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Kit..
DC is much simpler than AC. It's a one way flow from the battery, thru the load and back to the battery. Here's a page to start with.. https://www.allaboutcircuits.com/textbook/direct-current/ Read thru lesson one and ask questions here. We'll help you as best we can from the keyboard. Automotive voltages are all DC but some are cut down to millivolts. 1/1000th. Like the sensor in your gas tank. Others like headlights, tail lights, trailer brakes etc will run a full 12 volts. Some loads require more power than others, hence the myriad of different amperage fuses in your fuse block. Notice the cables connected to your battery are heavy duty large stranded cables. Your starter draws a LOT of current (amps) to start the engine. The wires to tail lights are much smaller as they don't draw as much current. Power in Watts, Current in Amps, Voltage in volts and Resistance in ohms (load) are all mathematically related. Don't worry too much about the math.. Just understand that the heavier the load is, more current will be required and hence larger wires (cables) to fulfill the need. ~~~and if this keeps up we'll make a ham radio operator out of ya~~~ LOL..Take care.. |
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A good way to think about it as far as DC voltage/amps (current) and wire sizing:
Think of the voltage as the water pressure. Think of the amps (current) as the actual amount of water being moved. Think of the wire as your pipe. Power (or work done) is literally water pressure X water flow, or voltage x current = power. Then just think that the water pump (battery) is taking its water from the end of the pipe in a loop to run back through the pipes. If you break that loop, no water can flow. |
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Quoted: Some vehicles these days have funky quirks regarding being jumped. My wife's BMW (early 2010s) for instance. If done incorrectly it goes into some "valet" mode or something. I bet as time goes on and vehicles get more and more electronics and fancier computers, they only want you to jump a certain way. It used to just be hook it up to the battery and do it, but now there might be specific jump points to use. If you do that to someone's car, or something worse happens such as a vehicle fire, you don't want to be liable for that. If they hook up the cables themselves then you should be immune from liability. And, most states do have good Samaritan laws to help you, but it would still suck to go through that hassle, all for just trying to help someone. I was in Charlotte, NC visiting one of my two best buddies, and her son's car would not start. She was in the middle of a conference call and asked if I would help him because he (age 19) did NOT know how to jump a car. I'm not sure why I was surprised, since I've seen 18 year old boys who don't know how to pump gas because they've never been required to do it. But I was surprised. 
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Quoted:
This AND
It can all be avoided by handing them a jump pack and advising them how to clamp it on the batteries. All you did was loan them a tool. Added perk: you taught them how to do something and an good piece of equipment to have. Maybe they will learn from it. They probably won't, but you never know. And now that I have my jump pack, the only thing I use jump cables for is using my pickup to jump my semi truck, and that is only until I spring for $600 in new batteries for it. It makes me sad that I can't just stop and hook somebody up and start their car, and that I have to go buy a tool and just hand it to somebody. Not sure what to ask though..."I have a jump pack. Do you know how to hook it up to your car?" Cuz...given all this information in the last few posts, I'm not gonna 'splain it to nobody. No way, no how. |
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Quoted:
Kit.. DC is much simpler than AC. It's a one way flow from the battery, thru the load and back to the battery. Here's a page to start with.. https://www.allaboutcircuits.com/textbook/direct-current/ Read thru lesson one and ask questions here. We'll help you as best we can from the keyboard. Automotive voltages are all DC but some are cut down to millivolts. 1/1000th. Like the sensor in your gas tank. Others like headlights, tail lights, trailer brakes etc will run a full 12 volts. Some loads require more power than others, hence the myriad of different amperage fuses in your fuse block. Notice the cables connected to your battery are heavy duty large stranded cables. Your starter draws a LOT of current (amps) to start the engine. The wires to tail lights are much smaller as they don't draw as much current. Power in Watts, Current in Amps, Voltage in volts and Resistance in ohms (load) are all mathematically related. Don't worry too much about the math.. Just understand that the heavier the load is, more current will be required and hence larger wires (cables) to fulfill the need. ~~~and if this keeps up we'll make a ham radio operator out of ya~~~ LOL..Take care..  ) Now I just don't have time.
I had my commercial radiotelephone operator's license at age 17. Had to know a bunch of that stuff. Including the broadcast frequency ranges, amplitude modulation and frequency modulation and how they both worked, and how they were different. We learned about the amateur radio frequencies, but not in the depth that a serious operator understands it. Had to do the math, too, in broadcasting school, but none of it was related to anything REAL, yaknow? Yeah, you learned to do the math, then you sat down behind the mic and what you really had to know was how to do six things at once, and keep up an intelligent, entertaining running banter while you cued up a record with one hand, and popped the next commercial cart into the machine with the left, while you managed the pot (potentiometer) board in front of you at the same time. Yes, I had four hands. (Okay, no, I didn't, but anybody watching would have said so.) Learning to have four hands and do it all while you make people smile or laugh or keep them interested in something...THAT is what was truly the learning curve, yaknow? The math? It got forgotten as soon as you passed the tests. And NONE of it. NONE was related to DC. I BET I learned about Direct Current in the 6th grade. I'm sure we covered it in Vo-Ag III when they taught us to weld. Studied it on and off again over the years in science classes, then again in college physics. But you know what the extent of the learning was? "There are two kinds of current. This is DC and this is what it does. We don't use that in America to make our lights go on and off. We use AC. So here's how that works...." And that's all you ever got about DC. I guess you would have learned about it if you went to automotive class in high school or vo-tech school, or went to engineering of some kind (even that....not sure they would spend a lot of time on it--don't know). My brothers and cousins taught me to set engine timing, but they never worked on the actual wiring. Nobody in my family owned a trailer, and farm wagons did not have lights. The more I think about it, the more PISSED OFF I am that this was never covered in the bazillion and thirty hours of classes I've attended. Not. Once. 
