Also another thought as to snow plowing and using the wench to raise the blade ----------
It is hard, unless you can pay better attention then I do, to always keep track of blade position.
Especially when you have pushed into a pile of snow and the blade has risen up on the pile.
When this happens, you can stress the cable before you realize the situation and it doesn't take many times of doing this before the cable can break.
A friend came over to ride the hills with me last Summer, and he had a frame attached to the front of his 4wheeler.
I ask the reason for the frame and he explained that he had also stressed/broken his cable, so made the frame to allow for the cable to go over some snatch blocks, the last of which is attached to a stiff spring before the cable finally attaches to a lift point on the plow frame.
I liked the idea, but didn't get er done untill I had already broken my old and warn cable 3 or 4 times early in this winter.
Finally took the time to build the frame.
Because I didn't like my cable making the tight bend over the fairlead at the front of the wench, I hung the first snatch block just where the cable comes through the fairlead, at which point it goes down to the plow frame, through another snatch block back up to the top of the new attached frame where it again goes through another snatch block and then down to the lift point on the plow frame.
The last snatch block at the top of the support frame is attached to a spring or springs.
These springs need to be heavy enough to MORE then allow for lifting the frame, as they give a visual on the cable pressure before the cable becomes stressed on the wench drum.
Because all of the snatch blocks are single pully, I am not gaining lifting ability, but am putting the cable action up where it is visable.
As said, you need good springs on that top snatch block. My first set was waaaaay to light, the second was headed the right direction, but I think the new and heavier set which should arrive Thursday will about do it.
Keep em coming!
CDOC