Winch cable question.

[Nevadblue]

I have a New Old Stock 2500 pound pull Polaris winch that I am going to mount on the front of the RTV to lift the snow plow with. The winch looks just like a Warn winch, for reference. I need the power cables to be on the left side for convenience in wiring.
I can mount the winch on the front bumper, in the OEM holes for the winch, without the fairlead, IF I can wind the cable on the winch drum the other way.

Can I pull out all the cable and wind it in the other direction without harming the winch? I have never replaced a winch cable on a little winch like this and am not sure how it fastens to the drum.

If I can do this safely, I can get the winch installed much quicker. Come spring I can remove the winch and install the fairlead bracket so the winch will be useful as a winch as well as a 'blade lifter'.

HELP!!

The reason it needs to be reversed is that if it comes over the top of the drum, with the power connections on the driver's side, it will clear everything and work fine for the plow.

 

[Beltzington]

I have a Warn M1200 and it will only pull winding in one direction, the other direction would either be free spooling or power reverse which seems to be geared much higher than when pulling under load. If you simple flip your winch over the it will work exactly the same as it does now but the cable viewing window will be facing down making it much harder to insure the cable is winding correctly. Based on my read of your idea I cannot understand why you would want to rewind the cable the other way, which in my opinion will not work. Good Luck.

 

[Nevadblue]

You may be right. This winch is power in and out, and I can't imagine that it has a different gear ratio for in/out. The reason I need to wind it the other way is that if I put the power connections on the left side, where I really want them to be, the cable will come out the bottom, not good. I may just have to put the power on the right. I will be trying to route the electrical cables tomorrow. We will see.
The large plate on the back of the winch won't be used and my plan for now is not to use the cage that holds the fairlead.