
Well, the winch debate is a tough one. It is almost as hard a decision as building a rig with either an automatic or manual transmission. Both have positives and negative aspects. The same goes with winches, in regards to hydraulic or electric powered winches. The point of this tech article is not to debate the arguments of electric vs hydraulic, but rather to pass along my first hand experience with my MileMarker 9000lb 2 speed hydraulic winch.
When I decided a winch would be needed on my "low buck" Jeep Cherokee XJ build-up, I took a lot of time looking at the specs of the most popular winches, and reading reports from other winch owners. After my research, I decided the MileMarker would best suit my needs. I needed a winch that had a very long duty cycle, and that I would not have to wait for a motor cool down to continue winching. I am impatient, and would probably not let the electric motor cool down, and therefore, more likely to burn it up.
When looking at the specs for the various winches, at first glance, the electrics seem to outperform the MileMarker hydraulic winch in line speed. Looking even closer revealed that, while the unloaded line speed may be faster with an electric, the hydraulic really showed it's muscle when under a load. The higher the load, the bigger the difference in line speed became between the hydraulic and the electric. The Milemarker does not have the drastic line speed reduction that the electrics do while under a heavy load. Since this winch is dual purpose (it is used both on my XJ and for Fire Department Rescue calls), the continuous use of the hydraulic winch really sold me. Not only is it capable of performing very well on the trail, but has the duty cycle and reliability required for Emergency Vehicle use, where lives can depend on the winch.
Some line speed specs are:
MileMarker 75-50085C Warn XD9000i Rated line pull 9000lb @ 1500psi 9000lb @ 460A Loaded line speed 6.2 ft/min (low spd) 6.4 ft/min Unloaded line speed 33.6 ft/min (hi spd) 38 ft/min Height 8" 10" Weight 88 lbs 85 lbs Mounting bolt pattern 10" x 4.5" 10" x 4.5"
I contacted MileMarker Winches with several questions. I wanted to know if I needed to use synthetic fluids, a better pump, a dedicated pump, or anything else. I was assured that normal ATF or power steering fluid would be fine, a stock power steering pump (that is in good shape) is all that is necessary for the proper operation of the winch. While I was told a dedicated pump could be used, the stock G.M. style pump on my Cherokee would do the job just fine, and a dedicated pump is not needed.
I had decided at this point that the MileMarker winch is the winch for me...I had done my research, asked all of my questions and satisfied myself that this was the way to go. I ordered the winch, and was extremely surprised when a UPS truck showed up at my house the very next day with my winch. Like a kid on Christmas morning, I tore into the box to see the new toy! Unpacking it all revealed a nicely packed complete assembly of parts and pieces. The only problem was, I was not yet ready with my winch mount. I headed off to a friends shop, where we fabricated a sturdy winch mount. The mount is not a complete bumper, but rather a purpose built unit intended to simply securely hold the winch in place on the rig.
Now I have all of the parts for the winch, and a place to bolt it. Time for the install of the winch!
I did something I normally did not do....I read the instructions! Everything seemed very straight forward on paper, only a couple of hoses and fittings to set-up, a auto-resetting circuit breaker and a wire to run.....could it really be that easy? YES!
I laid out all of the hoses and fittings, double checked the instructions and decided to go for it. I set the winch on the mount to keep things easy, then using the supplied hardware, fastened the control valve assembly to the winch hydraulic motor. The next step was to run the supplied hose from the power steering pump pressure outlet to the proper port on the winch control valve. The next hose connects to the winch outlet port and is connected to the power steering gearbox, where the old pump pressure hose went. The return line from the power steering gearbox runs right back the pump reservoir. The proper adapters are supplied in an application specific fitting kit, and they worked perfectly. Basically, that is about it for your hydraulic connections, very simple and easy to do.
I then finished bolting the winch down to my custom mount, and started on the electrical wiring. The electrical needs of the hydraulic winch are simply for the hydraulic control valve assembly solenoids to control either forward or reverse direction of the winch. The electrical draw is approximately 2 amps. The winch includes everything you will need to make this connection, including a circuit breaker, wire, and the proper terminals. After mounting the circuit breaker and running the wire, the connections need to be made for the remote control pig-tails. The power wire is connected, as are the two wires from the control valve assembly. Once you decide where to mount the remote control receptacle, you are almost ready to try out your winch.
The last thing you want to do before starting your engine, is to fill the power steering reservoir with fresh ATF. Start the engine for approximately three seconds, then check your fluid level again. Depending on how much fluid you drained while hooking up the winch, you may want to repeat that process another time. Next step is with the engine running at idle, with the proper amount of fluid in the reservoir, is to turn the steering wheel "lock to lock" approximately five times to bleed any air from the system. This is also a good time to check for any leaks, as well as ensuring that your fluid levels are once again correct.
Now for the exciting part......trying your winch for the first time! With the engine at idle, place the speed control levers in the desired position, and spool out some cable (note, if the winch direction is opposite of the expected direction, simply reverse the two black wires on the control solenoids). The first thing you will notice is how quite the winch is. They make very little, if any noise. This was a very nice surprise, as I had not even thought about noise when making my decision. You will also notice how smooth the winch operates, as well as the responsiveness to the remote control input...when you want it to stop, it does so immediately.
Now you are ready for your first task with your new winch....the initial spooling of the cable. This should be done with 500lbs or so weight on the cable. It is important to get a nice tight wind on the cable, as this has a lot to do with how long the life of your cable will be. If you end up with space between the wraps of cable, outer layers of cable may be drawn in to the gap, possibly inducing a kink in the cable.
That's it! verify that you have no leaks, and that your fluid level is correct and you are ready to go out and use your winch
Content © 1999 North American XJ Association