I have a Warn 2.5 that came with my 2005 Polaris 400 Sportsman. I installed it but it was a freebie they were giving away at the dealership with new ATV purchase. While using it to pull myself out of a swamp the cable came off the drum and got wedged between the support and the drum. I tried hooking the cable to a tree and letting cable out with the remote and by setting it to free-spool and jamming the ATV in reverse...the last time I tried this, after lubing the spot, I snapped the cable.

Do I have to disassemble the winch to free the cable? Can I disassemble it with a cable jammed in it?

I've got to believe this has happened to others but can't seem to find any posts on it.

 

DDirk,

If you are going to try the brute force method (as I have done a few times) you also have to make sure you are not pulling the cable over the top of a sharp edge. THis would cause it to break. I have not broken the entire cable but I have broken a few strands on the cable.

Depending on which side the cable is stuck on you can remove the 4 bolts fro the winch plate and failead to get the whole winch out. Then on the end the cable is jammed there should be 4 hex bolts that take the winch apart. You may not be able to get these off if it is in a real bad bind. But, with the cable broken you might be able to work the end of the cable free with a pair of vise grips and a screw driver.

On a side note, you have to be careful trying to jam it free as you can bend the winch drum or break the clutch.

If you can get it apart you should be able to free it up. Also you may want to clean and lube the gears while its apart.

SJ

 

Do you have rollers?