Winching 102

[radman]

I got to use my winch for the first time today... to pull down a tree

I've seen all the videos on technique/safety, but here are a couple followup questions related to pulling someone else free (or a tree).

I was in park with the e-brake on. Should I have been in Neutral with the brake pedal depressed?

It took more than I expected to pull the tree over. How would I have known if I was over stressing the winch? Would the clutch eventually slip and save itself? Or the ComeUp 12.5rs is strong enough to eventually drag my 7500lbs rig with it?

obviously, I'm under the rated 12,500lbs, but I'm not sure how that weight changes in grass...

Meaning, dragging 7,500 in grass is easier than dragging 7,500on pavement?

 

[indycole]

I winch in neutral + parking brake + foot brake. Regarding pulling power, how much winchline did you have extended? You want to get down to 1-2 layers on the drum for maximum pulling power. The max pull rating assumes you're down to the bottom two layers... you lose up to half the pulling power on the outer most layer, for example.

 

[Markuson]

Foot brake. Only time I don’t use the foot brake is if I’m pulling *myself* out...for obvious reasons.

 

[Hants]

Winch will stall at full load. That’s your sign to stop.

N as @Markuson and @indycole have said. I also put on light throttle (2K+ rpm) to help the alternator assist with the draw.

I have been known to hook a static line from my rear bumper (tow hitch) to a tree. Particularly when the grass/gravel is too slippery to get full rated pull from the winch.

With trees, higher is better (more leverage)... long way away from the tree to keep safe and keep angles under control.

I keep a 75’ extension line for long distance pulls.

 

[bloc]

There are very good educational videos on YouTube, spend some time digging.. to be a little dramatic life and limb can depend on your knowledge here.

The reality is many winching situations are different so you need to be comfortable with the fundamentals and apply those to the scenario you have. Simple stuff like whether the hook is pointed up or down can pose big safety concerns if things don’t go smoothly. (Hook opening should be toward the sky so that if it slips/fails it’ll go the other way and bury itself in the dirt vs get airborne.)

Also stock up on the accessories. At least one snatch block appropriate for your line type and size, a handful of shackles, winch line weight (edit: damper is a better term here), possibly a better line end hook/device. Snatch block will double your pull strength or allow you to redirect a pull.. but on top of doubling the pull it deploys twice as much line so you can get closer to that 1-2 layers of rope the others rightly mentioned.

 

[OSS]

Most trees will drag the vehicle when winching or stall the winch. Always use a snatch block and you're going to have to push down on the brake pedal to try to not slip.
Full load winching heats up the winch really fast. It will need several minutes (like 10) of cool down after only a minute or so of hard winching.
When its overloaded it stalls (and overheats in seconds). Don't stall the winch. Use two snatch blocks if the pull is hard or long.
The winch is only strong on the first & 2nd wrap on the drum. The third wrap is much weaker and above that it's almost worthless.
Winch ratings are a lie, or at least not relevant to real world use. Cut the rating in half to get an idea what it might pull

 

[stonepa]

Any time i use my winch for landscaping i put the engine hood up. Can’t tell you how many times i have had it let loose and toss something directly back. Id rather it hit the underside of my hood than break my windshield.

 

[mcgaskins]

As others have stated, never winch with the truck in park. It puts enormous strain on the park pawl which can break (2 nice cruisers were significantly damaged during an overland “skills” demo from this very thing - park pawl), so if you’re the anchor truck, put it in neutral with your foot on the brake.

 

[radman]

How do I check my park pawl to see if it's jacked up?

Also, when I re-wound the line, i noticed that the synthetic line had flattened out where it had been pulling around the drum. Is this common and it will relax back to it's normal shape?

 

[bloc]

How do I check my park pawl to see if it's jacked up?

Also, when I re-wound the line, i noticed that the synthetic line had flattened out where it had been pulling around the drum. Is this common and it will relax back to it's normal shape?

If it goes into park and holds position it is fine. When a park pawl lets go it typically makes a god awful sound, so you are probably fine.

As long as the synthetic line isn’t melted it’ll be fine. Another thing to know about your winch (or most of them anyway) is using the winch motor to feed out line runs the winch against the brake, usually making heat in the drum. Too much of this is bad for the inner wraps of synthetic line. To get line out for setting up your pull it is better to disengage the clutch and pull manually. Now if you are using the winch to control lowering something, for example, you have no choice. So you’d alternate spooling out and stopping to let things cool off.