Tech Tips: Winches and Winch Accessories

What Is a Winch?

A winch is a mechanical device with a large spool (or drum) with either rope, chain, or metal cable coiled around it. They are used to pull in (wind up) or let out (wind out) or otherwise adjust the "tension" of the rope, wire cable or chain. Winches can be electrically, hydraulically or fuel driven. They can also be operated manually. Winches can be controlled with a switch inside the vehicle, remotely operated with a wireless system, or with an external cable and switch that is attached to the winch itself.

Note: Winches are not designed for direct vertical lifting. Do not rely on a winch for crane type use, it is not designed for it.

Types of winches

Manual

• Least expensive

• Least complicated

• Suitable when you don’t need the power of an electric model

Electric

• Permanent or non-permanent mounting option

• Stronger pulling capabilities

• Less physical effort than manual model

• More practical in certain environments

Hydraulic

• Possible to utilize existing hydraulic systems already on equipment

• Hydraulics winches have excellent pulling capabilities

• No need to hook electrical power to the winch

Gas

• No need for permanent hook up

• Portable

ELECTRIC WINCHES

• Electric winches are typically 12V DC or 120V powered and are commonly used in these scenarios:

• ATV Winch (12V DC)

• Recovery Winch (12V DC)

• Trailer Winch (12V DC)

• 120V Winch

MANUAL (HAND) WINCHES

Hand Winches are the simplest of all the winches. Most boat trailers utilize this type of winch system. The operator simply has to manually turn the handle to pull or release in the cable. The spool has a gear that is connected to the side which clicks into an opposing set of gears. As the handle turns the gears mesh together. There is a brake lever that stops the winch from turning back on itself. Aircraft cables, ropes, and straps are all common items used with these winches.

• THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN CHOOSING A MANUAL WINCH:

• What is the load capacity of the winch?

• What is the gear ratio of the winch?

• What features does the winch have?

  • Is it reversible?

  • Are they planetary or worm gears?

  • Is it single or dual speeds?

  • Is it single or dual gear?

  • Does it have one or two handles?

Which winch is right for the job

When trying to figure out what type of winch is suitable for the application, you need to know some of the basics of winching.

DEAD WEIGHT VS. ROLLING WEIGHT

Dead weight is a load that may not have wheels, or a vehicle that may be stuck in mud or sand. This adds an extreme amount of stress on the winch. Always select a winch that is 1-1/2 times the Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW). The Gross Vehicle Weight is determined by two factors; the weight of the vehicle (curb weight) plus the weight of the load in and on the vehicle.

Rolling Weight is when a vehicle can roll, but not by its own power. Cars able to be loaded onto a flat deck trailer with a winch are an example of rolling weight. To determine what type of winch is required, you need to know the grade or slope that the winch will be pulling at.

The grade percentage (slope) is the angle or slope at which the winch will be pulling at (working against gravity). The bigger the grade percentage, the more stress this will cause to the winch.

To calculate, measure the ramp height and divide by the length of the ramp. Then multiply by 100 to get the percentage.

Once you know the grade percentage and the gross vehicle weight, you can determine the proper winch. For example, if you’re working with a 40% slope and a GVW of 7000 lbs, a winch rated for 3500 lbs of line pull will suffice.

Selecting a winch for ATVs is less complicated:

DRUM (SPOOL) ROPE LAYERS

For peak performance there should only be 1 to 2 layers of cable on the winch drum, so let the cable out as far as possible. Every additional layer will drop the pulling power of the winch. Winches are rated based on pulling against a static load and with only one layer wrapped around the drum.

Every layer decreases the pulling power significantly and should be taken into consideration:

PULLEY BLOCKS AND SNATCH BLOCKS

A pulley can assist a winch by reducing the workload by half or more. This is accomplished by hooking the pulley to the object being towed and doubling the cable back to the winch.

Safety

• Always wear protective gear (gloves and safety glasses) when using winches.

• Never grab a winch wire cable with bare hands (use gloves).

• Place a blanket or cable damper over the winch line in case the cable breaks.

• Never use a winch to hoist people or objects with people under the load.

Accessories

• Roller fairleads are used to guide the cable in and out of the winch. The fairlead has rollers that the cable can ride on. Certain models of winches have the fairlead mounted directly to it while others require a separate mounting bracket, or specialized bumper.

• Tow hooks provide an attachment point for hooks, straps and chains.

• Tow/tree straps are an essential component when winching a vehicle. Straps are rated for their breaking strength and safe working load. Tree straps help protect the tree that you might be winching from. Chain and cable will dig and cut the bark, possibly killing the tree.

• Pulley blocks greatly increase the pulling power of a winch. This is accomplished by hooking the pulley to the object being towed and doubling the cable back to the winch.

• Snatch blocks can increase the pulling power of a winch and can help get a better angle. They also reduce heat, strain and amp draw.

• Shackles (bow or ‘D’ style) allows connecting of straps, snatch blocks and looped ends of cables.