The Basic Guide to Winching Techniques - OF4WD

1 The Basic Guide toWinching TechniquesWARN INDUSTRIESOFF-ROAD PRODUCTS12900 RoadClackamas, OR 97015-8903 USAC ustomer Service:1-800-543-WARNFax: OF CONTENTS:Winch basics ..2 3 How the winch works ..4 Winch accessories & 6 Before you pull ..7 12 Rigging 14 Putting a winch to 15 Maintenance ..15 The final analysis ..15 Every Winching situation has the potential for personal injury. In order to minimizethat risk, it is important that you read this Basic Guide carefully, familiarize yourselfwith the operation of your winch before having to use it, and be constantly safetyoriented. In this Guide , we will set forth many of the Basic rules of safe winchoperation. However, because every Winching situation is different, your constantgood judgment and consistent focus on safety are of great PREPARED 2 WARN INDUSTRIES THE Basic Guide TO Winching TECHNIQUESELECTRIC WINCH BASICSSO, YOU HAVE YOUR WARN WINCH andyou re ready to get out on the trails: climba few boulders, splash a little mud, traversethe occasional stream.

2 Basically, you reready to explore the backcountry andotherwise have a great , if you're smart enough to goprepared with the best, you re probablysmart enough to know that to keep havinga great time, you need to fully understandyour winch and the Winching s exactly what this Guide intends todo: provide you with a basicunderstanding of your winch and teachyou the basics of proper winchingtechniques. But before we get started, wemust emphasize that the information inthis Guide is general in nature. Because notwo situations are alike, it would be nearlyimpossible to review them all. We can,however, provide you with the generalprinciples and Techniques . Then it is up toyou to take the time to analyze thesituation and apply the proper with a little common sense,the guidelines laid out in this book canhelp you keep off-roading fun. Justremember to think through each situationbefore you act and TREAD LIGHTLY!

3 WARNINGN ever operateor install awinch withoutreading orunderstandingthe operator smanualStructuralcomponents of a planetarygear winch15926378GO PREPARED 3 WARN INDUSTRIES THE Basic Guide TO Winching TECHNIQUESTo start, you should familiarize yourselfwith your Warn winch and each of itscomponents: Practice using your winchbefore using it on the the winch motor ispowered by the vehicle s battery. Themotor provides power to the gearmechanism, which turns the winch drumand winds the wire DrumThe winch drum is thecylinder onto which the wire rope drum is driven by the motor and drivetrain. Its direction can be changed usingthe remote RopeThe wire rope s diameterand length is determined by the winch sdesigned load capacity. Wrapped aroundthe winch drum and fed through thefairlead, the wire rope is looped at the endto accept the hook s clevis using the winch at anangle, the fairlead (or wire lead) acts toguide the wire rope onto the spooling prevents damage to the wire rope while itgoes through the winch mount or TrainThe reduction gearconverts the winch motor power into alarge pulling force.

4 The gear train designmakes it possible for the winch to belighter and more SystemThe brake isautomatically applied to the winch drumwhen the winch motor is stopped andthere is load on the wire rope. The brakeprevents the winch from paying out line,which in turn holds the vehicle in clutch allows the operatorto manually disengage the spooling drumfrom the gear train, enabling the drum torotate freely (known as freespooling ).Engaging the clutch locks the winchdrum back onto the gear BoxUsing electrical powerfrom the vehicle s battery, the control boxsolenoids relay the signals it receives fromthe remote control to the motor, enablingthe operator to change the direction ofthe winch drum ControlThe remote controlplugs into the winch control box, allowingthe operator to control the winchdirection, as well as stand well clear of thewire rope while operating the winch. WARNINGN ever attempt todisengage theclutch while thewire rope is under tension and never engagethe clutch whilethe spoolingdrum is 8274-50 winchhas a differentstructure.

5 Thiswinch uses spurgears for , it has an automatic disctype brake on thebody above:There is a stopper onthe side of the winch body for thislarge diameter reel. In fact, this reelis also the PREPARED 4 WARN INDUSTRIES THE Basic Guide TO Winching TECHNIQUESHOW THE WINCH WORKSW inch MechanicsNow that you ve familiarized yourselfwith your Warn winch and its components,we can begin reviewing how it works. Themajor advantage of an electric-poweredwinch is that it can provide reliable servicefor intermittent utility and recreational useeven while the vehicle s engine is stalled assuming, of course, that sufficient batterycurrent is available. Your winch can operateat high amperage loads, and, for thisreason, the control box uses a highamperage control system to safely handlethe current is important to understand that thelonger the pull, the more the amperagedraw. This creates heat, just like a hot plate, and prolonged Winching withoutcooling the motor will damage the , if the engine is idling during Winching ,the battery may drain faster than it ischarging.

