dfkrug said:
TOMR:
I bought the cheapo 2000# winch ($50) and you are right that a straight
pull of a vehicle up any kind of serious incline will most likely not work. I
pulled a 2500# Suzuki Samauri onto my trailer and it barely got it up the
ramp. The solution is to buy the HF snatch block ($6) and double your
pull force. Also make sure your battery and cables can handle the 60+
amps it will draw.
Some caveats:
1. HF and some others rate their winches with double line pull (i.e. with a turning block like a snatch block in the system) and the "REAL" capacity of the winch is only 1/2 of that rating. Larger numbers look good in the advertisement copy but don't git er done. Be aware that doubling the line doubles the pull but cuts the speed of the pull in half.
2. Some folks (HF included) sometimes give ratings relating to a rolling load. This means a winch rated for a rolling load of 10,000 lbs on hard level surface could pull a 10,000 pound wheeled vehicle. This, of course, takes a whole lot less force than 10,000 pounds and again their advertisement copy hits you with BIG NUMBERS but the winch is not all that powerful.
3. Another trick in the specsmanship arsenal is to give a winch a rating equal to the stall force, i.e. the pounds of tension it will produce when it stalls which is not how much it can produce while making a decent speed.
4. Yet another ratings game ploy is to rate the winch for its pull with an empty spool. The radius (distance out from the central axis of the drum to where the cable wraps around the winch) varies quite a bit as cable is spooled in or out. The winch has the best mechanical advantage when the spool is empty (smallest in diameter) and has the least line pull when the cable is mostly all wound onto the winch.
Some winches of lesser quality may produce, with an empty spool, the line pull they are rated for but like cheap welders with low duty cycles they can't do the job for very long without seriously overheating.
With all this in mind, if you still want a HF winch, be sure to buy one rated high enough to be able to do your job without burning up. I'm not knocking HF winches, and I'm not saying I would not buy one. What I am saying is I would be likely to buy one rated for more than I intended it to actually do. To skimp on ratings that have already been skimped on is to invite a failure.
Do leave your engine running so the alternator will be helping the battery and there will be no failure to start due to run down battery. Winches overheat fairly quickly. Be patient. If you make a long duration pull, let the winch cool for several minutes between winchings.
Although both HF and Warn and others put lots of smoke in their winches, HF will likely quit on you if you let much of the smoke out.
Whatever winch, whatever brand, do not stand in line with the tensioned cable (either winch or hook end) as if the cable breaks you could be seriously injured or killed in an instant.
Pat