Got an ATV Winch? You Should
If the most important accessory for an ATV driver is the helmet, what do you think is the most important accessory for your ATV? My answer? The ATV winch.
Here I will be covering some conditions where an ATV winch can be most useful, the features of an ATV winch and some techniques for using an ATV winch. After that, you decide for yourself if it is useful or not.
ATV winch is used not only for extracting trapped ATVs; it can be used for lowering your ATV down a treacherous ravine or going up a steep slope. Or you could use it to extract another stranded ATV if there are no suitable anchors nearby. Or you could pull some heavy equipment, or tow another vehicle or clear your trail. There are dozens of uses for winches especially on ATVs.
Here's a primer example on an ATV use.
Extracting an ATV with an ATV winch
Put on gloves. This is important since wire ropes have barbs after you've used them a couple of times. Disengage the clutch and free the hook. Attach the hook strap. Remember to always use a hook strap. Hooks create a tremendous pull, and you might skewer your hand if you're not careful. Pull the wire towards the anchor point. On selecting an anchor point, always choose a natural anchor. And it must be strong enough to withstand the pull. The most likely candidate should be a tree. Secure the choker around your anchor and attach the clevis shackle to the two ends of the choker and the hook loop. Now lock the clutch and connect the remote control. Put the wire rope under tension. It is wiser to create considerable slack by free spooling the winch drum at the start of your winching operation. Once the rope is under tension, stand clear and check everything. That would include your anchor, your ATV, the connections and the surroundings. Also, an additional safety procedure is to lay something heavy at the halfway point over the wire rope. If the wire rope snaps loose this can help secure the rope from snapping back.
If you are now confident with this operation, you will find that most other situations aren't much different than this one. As long as you know the basics and most importantly, the safety measures, then you're off to a pretty good start.
Some ATV Winch essentials
Winches are invaluable in situations when your ATV has stalled out, since they run off the battery. But this also means it's essential to pay close attention to the battery load before going outback. ATV winch accessories should include the choker chain, tree trunk protector and the recovery strap. If you think that you might damage the anchor tree with the choker chain, then use the tree protector. Obviously tree protectors are used for trees, but if you are using boulders as anchors, you should use just the chokers. Using recovery straps requires care and may bnot be a good idea in most winching operations. Since they are stretchable, they may be used to 'snatch' hard stuck vehicles. There may be rebound effects when using recovery straps, so be careful.
The winch can also be used for ramping your ATV, removing obstacles, climbing or descending very steep terrain and a multitude of other uses. Getting stuck out in the middle of nowhere is no fun and having a winch can mean the difference between a quick fix and a nightmare situation.
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