6 So pay close attention to youramperage gauge to make sure you aren tdraining your battery too low to start your Of Your WinchThe winch is controlled by the hand heldremote control to allow the operator tostand clear while controlling the winchingprocess. The remote control providescontrol of the forward or reverse rotation of the spooling the Winch Reacts to LoadWarn winches are rated at maximumpulling capacity. This occurs on the firstlayer of wire rope on the drum. As thelayers increase, the pulling powerdecreases. It s the mathematics ofwinching. Exceeding the winch capacitycould cause the winch to fail or the wirerope to break. Thinking through how youintend to use your winch now, could saveyou a big headache addition, you ll also want to make surethat your winch s mounting system andyour vehicle s frame can accommodate therated load of your analyze your situation. Use yourjudgement to calculate how much weightyou intend to pull.

7 Calculate the grossweight and multiply by and then do not exceed the rating of your winch or wire winch iscontrolled by thehand held remotecontrol to allowthe operator tostand clear dur-ing the PREPARED 5 WARN INDUSTRIES THE Basic Guide TO Winching TECHNIQUESG lovesWire rope, through use, willdevelop barbs which can slice is extremely important to wear protectivegloves while operating the winch orhandling the wire rope. Avoid loose fittingclothes or anything that could becomeentangled in the wire rope and othermoving Strap Use to hold the hook andkeep fingers away from the fairlead as thewire rope is being spooled in. Winchesdevelop tremendous pulling forces and caneasily remove fingers and limbs that areplaced in pinch points. Put the hook intothe loop and hold the strap between thethumb and BlockUsed properly, the multi-purpose snatch block allows you to:(1) increase your winch s pulling power; and(2) change your pulling direction withoutdamaging the wire rope.

8 Proper use of thesnatch block is covered in Before You Pull .Clevis/D-ShacklesThe D- shackle is a safe means for connecting the loopedends of cables, straps and snatch shackle s pin is threaded to allow easy , the winch is not much more thana simple tool. But when used with certainaccessories and enhancements, your Warn winch can become a versatile andproductive tool. In this section, we ll reviewseveral of these items. Some are vital to the safe operation of your winch, whileothers offer added versatility and ChainCan be used to hook-upto another vehicle or sharp objects for ananchor point. Chains, however, will damageor kill ACCESSORIES YOU LL WANT TO HAVE WITH YOUTow HooksSecuredproperly to your vehicle sframe, tow hooks provide anattachment point for wirehooks, straps, and PREPARED 6 WARN INDUSTRIES THE Basic Guide TO Winching TECHNIQUESH eavy BlanketIn certainsituations you may decide tothrow a heavy blanket orsimilar object overthe wire heavyblanket, such asa quilted mover sblanket, can absorb energyshould the wire rope break.

9 Place iton the wire rope midway between the winch and the anchor point. Do thisbefore the wire rope is put under not approach or move the blanket oncetension is applied. Do not allow it to getpulled into the fairlead. If necessary tomove or remove the blanket, slack thetension on the wire rope & Hand ToolsQuite oftenduring Winching activities, you ll findyourself in need of some additional may want to stow equipment such as ashovel, an axe, and a Hi-Lift jack near thewinch to provide quick access to additionalassistance when PartsImportant backup partsto carry for backcountry travel shouldinclude an extra screw-pin shackle , snatchblock, and remote control unit. For severeand continued winch use, consider includingan extra wire rope and winch ItemsItems to bring alonginclude hand wrenches, screwdrivers, pliers,and a pair of quality wire cutters to repairfrayed or damaged wire rope.

10 For lightelectrical work, also include automotiveelectrical wire and connectors,electricaltape, duct tape, mechanic s wire, a crimpingtool and an extra CablesMany roadsideemergencies stem from a dead battery. Toprevent exhausting your electrical source,you can install a dual battery system and a battery isolator kit. Also, it s wise toinclude battery booster cables and theWarn quick-connect cable RecommendationsA fullycharged conventional automotive batterywith a minimum rating of 650 coldcranking amps is recommended to obtainpeak performance from your sure all electrical connections areclean and attach arecovery strap tothe winch hookto increase thelength of a attempt totow a vehiclewith the recoverystrap attacheddirectly to thewinch use bungie strapsthat developtremendous andpotentially dan-gerous amounts of force StrapNever use a recoverystrap in a Winching operation. Because it is designed to stretch, it stores energyand could react like a rubber band shouldyour rigging fail.