Imagine spending several hundred dollars on a winch to only end up with the picture above. The damage seen there to the right side of the case where the tie bars attach was the result of spotter inattention. The winch was being ran from within the cab and the spotter was suppose to watch and ensure the cable didn’t spool up on one side of the winch. The spotter became to interested in the object being winched, lost focus of the cable which resulted in to much cable building up on the right side of the winch. The cable pressed on the tie bars and popped them right out of the casing. The right side casing (motor base) will need be replaced to repair the winch.
This month I want to share some winching errors with you since most people tend to use products without fully reading their manuals.
1) Failure to wear gloves. Protect your hands while guiding your winch cable.
2) Failure to watch your cable and keep it spooling even.
3) Failure to place a blanket or similar object over the winch cable to absorb energy if the cable should come loose.
4) Winching with your vehicle in gear or park, which could damage your trucks transmission. Use your parking brake, wheel blocks, and tie yourself off to an object such as a tree with a strap if possible.
3) Winching with less than five wraps of cable on the drum.
4) Failure to keep tight spooling causing the cable to get pinched between cables and bind.
5) Failing to attach winch hook to frame mounted recovery point. All wheelers should have frame mounted tow hooks.
For more information on winching, check out these two pages:
What Most People Don’t Know About Winching