Posted by Clint Dixon on Thursday, September 12, 2002 at 7:27PM :
In Reply to: Winch mess posted by KBishop on Thursday, September 12, 2002 at 5:51PM :
Whenever I use my winch, I never spool the cable back in. I wrap the loose cable in a figure 8 pattern around the front bumperettes. When I get back home, I unspool all of the cable and wind it back in by winching the truck to the top of a hill. With practice, I have learned to steer the truck slightly from side to side by watching the location of the cable in relation to the center line of the truck. This helps lay the cable evenly across the drum. By pulling all of the cable out after each use and then winding it all back in under load, the cable is always nice and tight on the drum and ready for the next job. By doing this, I have never had the cable get pinched into the row beneath it. If you do not have a hill, you can get the same results by pulling another vehicle with its parking brake on in a flat empty field, in a ditch along a rural roadway, in an back alley, or deserted parking lot. You can use one or more snatch blocks so you don't take up a whole city block.
Hope this helps.
Clint