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A good way to think about it as far as DC voltage/amps (current) and wire sizing: Think of the voltage as the water pressure. Think of the amps (current) as the actual amount of water being moved. Think of the wire as your pipe. Power (or work done) is literally water pressure X water flow, or voltage x current = power. Then just think that the water pump (battery) is taking its water from the end of the pipe in a loop to run back through the pipes. If you break that loop, no water can flow. |
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Quoted:
Kit.. DC is much simpler than AC. It's a one way flow from the battery, thru the load and back to the battery. Here's a page to start with.. https://www.allaboutcircuits.com/textbook/direct-current/ Read thru lesson one and ask questions here. We'll help you as best we can from the keyboard. Automotive voltages are all DC but some are cut down to millivolts. 1/1000th. Like the sensor in your gas tank. Others like headlights, tail lights, trailer brakes etc will run a full 12 volts. Some loads require more power than others, hence the myriad of different amperage fuses in your fuse block. Notice the cables connected to your battery are heavy duty large stranded cables. Your starter draws a LOT of current (amps) to start the engine. The wires to tail lights are much smaller as they don't draw as much current. Power in Watts, Current in Amps, Voltage in volts and Resistance in ohms (load) are all mathematically related. Don't worry too much about the math.. Just understand that the heavier the load is, more current will be required and hence larger wires (cables) to fulfill the need. ~~~and if this keeps up we'll make a ham radio operator out of ya~~~ LOL..Take care.. It's a matter of a larger cable running to the fuse box in the car, and the fuses (or some kind of tiny transformers in front of the fuses) breaking that down into smaller doses of power? So I might feel a tingle with the taillight wiring, but it won't knock me on my ass? But if I actually connected the two battery terminals and put myself in the middle of the circuit, I'd be stoopit for at least a while? 
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Electricity in house wiring actually doesn't make a loop. The electrons flow forward one "unit" and back one, 60 times per second. They do work by the "ratchet" effect. That is why it can shock you.
But automotive electricity does make a loop. Direct current, at automotive voltage, cannot shock you. If it could, you would die every time you took a battery cable off. |
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Quoted: OH, and (since I've calmed down from my pissed off state a little) It's a matter of a larger cable running to the fuse box in the car, and the fuses (or some kind of tiny transformers in front of the fuses) breaking that down into smaller doses of power? So I might feel a tingle with the taillight wiring, but it won't knock me on my ass? But if I actually connected the two battery terminals and put myself in the middle of the circuit, I'd be stoopit for at least a while? |
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Quoted:
Electricity in house wiring actually doesn't make a loop. The electrons flow forward one "unit" and back one, 60 times per second. They do work by the "ratchet" effect. That is why it can shock you. But automotive electricity does make a loop. Direct current, at automotive voltage, cannot shock you. If it could, you would die every time you took a battery cable off. Without the "back out" part of the circuit, the circuit doesn't work. |
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Okay then I am not understanding your "loop" because there is no "stop" in household electricity. It has to have a return. It doesn't end at the light bulb. It flows through. And back out. Without the "back out" part of the circuit, the circuit doesn't work. Quoted:
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Electricity in house wiring actually doesn't make a loop. The electrons flow forward one "unit" and back one, 60 times per second. They do work by the "ratchet" effect. That is why it can shock you. But automotive electricity does make a loop. Direct current, at automotive voltage, cannot shock you. If it could, you would die every time you took a battery cable off. Without the "back out" part of the circuit, the circuit doesn't work. Not in the same sense as DC power, anyway. The neutral provides potential. Voltage, in principal, is the measure of potential between 2 conductors. There is actually voltage in the air, and running water crates voltage! So lets take house wiring, and lets look at all 3 wires: Hot wire (black). This carries the actual load. The electrons go back and forth in the wire. They take 1 step forward (do some work) and then step back to where they started (doing some work while they step back). If you were to slow down a light bulb, it would flicker. Maybe not fully off, but it would dim. Why? For a split second, as the electrons are moving, they are at 0 voltage. But voltage to what? Since voltage is a measure of potential between 2 conductors, we have to have something to have potential against. BEHOLD: Neutral! Neutral provides a steady conductor which is at earth voltage (which is zero, for all intents and purposes). Remember: your neutral is bonded to ground in your main panel. So when the voltage on the hot wire is changing from -120 volts to +120 volts, that voltage is measured against the neutral wire, which sits comfortably at zero volts. So power isn't really going down the neutral wire, at least not in the same way that power is going down your ground wire from your tail lights on your truck. No matter what you do, in your house your hot wire goes from positive to negative voltage, and neutral stays at 0 volts. Yes, if you remove potential, you can turn stuff off, but that is because you are removing potential, not current. Lets not forget ground: its just a safe way to discharge stray voltage; a safe path to ground. Make sense? And now for a 240 volt: they don't need neutral! Why? The electrons need potential to do work, right? Remember that voltage is the measure of potential. The 240 volt appliance is using the same 120 volt legs from your breaker box. We also now know that AC power goes from postive to negative, back and forth 60 times per second. The magic is both "legs" of the power lines coming from the power company are at opposite polarity at any given time. When one is positive, the other is negative. SO the potential (voltage) between one connector that is positive is 120 volts to neutral, but more importantly another 120 volts to the other conductor which is at NEGATIVE 120 volts. So the conductors have potential against each other! The only reason you actually need a neutral in a 240 appliance is for any 120 portions of the appliance; they still need neutral. These would be like the controls on a stove: they only use 120 volts (which is actually transformed to DC voltage...). Another example: If you take a wire, go from your battery positive on your truck to a light bulb and then from the bulb back to the negative battery post, you make a full loop for electrons to travel. But since they are traveling, you can "tap" into that power: You can take power from the "negative" of the lamp and use it as the POSITIVE power to something else! Yes, you are now drawing all the power for both loads through the first wire (from the battery positive to the lamp positive, and through the lamp), but as long as you give the electrons a way to flow (flow being the key word) from a positive source, through the load, THROUGH THE RETURN (negative) CONDUCTOR, you are doing work. That is how DC power do. Just know that AC will arc and kill you, because that is how AC power do. DC cannot* arc and kill you, because you are a shitty conductor and typically carry a positive charge in the thousands to tens of thousands of volts (static electricity) anyway. You can literally touch both ends of a battery and nothing will happen. NOTE: This is a nuanced issue, and don't go touching random electrical conductors w/o knowing exactly what you are doing. Doing so could result in death, and we would need to solicit the services of another mod, which is a terribly long, drawn out process of which nobody wants to go through. ETA: If you got your finger between the sparks on your battery cable, it would burn you. Because of heat. Sparks are very hot. I'm not honestly sure what the spark from a spark plug would do (they are at a much higher voltage, because Tesla was a very smart man) as in if it could electrocute you. I think the voltage at the spark plug may be able to do it, but I'm honestly not 100% sure. |
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I don't understand this red part. Quoted:
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The power isn't transformed, it's just a smaller pipe because tail lamps (or whatever) only requires x amount of power. Those box things are relays. Just using a small signal power to control a bigger load. |
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Your truck battery is dead. No one is near you. How useful are your jumper cables right now? A jump box can get you jump started and moving.
