It's Pulling For You

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Durability and efficiency shouldn't be thought of as absolutes, however. It's far more practical when winch-shopping to establish beforehand what kind of use the machine will see. For example, occasional log-hauling or back-road towing isn't that demanding if the winch is properly sized to the vehicle. Pulling full-size pickups out of gumbo mud as an everyday chore, on the other hand, puts a load on the equipment that it better be prepared to handle.

Making the right choice is simply a matter of paying attention to details. Probably the most important is the winch's line pull rating, measured in pounds. Unless you enjoy struggling through formulas, you can come pretty close to making a perfect match by using your vehicle's gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) to choose the rating of your winch. Because the GVWR represents the weight of the vehicle plus its load capacity, it includes enough built-in reserve to cover unknown factors such as the suction of mud or the stress of pulling up an incline.

Of course, it's not really that simple, because there are other elements to consider. For one, make certain the rating is based on a single-line pull. Double-line hookups, in which a pulley block is used at the anchor point, reduce the winch load by halfessentially doubling its capacity. By the same token, look for a working load rating rather than a stall rating. The former is a more practical measure of the machine's pulling capacity, for the stall rating merely indicates the point at which the winch motor will stop working. If a stall figure is the only one available, make a thumbnail conversion by reducing the number by at least 15% to get an accurate representation of how much weight the winch can handle in normal use.

It's also important to realize that the cable and drum affect the capacity of a winch because they vary the tool's reduction ratio as they operate. Since the drum diameter is smaller with one layer of cable around it than with four, a winch can pull more weight with its cable fully extended. The significance of this fact becomes apparent when scanning the spec sheets. One manufacturer's 6,000-pound winch can pull 5,100 pounds with the cable on the second layer, 4,400 pounds when it's at the third layer, and only 3,900 pounds when the cable is within 25' of being fully wrapped on the drum.

To play it safe, figure on using the winch a lot in its middle range, with the cable on the third layer so 50' or 60' of it is free. On most front-mounted winches, manufacturers supply from 80' to 150' of cable, so take that into account if you'll be dealing with a specific distance.

Another thing to consider is the machine's amperage draw. It's a complicated factor, based on everything from motor type to gear efficiency. Series-wound motors have a high starting torque and a longer duty cycle than do permanent magnet motors, but draw more amperage under load. Since larger winches can test the limits of battery capacity, the current a winch uses, and how many minutes you'll be using it at one time, become important in the long run. If you expect extended pulls, you might even consider having a second battery and an isolator installed to allow you to use one power supply independently.

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