Cross MC8 Winch Tractor

[AndrewJ]

Well I figured I've been around here for a while but don't normally post, so I thought I'd share this build with everyone. I wanted something a little different than the standard box, with the option to build a trailer down the road. So I'm aiming for a winch tractor/recovery setup like this one pictured. I'd really like to build a static Hiab/folding crane as some point and mount it behind the winches, but I haven't got as far as to figure out how I'll do that yet.

Started with a perfectly good MC8 which I felt was way too long, so I cut it in half. Took 2.5" out of the middle.

Before:

After:

New tranny mount with R2 trans, doubles as the mounts for the winches on the rear deck. Got two Chinese winches on order from eBay. Need to order some new matching hardware for the frame job still too. Mix and matched every spare m3 screw I had lying around for now.

And here she sits currently. Still need to source a tamiya style 5th wheel coupler, and then I can build some frame sliders. Mount the winches when they show up, and dress up the deck a little. I only have a 3 channel radio right now, so I'll only be able to control one winch for now. Would be nice down the road to be able to run both remotely. The tie rod ends in this kit are prettly sloppy, like punched out axial junk after you run them for a while. Would be nice to swap them out for something more solid, as the front end and steering has a lot of slop in it. Should keep me busy for a while longer.

 

[wblteen]

You can run both on a each if you hook them up to a 3 position switch. I run front and rear winches off one controller. The switch allows you to select the winch you want to use or turn them both off so you don't accidentally run it when you don't want to. It looks like your running a flysky gt3c. The third channel is only 2 position. Need 3 for a winch. There's a way to get it to work but you have to mess with the trim to "pause" the winch.

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[AndrewJ]

I've got a heyok controller for a 2 position channel. I hadn't thought about a 3 way switch though that's a great idea!

 

[Chris81]

Could also hack your radio, this will let you assign any button to do anything you want. Might be an option.

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[AndrewJ]

Bit more done. Cab is finished just waiting for emergency beacons. Just got my winches and 5th wheel today so mocked up the risers and dropped the winches in place. Wanted to do something a little more for the frame sliders and risers but I'd like to build them from scratch from styrene, so these will do for now.

Finish up the sliders and tool boxes this week hopefully.

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