Jump box will have instructions on it generally for how to hook it up and it has sensors in it so if you hook it up backwards it won't short things out. This said, there are enough morons out there do not ever consider yourself immune from someone saying your "help" hurt their vehicle, brain, ego, foot, gravel driveway, or something else. Even just handing someone a tool, they can still sue but you are able to simply tell judge I offered him the tool that he felt might help fix his issue. Obviously I was wrong. He has too many issues to fix. :D Youtube has videos on electric and trailer wiring and what not. Is this still the single axle trailer? Does it have brakes? With no brakes it should be simple and a search on your ford truck + trailer wiring will bring up forums with threads discussing that. So something like 1997 f150 4x4 + trailer wiring. On any jumper cables I buy copper wire. Just how I always did it and jumper cables are not something you need to buy often. I have a little 12ft long set from when I was younger. I have a 20ft or so set rated for diesel pickup trucks. So the 2nd set is not just 8 ft longer it is much heavier cable. These were bought before jump boxes were worth much. I now also have a noco jump box, not sure of rating cause it was a sale sorta buy thing and I have not even messed with it yet. Your stuck 130ft from trailer issue is something that varies every time. If there are trees nearby you can slowly hand winch, ratchet strap or whatever, from tree to tree to get where you want to go. I guess you could not just unhook trailer and drive truck over and pull mower to trailer? Yes an electric winch with 130ft of cable rocks, it brings lots with it which we covered somewhat before so I won't repeat. I don't know how much you charge your phone or listen to music when out and about, jump start boxes are a big battery. Some can be used as a power source for charging phones and stuff. While not so big a whup in normal life, when the power is out it is kinda nice to be able to charge the phone or whatever. |
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A relay is a mechanical switch that is controlled by a small coil. You can hear them click because they literally move. When you give the coil power (only a little bit, such as from a computer or small switch), it physically moves a metal switch, which can handle a LOT of power. I think I actually have an automotive relay broke open on the bench in the office (I don't think I threw it out yet), I can take some pics tomorrow. I do get this, more than it seems like, probably. One time it was explained to me as sticking a straw in water and plugging the open end. Unless you open both ends the water won't run out. And the neutral/ground is the "open end" which made sense to me in a way, though I know that is not in fact the best analogy. It is interesting to me that I know how to "use" electricity as far as actually wiring buildings--even wiring up the panel--but I can't speak about it correctly. Maybe that doesn't matter. I am going to re-read all this when I have more brain power available. (Been coming in very tired last few weeks). BUT...I am REALLY interested in understanding the relay. When y'all tell me about youtube...I listen. I love youtube and I learn from it. I just have to get the time to spend on those videos (and in many videos, much time is wasted on irrelevant information,f which you don't know until you watch, but that's okay too.) In any case, the bottom line from both you and @biere is that a jump pack is a very good thing. Biere, you are right. If I'm at a jobsite and I get the dreaded "click click click" a jump pack would be a very good thing to have. Okay it's going on the list. An interesting thing is that my mower has a 12 v outlet to charge things (cell phone is why it was included I'm sure) but I haven't figured out how to mount the phone so it ABSOLUTELY won't fall off the mower with all the jolting around I do in the process of working on a property. What I wonder about, even more than the cell phone, is whether I could use the jump pack to charge my power tool batteries. Hmmmm.... |
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CHeck the specs on your mower, but I'm sure that the charging ability of that particular socket isn't all that impressive. Fine for your phone, but it may be a stretch for power tools. But check the specs. You could always mount a plastic 30 cal ammo can on the fender or other appropriate spot on your mower. Make a foam insert that holds your phone, flashlight, anything else you would like to have on you and not loose. You could run a wire in to charge your phone. Bonus points if your phone charges wirelessly, you could mount a wireless charging pad in there so you don't have to plug the phone in, just set it in the slot. You will NEVER hear it ring, but you won't anyway with the mower running with ears on (unless you get those fancy bluetooth ear pro). |
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I agree on making a "case" to hold what is being charged. Even velcro in sufficient quantity will hold a small case in place and your phone can go in it.
