Tonyp 284 #1 Posted February 6, 2020 (edited) About two years ago I added a 2500 ib capacity Winch in the Rafters of my outside garage. The primary purpose was for mower deck maintenance. I built a small rolling table, lifted the deck and placed it on the rolling table and did whatever The Winch was $50 and it is a 12V dc unit, I use the batter charger to power it. It is secured to the rafters in the garage with 5/8 bolts with Lock nuts. Last week I had a part break on the C81 underneath. Now what. I get vertigo and I can't lie on my back looking up. Plus thats a drag anyway, laying on your back looking up in a very confined space. AHHH..I got an idea ! ... Winch ! I drained the oil into a clean jar, ( for re-use , it only has 5 hours on it ) pumped out the gas with my $10 Harbor Freight pump , ok now I'm ready. But first I added a safety chain next to the Winch in the Rafters. With the tractor in gear, the WInch tied to the front axle, and up it went . Man that was easy. I secured the safety chain, also added two 2x4's for support which ultimately I didn't need . I removed one while working. The safety chain ain't going anywhere so extra 2x4's for security are not needed. The Winch Wire with the heavy duty Safety Chain are plenty safe. Who knows maybe I'll still use an extra 2x4 as well in the future. We can never be TOO SAFE . Working on the bottom of the tractor is now a thing of beauty ! I also used one of those small FREE with purchase Harbor Freight work lights to light up the work area. With work complete, I let the tractor down, refilled the oil, added some gas and went on my merry way. Just a thought tp Oh yeah, when the Tractor is in the LIFT position ,(UP) remove power from the Winch. . Edited February 6, 2020 by Tonyp 9 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ebinmaine 68,506 #2 Posted February 6, 2020 13 minutes ago, Tonyp said: We can never be TOO SAFE Never enough redundancy in that statement. I have a chain falls for engines and transmissions. Sooooo handy..... 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Oldskool 6,653 #3 Posted February 6, 2020 Good use of that winch. and yes never can be too safe. I use a fold up engine crane or a chain fall myselfl 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Oldskool 6,653 #4 Posted February 6, 2020 @Tonyp I just looked at your pic again. How is your winch mounted to the rafter? 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
8ntruck 7,113 #5 Posted February 6, 2020 Did any trans fluid leak out of the trans dipstick? The trans fill/dipstick port on my 14-8 is near the rear right hand corner of the trans. Not sure where the oil level in the trans would be with the tractor at that angle. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tonyp 284 #6 Posted February 6, 2020 (edited) No trans oil leak, there isn't all that much down there anyway. The tranny dipstick shoot is pretty long, 8 inches or so. The Winch came with a Steel multi mount, its bolted to the Steel mount and the Steel mount is secured to the rafters with 5/8 bolts and lock nuts . Its pretty darn secure ! I could have had slightly less angle on the lift for the tractor I suppose. The tractor sat for probably 15 minutes level while rte-filling fluids which is plenty of time for the tranny lube to return back home ! The initial work task for the LIFT is for DECK maintenance. Lifting those puppies up to a rolling work table is quite a beautiful thing ! Hope all this helps tp Edited February 6, 2020 by Tonyp 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pullstart 63,112 #7 Posted February 6, 2020 39 minutes ago, 8ntruck said: Did any trans fluid leak out of the trans dipstick? The trans fill/dipstick port on my 14-8 is near the rear right hand corner of the trans. Not sure where the oil level in the trans would be with the tractor at that angle. I was wondering that myself. good work @Tonyp! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tonyp 284 #8 Posted February 6, 2020 posted response above Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
