Put on the skidding winch to do a little trail clearing. Didn’t really need it today but will for the next job so went ahead and swapped the bush hog for the winch.
Only issue I’ve had with the winch is it sometimes bottoms out when crossing ditches and the creek crossings. The 3 point lift arms were in the bottom hole so moving them up one was an easy fix. The bigger problem was the hydraulic top link the dealer chose was a bit shorter fully extended than the original manual toplink. With toplink fully extended, the cage on the winch was hitting the ROPS when lifted and it was putting a tighter bend on the hydraulic hoses exiting the rear remotes than I would prefer. That was the real limiting factor on height.
The hydraulic toplink doesn’t add any value on this particular implement. Swapped it for the manual toplink and moved the lift arm pins up one position. 
	
		
			
		
		
	
View attachment 161979
	
		
			
		
		
	
	
		
			
		
		
	
View attachment 161980
	
		
			
		
		
	
That gave it 2” extra height. Doesn’t seem like much, but it’s so close to the rear axle, 2” of height makes a significant difference in departure angle. Didn’t have any issues with bottoming out. 
	
		
			
		
		
	
View attachment 161981
	
		
			
		
		
	
Cage was even with ROPs previously. Now I have to remember to lower it just a little before the exiting the 9’ shop door that barely clears the ROPs. 
	
		
			
		
		
	
View attachment 161982
	
		
			
		
		
	
Cleared this deadfall pine from the north trail. Not a big deal except it had several poison ivy vines in it. I wasn’t allergic until about 25 years ago. Now I know whatever I do, I can keep from getting much, but I’ll have at least a couple spots after messing with this. If for no other reason, because it will take me at least an hour from here to a shower. 
	
		
			
		
		
	
View attachment 161983
	
		
			
		
		
	
Cut it yesterday at the end of the day and headed straight in to clean up. Got a couple spots but nothing bad. The little vine on top of the tree wasn’t near as irritating as the big one now on the ground after yesterday’s axe work. 
	
		
			
		
		
	
View attachment 161984
	
		
			
		
		
	
Today, decided I was not getting off the tractor to manually deal with any of this. Didn’t matter if I had to play pick up sticks with forge tongs, I wasn’t touching it again. Success. Took a little bit because not much maneuvering room but got it done.
	
		
			
		
		
	
View attachment 161986