As far as jump pack charging batteries, I doubt it. A jump pack is not made for charging things and it certainly would not be fast. My uncle used a jump pack for his phone and maybe mp3 player as well, this is before smart phones did everything all together. He wanted the battery capacity to play music all night if he wished to do so. Jump pack could do that. It might charge a battery over a long period of time, but trying to make a jump pack charge a battery quickly won't end in success. My opinion, I might be wrong and often am. Same as if you put a winch and battery on your trailer and expect trailer wiring to charge the battery on the trailer. The battery on the trailer will only be charging while vehicle is running and that is not much power going into the battery during that time. So you will wind up wanting to charge the battery on the trailer, if you do that, with either a battery maintainer or a solar panel or something. There will be a fuse on the mower for the charging port, you can figure out how much power is being allowed out that way. Charge a phone or mp3 player, sure. Not gonna do much else. Someone mentioned above a jump pack will jump a vehicle, high draw of a lot of power at once, once or twice or whatever between charges. Using it to charge things will use some power, not sure how much or what it will be capable of when done. Trying to run a winch on a jump pack won't really work. Get a proper battery like a vehicle runs on, and the winch can run on it. To some extent with enough money the above does change. But basically a jump pack is short duration high draw stuff. Winch needs more. Charging phone or something cause power went out is nice extra, I doubt I would make a habit of it but I would consider it for power outage needs. |
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CHeck the specs on your mower, but I'm sure that the charging ability of that particular socket isn't all that impressive. Fine for your phone, but it may be a stretch for power tools. But check the specs. You could always mount a plastic 30 cal ammo can on the fender or other appropriate spot on your mower. Make a foam insert that holds your phone, flashlight, anything else you would like to have on you and not loose. You could run a wire in to charge your phone. Bonus points if your phone charges wirelessly, you could mount a wireless charging pad in there so you don't have to plug the phone in, just set it in the slot. You will NEVER hear it ring, but you won't anyway with the mower running with ears on (unless you get those fancy bluetooth ear pro). It's a lie, sort of. Sometimes I'm just too busy to answer right then. But it's also true. I leave the phone in the truck when I'm mowing, cuz I don't have a good way to mount it. BUT...part of the reason I want it is for safety/security. One of the things I thought about when I decided to go into this biz, is that hey....I'm a small female, alone out mowing properties. Sometimes they might be rural. Sometimes not. But I am not armed when I'm on the mower or trimming or blowing. Not now, anyway. I may have to change that, but I don't have a good way to do so yet. I figured I need to clamp a mount for Bear spray--something stronger than normal pepper spray--to my mower, and also I need to have my phone at my side. If I had to grab something and run, it would be the spray and the phone (and an ASP maybe)...anyway this is not necessarily a discussion for here. I don't want to make the thread about my self defense when I'm working. But I AM working by myself, and there are not always people home. And hey....someday there might be people home but those people have a brother who is not nice. I dunno. I'm just oriented toward security. It's Arfcom after all. Anyhow... I figure my mower port is as good as my car port for charging. Maybe I'm wrong but I don't see why. I wouldn't charge tools through my truck cigarette lighter, either. |
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You have to watch for when amazon drops the price. There are a lot of electronic ear muffs that cut out loud noises like mower or shooting, but allow normal hearing when there are no loud noises. Some will also amplify quiet noises so you get super hearing when it is quiet.
If you get one of these with blue tooth or just run a cord from the phone to the headset if it is the right sort, you will be notified you have a call or text. I wear t-shirts with pockets. All I buy anymore. Phone lives in pocket. I have also gone the redneck route and just run headphone ear pieces under a set of old style muffs. You get music from phone but a call or text interrupts the music on the phone. Not sure what will work for you and I have a riding mower so I can play with the steering wheel using my knee while texting with one hand and drinking with the other hand. I understand zero turns make that difficult. |
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You have to watch for when amazon drops the price. There are a lot of electronic ear muffs that cut out loud noises like mower or shooting, but allow normal hearing when there are no loud noises. Some will also amplify quiet noises so you get super hearing when it is quiet. If you get one of these with blue tooth or just run a cord from the phone to the headset if it is the right sort, you will be notified you have a call or text. I wear t-shirts with pockets. All I buy anymore. Phone lives in pocket. I have also gone the redneck route and just run headphone ear pieces under a set of old style muffs. You get music from phone but a call or text interrupts the music on the phone. Not sure what will work for you and I have a riding mower so I can play with the steering wheel using my knee while texting with one hand and drinking with the other hand. I understand zero turns make that difficult. HOWEVER, YOUR POINT is well taken..that I should look into a headset that can help me. I have been searching for better hearing protection anyway. I'm hoping at the GIE (Green Industry Expo) in Louisville this fall, that I can see some vendors who can help with this. Right now I'm using foam earplugs (inserted correctly and expanded correctly) AND shooting muffs, and it's still WAY too loud. I think I ought to be able to deaden the sound more than I presently can. Part of it is if I'm wearing shades, the ear pieces keep the muffs from seating as well. But even without the sunglasses, it's still not as much sound deadening as I think I should have. I wear pocket t-shirts too. But I'm tiny and the t-shirts I wear are large because I like them loose, so the pocket position...well...there is breast involvement.... and the phone tends to flop out of the pocket and.. I'll stop typing about that now.
