I would never use the winch to hold my machine on a trailer, mine pulls out the spool some as well and it is a warn. One other thing I see going down the road is that so many people tie there machines down from the RACKS to the trailer, big no no. The suspension can go up and down and loosen the strap or brake it from the up and down wear and tare!.. Also see people go over the seat with the strap WOW. Need to go from the lowest point on the frame and then down to the trailer, double in the front and double in the back. Just my 2 cents.

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: 02magnum500

I would never use the winch to hold my machine on a trailer, mine pulls out the spool some as well and it is a warn. One other thing I see going down the road is that so many people tie there machines down from the RACKS to the trailer, big no no. The suspension can go up and down and loosen the strap or brake it from the up and down wear and tare!.. Also see people go over the seat with the strap WOW. Need to go from the lowest point on the frame and then down to the trailer, double in the front and double in the back. Just my 2 cents.</end quote></div>

X2 on what magnun500 said.

 

Your winch may be rated for 3000 pounds but when you stop violently or maneuver violently or if you get into a collision those loads are going to soar right past that 3000 pound mark. The straps I use are rated at 10,000 pounds and there are 4 of them holding the machine down. Even if you use the cheesy little budget bin straps, they're rated to around 3000 pounds. Four of them add up to a pretty substantial amount of holding force.

Even if you believe that your winch holds your ATV securely, in this day and age you have to consider liability. Suppose you get in an accident and your ATV goes flying and crashes into a bus full of widows and crippled orphans and results in their gruesome demise. It isn't "accepted" safety practice to tie your ATV down with a winch. The manufacturer even advises you not to do it. The prosecuting attorney putting you on trial for negligent homicide or the lawyer suing you for 20 million dollars is going to have a very easy time proving his case to a jury. It would be much easier for your lawyer to keep you either out of prison or the poorhouse if you tied down your ATV in a manner that is deemed acceptable practice.

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: onesavage

its not recomended to swim after eating, take more the 2 asprin,drive with one hand, go more then 3000 on a oil change, drink hot coffe and the NOT recmoned list goes on..DAMN, this coffe is hot...lol</end quote></div>

Most of those are just old wives tales, but I use my winch for winching, and my tie-downs for tying down. I suggest everyone else do the same because it's a good idea, and NOT an old wives tale. Whatever the winch is rated at is a static load. Add the truck or trailer bouncing up and down and the ATV bouncing up and down on top of that and it's a lot higher load jerking on it. It could fail at any moment. I put my 4 tie-down straps on the frame, two on the front and two on the back and fasten them to all 4 corners of the trailer.

 

JumboFrank has it right. while it may have worked for every trip that went well, no winch is rated as a tie down. The US DOT call for a four point tie down system, with two points fore and aft. They do this so that when there is an accident, the load stays with the trailer instead of vaulting forward into the tow vehicle, or someone else.

There is even a better way that connecting to the frame - strapping over the tires. With a wheel net at each corner, the ATV can ride freely on its suspension while staying in place with the trailer.

Not that I do this for a living, mind you...[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

 

Welcome to the forum JSmitty. I have to be right once in awhile. It's the law of averages. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]