Posted by Clint Dixon on Tuesday, August 07, 2001 at 8:27PM :
In Reply to: MU-2 winch feed bottom or top? posted by Rob Steller on Monday, August 06, 2001 at 7:12PM :
On a front mounted Braden MU2 on a Power-Wagon with a right-hand gear set and when spooling the cable in to the bottom of the drum, the PTO shaft and worm shaft rotate counter enginewise. The brake band spring with adjuster nuts should exit near the bottom of the housing cap towards the passenger side. In this position, the rotating force of the worm shaft and brake drum will override the force of the brake band spring while spooling in the cable. When the load is reversed, i.e.: the winch is stopped and is trying to hold a load, the force that the load exerts upon the gears, shaft, and brake drum self energizes the brake band causing resistance to rotation. Again, this is the effect when using a right-hand gear set and spooling the cable in to the bottom of the drum.
If you rewind the cable to spool in to the top of the drum for whatever reason, the brake band spring should be switched to exit from the housing cap near the top and towards the passenger side. With spooling the cable in this fashion, the load is reversed and the effect of the brake band is reversed accordingly. A simple rule of thumb is: bottom for bottom, top for top.
If you have a left-hand gear set the worm shaft has to rotate in the opposite direction to spool in the cable in comparison to what it does with a right-hand. With a left-hand gear set and when spooling the cable in to the bottom of the drum, the brake spring exits near the top. Spooling in to the top of the drum, it exits near the bottom. Rule of thumb: bottom for top, top for bottom.
I think that all Power-Wagons were equipped with right-hand Braden gear sets. However, there is no reason one cannot use a left-hand gear set. As long as the drum is spooling in at the same end while the comparisons are made, the only difference will be in the speed at which the drum turns and cable is drawn in. This is because the PTO shaft rotates at 61-1/2% of engine speed when rotating enginewise and 47-1/2% of engine speed when rotating counter enginewise. The gear reduction between the worm and worm gear is 29:1. So, using a given engine RPM of say 2000 for comparisons: With a left-hand gear set and the PTO rotating enginewise, the drum will make 42.41 revolutions per minute. With a right-hand gear set and the PTO turning counter enginewise, the drum will make 32.76 revolutions per minute. A difference of roughly 10 revolutions between the two or 10 to 20 feet of cable per minute depending upon how many layers are on the drum. Taking into account the effects of using a single snatch block, the overall cable feet per minute difference would be reduced to only 5 to 10.
When I rebuilt my MU2 on my '47 WDX, I found a nearly new left-hand gear set in a parts winch. I have used these gears for over 10 years and have noticed no ill effects in having the drum spool in cable slightly faster. The equal and opposite reaction to this, as I mentioned in a post earlier this year, is that windmills lower to the ground a little bit slower!
Here is what you can do if you have any doubts. Kneel down alongside the worm housing at the driver's side front of your Power-Wagon. Watch the direction in which the drum clutch turns as you turn the driveshaft by hand. (I have found using a long alignment punch as a lever in the driveshaft yoke helps.) If everything is assembled correctly, you will find the driveshaft is harder to turn in the direction that it would take to spool out the cable as opposed to the direction needed to spool cable in.
Clint
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