I'm going to look for an actual phone mount for the mower at the GIE also. I bet there will be some vendors there with options. And likely with answers to other questions I have. This first season of mowing and towing the mower has been interesting. I'll be more savvy next season, I hope,
ETA @Biere If you see a good price on the electronic shooting muffs, please post here and tag/IM me or something. Uxb needs a new set, and I want to try these on the mower as well. |
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I'm going to look for an actual phone mount for the mower at the GIE also. I bet there will be some vendors there with options. And likely with answers to other questions I have. |
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I don't think you want or need the electronic shooting earmuffs, they are intended to allow the background noise to be heard and even amplified. You just want something that cuts out the background noise. Take a look at the 3M Worktunes. I use the radio style that requires a cable to the phone, but they have Bluetooth available now. This looks like a good one, the gel cups will probably help get a better seal around your eyeglass bows. Without the gel cups they are about $30 cheaper. I've seen them at $40 on sale.
https://www.amazon.com/3M-WorkTunes-Protector-Bluetooth-Technology/dp/B07N6XXCWM/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?keywords=3m+worktunes+gel&qid=1565357434&s=gateway&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEzTktJVzI2RTM0NEM3JmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMTQ4OTczMUE2RDc0TU9TMVY1SCZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMDU4NjkxMzlVQkdORlVJUVE2RiZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU= |
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Get a Warn 2,000lb utility winch from Northern Tool or somewhere similar. I got mine for about $80 on sale. Then get the metal floor plate from Amazon for like $60. Add two small lengths of chain with grab hooks, and you have a portable utility winch that can be moved around and used in various places. If you are feeling industrious, weld on a section of 2" receiver to the front wall of your trailer, and then the appropriate matching tubing to the bottom of the mounting plate. Then you can hard-mount the winch to the trailer, but be able to remove it and mount it using the chains if you need to pull from a tree, etc. This winch will NOT be suitable for pulling your truck, don't even try. But it'll work great for mowers, etc. ETA: Winch Here's a mounting plate with the trailer hitch part already on it: Mounting Plate |
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I don't think you want or need the electronic shooting earmuffs, they are intended to allow the background noise to be heard and even amplified. You just want something that cuts out the background noise. Take a look at the 3M Worktunes. I use the radio style that requires a cable to the phone, but they have Bluetooth available now. This looks like a good one, the gel cups will probably help get a better seal around your eyeglass bows. Without the gel cups they are about $30 cheaper. I've seen them at $40 on sale. https://www.amazon.com/3M-WorkTunes-Protector-Bluetooth-Technology/dp/B07N6XXCWM/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?keywords=3m+worktunes+gel&qid=1565357434&s=gateway&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEzTktJVzI2RTM0NEM3JmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMTQ4OTczMUE2RDc0TU9TMVY1SCZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMDU4NjkxMzlVQkdORlVJUVE2RiZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU= Also for the info about the gel cups. I actually went looking at some fancy brand of sunglasses that are supposed to NOT interfere with the seal of your muffs, and I could not find a dealer within driving distance. Fancy shooting clubs seemed to be the main outlet for them. It would be a lot easier if I could just get muffs that would flex around the earpieces. |
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Get a Warn 2,000lb utility winch from Northern Tool or somewhere similar. I got mine for about $80 on sale. Then get the metal floor plate from Amazon for like $60. Add two small lengths of chain with grab hooks, and you have a portable utility winch that can be moved around and used in various places. If you are feeling industrious, weld on a section of 2" receiver to the front wall of your trailer, and then the appropriate matching tubing to the bottom of the mounting plate. Then you can hard-mount the winch to the trailer, but be able to remove it and mount it using the chains if you need to pull from a tree, etc. This winch will NOT be suitable for pulling your truck, don't even try. But it'll work great for mowers, etc. ETA: Winch Here's a mounting plate with the trailer hitch part already on it: Mounting Plate If I need to pull the truck, I'm calling for help. Somebody with the words, "towing service" after their name.
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Thank you! These are AWESOME. Nothing specific to lawn/landscape but I'm betting some of the ATV mounts would function for me.  Quoted:
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Something by RAM Mount ( https://www.rammount.com/ ) is what you seek. Go forth and prosper! Nothing specific to lawn/landscape but I'm betting some of the ATV mounts would function for me. |
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That is the coolest thing about RAM Mount, everything is modular so you can find the exact thing that works for you by combining this base and that holder, ad infinitum! All the stuff (mostly anyway, I think there is a small and a regular size ball) works together. I'm scared once I get one for the mower, I'll want one for the truck, for my urban assault vehicle (minivan) for uxb's SUV.... I'm guessing it will be like Black Rifle Disease. Only for phone mounts.
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Quoted: Awesome! Thank you so much for this recommendation. I'm scared once I get one for the mower, I'll want one for the truck, for my urban assault vehicle (minivan) for uxb's SUV.... I'm guessing it will be like Black Rifle Disease. Only for phone mounts. 
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So...there's a Harbor Freight Sale!
Listen.. I NEED Y'ALL TO TELL ME IF THIS IS A BAD IDEA. See that 2500 lb winch in the middle of the ad? It's $50. I'm considering buying that. I've paid attention to everything you have said, and I think I want a winch. Is anything wrong with this one, for hauling my 1000 lb mower onto my trailer in the event of trouble?  AAAANNND... There's this chain in the ad. My Current situation: I have NO CHAINS and I don't really know much about chains. When I was growing up, there were always chains around. We used them all the time for all kinds of things. I never questioned the chain. I just used the one my dad pointed at. Now here I am....and I realize that chains are clearly subject to specs and quality. I don't have to have a chain right effing now. But I saw this one, so... What are the minimum specs I should require in a chain? That chain down there....on the right of the ad... Is this the kind of chain I should buy to have in my work truck? Is anything wrong with it? Should I go for better? (What is better?) Yes, Kitties is dumb about chains, and has not had time to research to learn. So there is this ad....
