Went with the hydraulic winch over the mechanical one and my arms are thanking me
My old mechanical winch on the 8 inch cutter was killing me on long pulls, so I switched to hydraulic last spring and cut my reset time in half. Anybody else running hydraulic out there, or do you still swear by the old setup?
Switched my 6 inch to hydraulic two years back and never looked back. The upfront cost stings but when you're doing 20+ pulls a day your shoulders will thank you, and maintenance is way less of a headache than fighting with cables. Just make sure you're checking your fluid levels regular, I got lazy one summer and paid for it.