I have an 06' BF 650 that I bought new, but am now just getting around to putting a winch on her. I know nothing about winching in general, so I am wondering what I should do after each day's riding to ensure the winch stays running smoothly. Should I unravel the winch rope, hose it down, let it dry and then recoil is neatly? Also, should I winch up so the coils always are nice and tight or should I ride and store it with a little bit of slack in it?

Also, is it worth ditching the steel cable and buying the Amsteel stuff?

Thanks in advance guys!

 

hopefully someone else will chime in that knows more...but....Here is what I do.

I just spray down the winch after riding. I also spray it down w/ WD-40 every 3-4 rides to prevent rust from forming. There are only a few advantages to switching to the amsteel rope..its supposed to be stronger and doesn't have the backlash if it snaps like steel cables.. thats all I really know about them vs. Steel. I won't buy an Amsteel unless my stock steel one needs replacing.

When I put my winch on the cable was loose. I freespool'ed the winch, pulled out all the cable and wound it up tight, its easier having someone hold the cable and work it left to right so it reels on evenly while your controlling the the winch rocker switch. I like to travel with it tight. You can also buy a winch saver for like $10 on ebay, this goes on before the hook so you can't pull the hook into the fairlead by reeling it in to far.

Hope this helps!

 

what kind of winch did u buy and how complex was the installation

 

the rope is a good idea, but i just unreel it all and hook it up to something heavy and let the wench pull the quad til its rolled up...havin someone hold it tight while u guide it back and forth works as well

 

Thanks for all the tips guys. I do have the winch saver rubber ball and that seems to be a cool little deal. The winch I have is the Venom 2500 XT after much research on here and other places, I just didn't want to pony up the coin for a Warn/Ramsey, etc. I had the dealer install it for 75 bucks, and they did a good job on the install IMHO. I'll run and store the quad with the winch tight. I unspooled all of it and had the wife provide the necessary resistance so i could spool it up nice and tight. Next time, I will just hook to back of my pickup hitch and let the quad get pulled to aid in spooling tight. I do like the remote control the winch came with. I think it is about a 20' cord.

I thought of taking some of my Mobil synthetic grease and some gloves to apply a light coating to the entire length of wire rope. I think that would work slick, no pun intended.

I think I will hold off on the Amsteel stuff until the wire cable I have now needs replacement.

 

The worst thing you can do with steel cable is let it go slack. It must be wound on the drum as tight as you can get it. If a lower wrap is loose, it will flatten as you tighten down the upper wraps. A flat cable is not as strong as a round one. And you should oil or grease your cable. I don't know if its the best thing, but I usually just dump some clean motor oil on the wrapped up drum. Other than that, I wouldn't stress over it.