THANK YOU IN ADVANCE FOR ALL HELP YOU GIVE. Y'all have taught me a lot about things I didn't know, and I do not take your help for granted. |
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With HF you do get what you pays for. That winch is probably good for a few uses before you strip the gears out, but at that price, that may be ok. See if it's the one with the remote control key fob. Being able to be "anywhere" and control the winch would be nice. Only you can decide how much quality you can afford. You can always upgrade later... You would not catch me with any chain not rated for transport use. As a hint, they are gold colored. Fleet farm used to put nice ones on sale from time to time. Not sure with the new owners how much they will do that. Menards has them on sale every so often too. For chain binders, if you buy/need them, ratchet only. Seriously. My brother, who knows what he is doing, broke his arm with the old style, and they just suck in general. Ratchet binders are your friends. Not even sure dot allows the old style anymore actually. For securing vehicles, technically speaking, you chain the axles, strap the chassis. Equipment without suspension just gets chained. Recheck tension after 5 ish miles. If you just need a chain to drag random stuff, use whatever you feel safe with 
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Tractor supply has chain in bulk as well as pre-made lengths with hooks.
Here's a pre-made with hooks. Notice there are different hooks on the ends. The left one is a "grab hook". It will bite onto the chain anywhere along its length. The right one is a "slide hook". This will tighten around a log, for instance, to tow it. 3/8ths is pretty heavy chain and probably bigger than you'd need. I use 5/16ths on my timber winch and it's more than enough. Good Luck.. |
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BTW: found some better coupons for you 
https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/165887/pVYvvYL_jpg-1056106.JPG 
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BTW: found some better coupons for you
https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/165887/pVYvvYL_jpg-1056106.JPG
I think that EVERY TIME I get their flyer in the mail! A 20 percent coupon expires and I'm like, "oh, dang. Gotta wait a week for another one." |
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Quoted:
With HF you do get what you pays for. That winch is probably good for a few uses before you strip the gears out, but at that price, that may be ok. See if it's the one with the remote control key fob. Being able to be "anywhere" and control the winch would be nice. Only you can decide how much quality you can afford. You can always upgrade later... You would not catch me with any chain not rated for transport use. As a hint, they are gold colored. Fleet farm used to put nice ones on sale from time to time. Not sure with the new owners how much they will do that. Menards has them on sale every so often too. For chain binders, if you buy/need them, ratchet only. Seriously. My brother, who knows what he is doing, broke his arm with the old style, and they just suck in general. Ratchet binders are your friends. Not even sure dot allows the old style anymore actually. For securing vehicles, technically speaking, you chain the axles, strap the chassis. Equipment without suspension just gets chained. Recheck tension after 5 ish miles. If you just need a chain to drag random stuff, use whatever you feel safe with I may not be able to afford a better winch. I don't know. But I cannot afford the time it takes to screw around with something twice. So I'll wait for a better winch. I'd always rather buy once, unless it just doesn't make sense. I want it to be there and work when I need it. I will wait for the gold chain, and that's exactly what I needed to know about that, too. I'm sure there are weights and stuff, and I can learn those. Y'all taught me about the binders in the old trailer thread, and I still remember that. 
ETA: I do need a chain to drag random stuff, mostly. But while a deep socket failure will just piss me off (you know, the HF sockets I bought to go with my impact wrench) a chain popping can kill me or somebody else. So anything I'm putting under loads like that, I want some kind of process for quality assurance. |
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Quoted:
Tractor supply has chain in bulk as well as pre-made lengths with hooks. Here's a pre-made with hooks. Notice there are different hooks on the ends. The left one is a "grab hook". It will bite onto the chain anywhere along its length. The right one is a "slide hook". This will tighten around a log, for instance, to tow it. 3/8ths is pretty heavy chain and probably bigger than you'd need. I use 5/16ths on my timber winch and it's more than enough. Good Luck..
The link takes me to the main page and not to the chain hooks, but I think I can figure out which is which. Now I am armed with more information so I can go to the store and ask.
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You cannot go wrong with Warn, ever. I would not buy a HF winch when the Warn winch is only $40ish more. And if you want true transport chain, go with AW Direct. If you just want some logging chain for general farm use, get whatever you want. Just understand that the forces involved in pulling vehicles require rated chain for safety. Rating = $$ |
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Your mower probably weighs a whopping 1k lbs or less. I honestly don't know and am too lazy to go look it up.
On flat yard it won't take a lot of force to make it roll if tires are aired up. If stuck in ditch and on a flat tire, winch is gonna have a little work to do. You can read about winch safety on something like the pirate 4x4 board or just google it or youtube it. Chains are to be treated much like winch cables. They can store energy and come flying at you or your stuff. Synthetic winch lines are the new norm in offroading cause they don't store energy and weigh less but get damaged easier if you don't take care in how you route em on rocks or whatever. For $50 bucks I would buy 2 so you have a spare winch when that one dies. You want to do some reading and watching of sales to see what fits your needs is my recomendation. To some extent buying a slightly worse brand but going up in capacity will also work in your case because the higher capacity winch should live longer with easy working jobs. I would not buy that winch you specifically pointed out. On chains, what do you plan to do with em? I got some super chains a few decades ago cause it was a buy once cry once sort of thing. Still have em. Way over rated for what I use em for and still have em. The common "car" chain you find is 20ft or so of chain with a hook on each end. Can find em in plastic cases, at pawn shops, at lowes and home depot and everywhere. I would not mind using em for the mower but would not use em on a road going vehicle for anything. The transport chains are way better and held to standards, but cost a lot more. On winches the more cable off the spool the stronger the pull. If you consider leverage the more cable wound up on the spool the harder the winch works. So even for a short pull, getting all the cable off the spool can help. You will be able to listen to and watch the winch and tell when it is working hard. To some extent depending on what you are wanting to do I would look for a dead winch and take the cable off it and just have extra cable. You can buy more cable as well. |
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Biggest problem with the cheap winches are the solinoid packs and sealing to housings.
