Winch, as a car recovery utility tool, does a great job. However, understanding different parts of a winch are very important as the knowledge would come in handy while recovering a car or pulling a boat to a trailer. Once you understand all the important parts of a winch and the best usage of them, you will find it easier to operate.
A winch is a heavy-working tool, it will ease the super-hard job for you, but they come with a lot of safety precautions because they have a high potential of risks. In this article, I will talk about the important parts of a winch you should know about and get you through the most important safety tips you must follow while using a winch as well as you must be aware how to repair it if required.
Important parts of a winch
Although there are tons of peripheral devices such as D-Ring shackles, shovel, trunk protector, and some other extra devices, you will need for a proper winching. But the main part of the winch itself is the one you must know inside out; there are main three parts of a winch that it depends on in order to work.
Winch Gears
The main job of the Winch Gears is to low down the high speed of a powerful motor. When you put in the power to the motor of an electric winch, the motor starts to spin in high power, but the other peripherals are not ready to co-operate with the same spinning level because of the heavyweight of the vehicle. This is why you need to control the revolution of the main winching part yet keep the full power of the motor on the cable. There are 3 types of gears work in the winch, which are:
1. Planetary Gears
This is the most common gear system used in winches, which is capable of delivering strong yet smooth operation. It will provide a good resistance to the torque load, and it has a Transfer-efficiency of 65%. It needs a braking mechanism because this gear system has a tendency of free spooling when loaded.
2. Worm Gears
With the transfer-efficiency of 35-40%, the worm gear will self-brake, and it needs a clutch mechanism for free spooling. It’ highly reliable, and the reduction level is pretty high, they come with way stronger yet simpler mechanisms than a planetary gear system. The only downside of the worm gear is the noticeable reduction to the overall pulling speed, especially when you are doing reel-up with no load.
3. Spur Gear
This gear system comes with 75% of efficiency, just like the planetary gears, and this one also has a free-spooling tendency when loaded and needs a braking system. But it is extremely powerful when it comes to heavy lifting.
Winch Motors
The motor is the part which defines the power of the whole winch, there are 2 types of motors that are used in winches; they are:
1. Permanent Magnet Motors
The Permanent Magnet motors are used in light to medium duty winching jobs rather than heavy-duty once. They work with Permanent Magnets in them which are less tolerant of heat and can lose power in extremely cold conditions. So, don’t give it think if you are living in such a place where it will stop in the middle of nowhere.
2. Series Wound Motors
The SW motor in winces is well-known for its capability of pulling heavy-duty jobs. There are field coils are connected in series inside with the armature coil so that they can generate really high torque and power. They use way more current over the Permanent Magnet motors, and they cost a bit more as well.
Winch Solenoid
This is the electromagnetic switches that are used to control the winch motor-movements. Winches come with 2 or 4 switches, get the one with 4 switches for the most efficiency, however, the one with 4 switches will cost you a little more than the one with 2 switches.
Tips for safe winching
Here are some must-follow tips that you need to keep in mind while operating a Superwinch.
Select the right power for your winch
If you get a winch without measuring the mass and end up getting a less powerful one, it will break down at the time you put heavy pressure on it. If you go with heavy-duty electric winches, you will need a heavy-duty battery power as well. To get the best out of your heavy-duty winch, get the perfect battery for your winch that can deliver the necessary power to the winch.
Plan before using
Before jump into the winch, pull out the cable and start winching, plan properly on how you are going to pull the job. Think about every possible angle, pros, and cons of the steps you are taking while getting into the winching. Never take a step without a proper plan and just on a guess, this will lead you to a potentially severe injury.
Keep the limits in mind
This process starts even before you get and install the winch in your ride, make sure the winch is well-capable of recovering the vehicle just fine. Every winch comes with it’s pulling capacity, never exceed that limit, or you will end up even cutting yourself in half by the cable. And make sure the cable is well fitted with the motor capability as well
Inspect before using
You must inspect the winching cable before winching if there is any torn part or any weak point in it. The same rule is for the other recovery components as well, such as the hydraulic fluid, the motor if it’s fully functional, the engine oil level, the operable capability of the switches, and the other peripherals like the D-Ring shackles and other protectors.
Take safety precautions
You must get the necessary training before you start using a winch, it’s extremely important for safe winching. Make sure you take the precautions like putting on hand-gloves, dress appropriately, and take the safest place to stand while the winching job is going on. Never do a winching from an angle, if you need to do angle winching, make sure you use a D-Ring shackle to bend a proper corner using a tree or something really sturdy and make sure you clear the area before starting.
Bottom line
It’s extremely important to take each and every safety measurement into account before starting a winching job in order to keep out of injury even death. Never forget the limits of your machine and keep checking the cable while winching carefully. A pro tip here is that you can put a big piece of cloth on the cable while winching, if the cable tears off, the cloth will stop in the middle, instead of coming and cutting you in half.
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