On Mon, 13 Jul 2009 21:26:30 -0500, dpb wrote:

Jim Elbrecht wrote:
...
I've got an old riding mower with a bad transmission. Seems like
overkill, but it has a good 8hp motor on it, and charges the little
battery - so I think I could just run it off that battery when the
motor is running.

Or I could pull the Impala around to the side of the house and tap
into that 12v system.

What sounds like a feasible plan?
...

1HP @ 12VDC -- 60+ A

Try the mower battery and see but you'll need a good set of cables.
Don't recall what those little 1U batteries are typically rated for...

Most likely with the load he's got the winch will draw less than 20
amps, which the garden tractor battery and charging system will be
able to handle, no problem.. Run the tractor for 10 minutes for each 3
- 4 minutes of running the winch.