Another problem is people think they have a winch, i will get unstuck....after 15 min...of hard use, they try again and the heat has killed the solinoids or melted the epoxy holding magents to housing. These are not warn8274 or milemarker hydraulic winches...winch a min and let it rest a few (unless its life or death) we have used HF winches all over the south, Tellico, Callantee, Uwharrie, Devils playground, the Flats, Harlan KY...dont abuse it and it will work. We always swapped relays for 200 amp continues duty for 8k+ after first sign of trouble |
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You cannot go wrong with Warn, ever. I would not buy a HF winch when the Warn winch is only $40ish more. And if you want true transport chain, go with AW Direct. If you just want some logging chain for general farm use, get whatever you want. Just understand that the forces involved in pulling vehicles require rated chain for safety. Rating = $$ |
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Your mower probably weighs a whopping 1k lbs or less. I honestly don't know and am too lazy to go look it up. On flat yard it won't take a lot of force to make it roll if tires are aired up. If stuck in ditch and on a flat tire, winch is gonna have a little work to do. You can read about winch safety on something like the pirate 4x4 board or just google it or youtube it. Chains are to be treated much like winch cables. They can store energy and come flying at you or your stuff. Synthetic winch lines are the new norm in offroading cause they don't store energy and weigh less but get damaged easier if you don't take care in how you route em on rocks or whatever. For $50 bucks I would buy 2 so you have a spare winch when that one dies. You want to do some reading and watching of sales to see what fits your needs is my recomendation. To some extent buying a slightly worse brand but going up in capacity will also work in your case because the higher capacity winch should live longer with easy working jobs. I would not buy that winch you specifically pointed out. On chains, what do you plan to do with em? I got some super chains a few decades ago cause it was a buy once cry once sort of thing. Still have em. Way over rated for what I use em for and still have em. The common "car" chain you find is 20ft or so of chain with a hook on each end. Can find em in plastic cases, at pawn shops, at lowes and home depot and everywhere. I would not mind using em for the mower but would not use em on a road going vehicle for anything. The transport chains are way better and held to standards, but cost a lot more. On winches the more cable off the spool the stronger the pull. If you consider leverage the more cable wound up on the spool the harder the winch works. So even for a short pull, getting all the cable off the spool can help. You will be able to listen to and watch the winch and tell when it is working hard. To some extent depending on what you are wanting to do I would look for a dead winch and take the cable off it and just have extra cable. You can buy more cable as well. Yes, that's a very good guess on my mower. I think stock, it was 963. With the additions I've made to the mower would come in at maybe 980-something. I was gonna ask why somebody would choose chain over tow strap, etc, but I think if you're in dirt, rocks, on sharp stuff, etc, then chain makes a lot more sense. I do not plan to haul anything that would have to be chained down (at least I don't plan to do that NOW) so this chain would be general use. But chains, to me, are dangerous things, and they get not only loaded, but yanked, and jerked, and that's a different kind of load. I want a chain, but I want as good a one as I can afford. Somewhere in the storage unit (that desperately needs to be emptied) full of the stuff I brought home from my mom and dad's estate last year (I cleaned out the barns in forced- march emergency style and just shoved it all in a unit) there are some chains in an old half-bushel galvanized tub. I just don't know WHAT they are, so I would be willing to buy at least one to have with me. I'm ending up doing as much--0r more--landscaping as I am straight mowing, and shrub removal is a LOT easier with a chain, but I'd rather buy one that's good for other things too. If that ramble makes any sense?
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Quoted:
Biggest problem with the cheap winches are the solinoid packs and sealing to housings. Another problem is people think they have a winch, i will get unstuck....after 15 min...of hard use, they try again and the heat has killed the solinoids or melted the epoxy holding magents to housing. These are not warn8274 or milemarker hydraulic winches...winch a min and let it rest a few (unless its life or death) we have used HF winches all over the south, Tellico, Callantee, Uwharrie, Devils playground, the Flats, Harlan KY...dont abuse it and it will work. We always swapped relays for 200 amp continues duty for 8k+ after first sign of trouble Is this 8274 what I should look at? You don't have to pick one out for me. I will go look. I just figure you might have mentioned it for a reason.
ETA: Woops WHOA! Nope I won't be buying one of those!
Somebody said I could get a Warn or something similar for about $40 more than the HF. I will go look around. I'm not in a hurry, but this first season is bound to be sorta charmed. No mower trouble. It's too new, yaknow? Next season--and maybe as soon as this fall when I'm cleaning up leaves--I need to be more ready to get myself out of a jam. |
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Run searches on anything you look at these days. Baby warn winch might just be rebranded something or other. Might not be.
