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- Draping a heavy blanket or similar object over the extended winch wire rope is recommended,
as it will dampen any backlash should a failure occur.
- Neat, tight spooling avoids wire rope binding, which is caused when a load is applied and the
wire rope is pinched between the others. If this happens, alternatively power the winch in and
out. Do not attempt to work a bound wire rope under load, free by hand.
- Apply block to wheels when vehicles are on an incline.
Battery
- Make sure that the battery is in good condition; all electrical connections are clean and tight.
Avoid battery contact with acid or other contaminants.
- Always wear eye protection when working around a battery.
- Have the engine running when using the winch, to avoid draining the battery.
Winch wire rope
- Be sure that the wire rope is in good condition and is attached properly.
- Never handle the wire rope or rigging while anyone else is at the control switch or during the
winching operation.
- Never use the winch if wire rope is frayed, kinked or damaged.
- Never move the vehicle to pull a load.
- Never replace the wire rope with a wire rope of lesser strength.
- The life of wire rope is directly related to the use and care it receives. Following its first and
subsequent uses, a wire rope must be wound on to the drum under a load of at least 230 kg (500
lb) or the outer wraps will draw into the inner wraps and severely damage the wire rope during
winching. The first winch use should be a familiarisation run while in a relaxed, non-recovery
situation. Spool out the wire rope until the red wire rope mark appears (about five wraps on the
drum), then rewind the wire rope on to the drum under a load of 230 kg (500 lb) or more. This
will slightly tension and stretch the new wire rope and create a tight cable wrap around the
drum. Failure to do so may result in wire rope damage and reduced wire rope life.
- At times it may be necessary to temporarily respool the wire rope under no load after use. The
correct procedure is to hold the remote control lead in one hand and the wire rope in the other.
Start as far from the vehicle as the remote control will allow, activate the switch, walk in
approx. metre of rope and release the switch. Repeat the process. Always release the switch
when your hand is at least a metre from the fairlead (the physical opening through which the
wire rope passes).
CAUTION: When powering in wire rope during side pull operations, the wire rope will stack up at
one end of the drum. Eventually this stack will become large enough to cause serious damage to
winch. To prevent this damage, line pulls should be as straight in front of the vehicle as possible.
Stop winching if the wire rope comes close to the tie bars or mounting plate. To correct an uneven
stack, spool out the stacked section of the wire rope and reposition it to the opposite end of the
drum. This will free up space for continued winching.
- Do not attempt to exceed the pulling limits of this winch.
- Do not drive your vehicle to assist the winch in any way. Vehicle movement in combination
with winch operation may overload the cable, the winch itself or cause damaging shock loads.
- Shock loads when winching are dangerous! A shock load occurs when an increased force is
suddenly applied to the cable. A vehicle rolling back on a slack cable may induce a damaging
shock load.