Friday, December 24, 2010

Choosing and Safely Using an Off-Road Winch

There are many factors to consider when purchasing a winch for your off-road vehicle. There are several reputable winch manufacturers out there, so your winch choice is largely a matter of personal taste. The most google_protectAndRun("ads_core.google_render_ad", google_handleError, google_render_ad); common differences will be in the gearing and horsepower of the motor. Some use planetary gears, some use worm gears, some try other things. Rest assured, however, that most of these winches work very well for their intended purpose. The more popular brands include Warn, Ramsey and Milemarker.
Price is also a concern for most of us, and for this reason manufacturers slap a competitive price on all their models, keeping them relatively affordable. For a winch of any quality, expect to pay approximately $400-$600 USD. It may sound rather steep until you find yourself in an impossible situation, miles away from civilization, and your buddy can't tug you out with his strap.
When choosing a winch for your vehicle, consider the advertised pull rating of the winch compared to the curb weight of the vehicle. For example, if you have a 4x4 pickup that weighs in at around 5500 pounds, you will want an 8,000 lb winch. One reason for this is mud. Once your tires are completely engulfed in mud, your vehicle can give the impression of weighing a lot more than it actually does because of the suction created. Therefore, in order for the winch to successfully pull your 5500 lb truck out of the mud pit, it will need have the ability to haul substantially more than just that weight. The general rule is to add 3,000 pounds to the weight of your vehicle when choosing the pull rating of your winch. I personally run a 12,000 lb winch on my Jeep Cherokee, because I believe in "better There are also a couple of winch types out there. The most common is an electric winch, which uses the 12 volt system in your rig to power the winch using a motor and gear set. Just hook the wires up correctly and it is google_protectAndRun("ads_core.google_render_ad", google_handleError, google_render_ad); ready to go. The other, less popular type, is a hydraulic winch, which normally uses the power-steering pressure in order to operate the winch. The latter is a very reliable winch with a 100% duty cycle (won't overheat easily), but the catch is that the vehicle has to be running. If you get into deep water or lose a fuel line and your engine shuts off, no winch. These winches can be found on many military vehicles. An electric winch will run with the engine off, for as long as your battery has juice. Electric winches normally operate using a remote source, or a cable that runs off the winch itself with a momentary toggle switch on the end of it labeled "In" and "Out". However, it is usually possible to hardwire the winch controls into the cab for ease of use on mild trails. Many times, though, it is actually safer to be outside the vehicle while winching, such as when stranded in rather deep water.
Once you've chosen the proper winch for your vehicle, you'll need some way to mount it (they don't tape on very easily). There are special aftermarket bumpers created especially for use with winches, and once again it is mostly a matter of taste. There will likely be several styles and colors offered for your particular rig, so do some homework before running out and purchasing a winch bumper. Some offer more body protection than others, and one style will mount the winch low in the bumper while another will have the winch higher up and more exposed. I personally like a lower, more hidden winch, because they tend to leave the grill area unobstructed, allowing for more air flow over the radiator.
Now that you have your nifty new winch, and are ready for anything on the trail, there are a few things you need to know. Most winches will have a clutch switch on the winch body somewhere. These are usually three google_protectAndRun("ads_core.google_render_ad", google_handleError, google_render_ad); position switches which are normally labeled "In" , "Out", and "Free", or something similar. Put the switch on "Free" when you are pulling the line to the other vehicle. Once your clevis (the hook on the end of the cable) is safely attached, go back to the winch and switch the clutch to "In". Power the winch until the line is taught, and stop. At this point find a heavy jacket, bag or pack of some sort to place on the middle of the winch line. This is a safety precaution that will direct the energy of a snapping line to the ground. Without a line weight, the winch cable could break and whip wildly, injuring someone or damaging a vehicle. There are nylon winch ropes available which are much safer if you would like to purchase one separately. You will use the "Out" setting of the clutch if you need to give more line for some reason during the extraction. On that setting, the winch is able to power out using the gears in the case, allowing more control than simply free spooling the line. After the stuck vehicle is repositioned and you are ready to pull again, simply place the clutch back to the "In" position and yank. Please make sure all onlookers are safely away from the extraction, just in case something goes wrong. It is also a very good idea to wear heavy gloves when coming in contact with a winch, because the steel lines can get frayed and cut your hands very easily.
It is very important when extracting a vehicle to know where to attach the winch clevis. STAY AWAY from leaf springs and axle tubes if remotely possible. Winches exert great pressure on whatever they are pulling, so you should try to attach the clevis to something that will not bend, like tow hooks, trailer hitches or beefy bumpers with D-Rings designed specifically as trail recovery points.
What do you do when you are the lead vehicle and get stuck in a place where nobody in your group can get by to pull you forward, or (please don't do this) you are out alone and unexpectedly find yourself spinning tires and going nowhere? An old trick is to bury the spare tire about 75 feet from where you are stuck with the winch clevis attached to it. The reason you should put the tire as far away as possible is that the smaller the spool gets, the lower the effective pull ratio gets, which makes it easier for the winch to get you out. This has saved the day for many a back country explorer. Another idea is to use trees as a winch point, although there are right ways and wrong ways to do this. NEVER simply wrap the cable around the nearest tree and pull. The cable can cut deep into the tree, severely damaging or even killing it. You can purchase a tree saver strap, which wraps around the tree in lieu of the thin cable, greatly reducing your chances of doing harm to the tree.
The last thing to know is how to wind the cable back onto the winch after the extraction is complete. The best way is to have one person operate the winch controls while another person keeps the line taught and weaves it back and forth as it winds on the spool, so it gets wrapped evenly. The goal is to try to make one wind of the cable be directly next to the previous wind, until you reach the end of the spool, then start going back the other way.
Following these guidelines should keep your winching experience a happy one. The most important issue is always safety - think before you yank!

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