I think good chains have marks on em but I don't recall. I have one or two of the cheap junk "car towing" chains and consider em fine for something a riding mower could move or other small stuff. Not gonna use em at all with a proper full size vehicle. One thing I learned with a hi-lift jack is that if you use a lot of chain it can be very difficult to get it rigged up by yourself and not have so much slack still in it that the 3ft of movement the high lift offers is not going to move your object much. With tow straps, pay very close attention to what it describes. A 4x4 "recovery" strap tends to stretch out as it is used so one 4x4 can pull another 4x4 out. This is a ton of stored energy. Should never ever have a metal hook on it. A tow strap with no stretching at all is what I would get for winching and what not. The recovery strap that stretches, more vehicle to vehicle sort of thing. Monster rubber band is how you should consider it. They are rated by thousands of lbs, so a little one for say jeep wranglers should probably not be used by two 4x4 diesel dually mud bogging trucks. And on chains, there is a right way to hook on chain links and a wrong way. Chains are great for going around a buch or something and letting a winch pull the bush out of the ground. Grandma had some bushes she wanted out. Someone tried a chain and pickup but was not coming out. Winch on a jeep, guy offroaded jeep so 8k lb winch or so, and winch tugged em right out of ground is what my aunt told me. I was not around so 2nd story. On not just the solenoids but also the wires and mounts and everything else, make sure you are watching ratings of everything. I have rednecked a winch with a portable plate using a set of jumper cables. It was just yard work. Not winching truck up side of cliff. At same time, too small a cable or bad connection can cause winch to not run as well as it should and what not. If you took notes on pullies, that slows the pull down but helps increase the pulling power. Many say doubles pulling time and doubles pulling power but efficiency losses need to be considered and especially if your setup means you need to let the winch cool down a lot then that can really add to things. |
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Run searches on anything you look at these days. Baby warn winch might just be rebranded something or other. Might not be. I think good chains have marks on em but I don't recall. I have one or two of the cheap junk "car towing" chains and consider em fine for something a riding mower could move or other small stuff. Not gonna use em at all with a proper full size vehicle. One thing I learned with a hi-lift jack is that if you use a lot of chain it can be very difficult to get it rigged up by yourself and not have so much slack still in it that the 3ft of movement the high lift offers is not going to move your object much. With tow straps, pay very close attention to what it describes. A 4x4 "recovery" strap tends to stretch out as it is used so one 4x4 can pull another 4x4 out. This is a ton of stored energy. Should never ever have a metal hook on it. A tow strap with no stretching at all is what I would get for winching and what not. The recovery strap that stretches, more vehicle to vehicle sort of thing. Monster rubber band is how you should consider it. They are rated by thousands of lbs, so a little one for say jeep wranglers should probably not be used by two 4x4 diesel dually mud bogging trucks. And on chains, there is a right way to hook on chain links and a wrong way. Chains are great for going around a buch or something and letting a winch pull the bush out of the ground. Grandma had some bushes she wanted out. Someone tried a chain and pickup but was not coming out. Winch on a jeep, guy offroaded jeep so 8k lb winch or so, and winch tugged em right out of ground is what my aunt told me. I was not around so 2nd story. On not just the solenoids but also the wires and mounts and everything else, make sure you are watching ratings of everything. I have rednecked a winch with a portable plate using a set of jumper cables. It was just yard work. Not winching truck up side of cliff. At same time, too small a cable or bad connection can cause winch to not run as well as it should and what not. If you took notes on pullies, that slows the pull down but helps increase the pulling power. Many say doubles pulling time and doubles pulling power but efficiency losses need to be considered and especially if your setup means you need to let the winch cool down a lot then that can really add to things. There is nothing like first-hand knowledge. Like...I can grow some bitchin tobacco, cuz I grew up doing it. From seed to smoke or chew (if you're willing to chew that shit straight out of the barn ) but I don't know about this stuff...winches and trailers and such.Wish I had more first-hand. In the time I have had the trailer, and been mowing for money, I've gotten a LOT better and more confident working with the trailer itself. There is more to go. Nothing like learning by doing. |
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Hook rope to your mower. Run rope to front of trailer and around a pulley. Run rope back to mower. You just used double the amount of rope as you would if you had no pulley.
Means you have to pull in more rope. So you pull in more rope. Takes more time. However, less effort than if you just had rope going to trailer and just to trailer. Does not matter if winch is pulling or you are pulling. I am sure you have seen the cheap come alongs you crank by hand. Just pulleys. Ramp is a simple machine. You could lift your mower to trailer deck height, and go up what 18 inches? Good luck lifting mower straight up 18 inches. Or you use 4ft ramp to slowly raise mower up 18 inches. I may not be explaining it well. I defer to youtube but since my ad blocker lets in their ads again youtube sucks. |
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I mentioned those 2 winches as prime example of damn near 100% duty cycle and are both waaayyy more than you need.
A small atv size is plenty for you. FM 20-22 Check out FM20-22, it can give you some guidance on the beginner basics of recovery. Like was said above good advice, to learn differences between recovery straps and tow straps/tree savers etc. |
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Hook rope to your mower. Run rope to front of trailer and around a pulley. Run rope back to mower. You just used double the amount of rope as you would if you had no pulley. Means you have to pull in more rope. So you pull in more rope. Takes more time. However, less effort than if you just had rope going to trailer and just to trailer. Does not matter if winch is pulling or you are pulling. I am sure you have seen the cheap come alongs you crank by hand. Just pulleys. Ramp is a simple machine. You could lift your mower to trailer deck height, and go up what 18 inches? Good luck lifting mower straight up 18 inches. Or you use 4ft ramp to slowly raise mower up 18 inches. I may not be explaining it well. I defer to youtube but since my ad blocker lets in their ads again youtube sucks. We were both hanging on ropes on the side of a building. It was training. Nobody else needed that many pulleys. but I'm small. He was big. It worked. I do understand the power of pulleys...or gears. |
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I mentioned those 2 winches as prime example of damn near 100% duty cycle and are both waaayyy more than you need. A small atv size is plenty for you. FM 20-22 Check out FM20-22, it can give you some guidance on the beginner basics of recovery. Like was said above good advice, to learn differences between recovery straps and tow straps/tree savers etc. I just saved this. I created a new folder called "Truck and Trailer Education." I learned a freaking TON of stuff from a similar download somebody linked to in my old trailer thread. It was about hauling, and how to tie down loads of different types. It might have been you who linked it. Anyway, I'm on a new computer (old one died) and I wish I had what was saved on the old one. I saved that military manual about loads. When I first got the trailer, that was my trump card to weigh what anybody said about how to tie down a load. This will be the same for winching. I know the military does not have EVERYTHING figured out. But they know how to move shit. And I can learn from that. Thank you for this. |