First time using my newly installed winch on my Brute Force 650 today. Installation was quite an adventure, and operation of it seems to be an adventure of its own. It appears that one has to be directly in front of the winch while its pulling in a load to direct the winding of the wire rope, else it become globbed up on one end and eventually interfere with the housing bars. So in effect you'd have to have two people to operate the thing. Someone please tell me I'm an idiot and just don't know what the hell I'm doing, and what it is I should be doing to avoid this problem. Yes, I have a fairlead.
NuB

 

Yes it does usually wind up on one end, so what we usually do is freespool it back out and then let whoever just got pulled out holds on to the cable while you winch it back in. They will help get it wound back up a little better. If there is a better way, I hope somebody will tell you and me both!

 

If your out for the day, stand in front of the bike and reach in to operate the winch. Guide the cable in back and forth to get it pretty even on the drum. When I get home and clean the bike I free spool out all the cable, and wind it back in very very neatly in even layers. If you dont keep it neat, it will develop crinks which will weaken the cable and cause it to break in time.

 

I'm not sure what kinda winch you got, but many, you can get a remote switch for it. That way you can stand in front and align the wire as you reel it in.

 

The only time a winch drum will self-spool is when the line origin is perfectly centered and at least @ 1000 X the line diameter distant from the drum, and even then there is an art to getting it to work.
When you are winching yourself out of trouble, the line is going to pile up on one side, and unless you are in a position to steer the ATV to distribute line back the other way, it is up to you to watch that the line does not pile up to the point that it jumps the drum. That's the way it works. If there is a great deal of tension on the line it is wise to stay out of the line of fire in case the tailhold, hook or line fails, (drape a jacket or some such thing over the center of the line for shock control and to kill the energy of a whipping line), but if it's safe enough you can stand in front and give some cautious gloved-hand tugs to get the line where you want it.
If it is piled up to the danger point before you are out of trouble then you must block or otherwise hold the vehicle and slack off the winch so that you can pull the line back down to the low spot and winch some more. Then you pull off the line and hand spool nicely it when you are finished getting out of the hole.

I'm an old 'line winder' from way back, running logging yarders.

 

Nubee: Yes, if you don't have a remote you will need two people. What I do is disengage the winch and freespool
out the whole length. Then I place a rag around hook(I do this because somtimes cable will twist along w/ your
hand)Rengage winch have someone operate switch, you place tension on cable start winching 'in' as you do this
move slightly left to right while still keeping tension on cable this pretty much keeps cable evenly on drum. When your about a FT. or 2 from fairlead disengage winch and roll rest by hand. I also placed a ziptie to my grill for my hook, when it's not in use so I don't catch on anything. Good Luck!

 

Good idea about the zip tie on the bumper for the hook. My hook is always caked in mud and I have to get it all out before I use it. Plus I've hit it on stuff before and the spring loaded clip thing is all bent beyond useable anymore.

 

A couple guys said something about hand guiding the cable while you are winching. You don't want your hands anywhere near the cable while you are winching. Cables snap, clothes can get caught and on and on. If you have to winch at an angle and the cable starts piling up on one side, just stop winching, let a little slack out and then move the cable to the low side. Then when you start winching again, it will fill up the low spot. You can always straighten out the cable once you are out of the situation where you had to winch in the first place.
One thing IU always do is carry some strong rope or towing straps. This way you don't have to pull out as much cable, you can use the rope or strap to take up a lot of the distance.
Your manuel will tell you about winching at angles and using ****** blocks. It's good information.

 

Starky: Cool your jet's Man I didn't say put your hands on the cable and guide in what I said was I use a rag around the hook and guide cable back in. That's all . It's not under load just enough tension to make sure cable is taut. Now if you are under a load (towing another ATV ,pulling out of mud ) yes by no means should your hands anywhere near the cable, in fact with such a heavy load a blanket or coat should be thrown over the cable in case it snaps. Just my 2 cents Man!

 

Don't take it hard, Brusier. That's the same guy who once wrote a post about how he ran down and killed a rabbit with his Grizzly.