Having taken up the slack, hop up into the driver's seat, taking the remote hand control with you. Ensure that the handset cable can't possibly snag the winch drum, roller fairleads, wire rope or front road wheel. If your solenoid remote control socket is above the winch or near its electric motor, I suggest you take the remote handset cable over the front of the bonnet, around the back of the aerial, loosely once around the door mirror, through the window and into the cab with you.

Now start the engine to allow the alternator to back up the battery in readiness to winch yourself up the slope. With the gearbox in neutral and engine idling at about 1500rpm, let off the hand brake and operate the winch.

To ensure the wire rope wraps evenly across the drum, cast your eyes from the middle of the top of the dashboard (centre of the ashtray if you have one) to an imaginary point on the middle of the front of the bonnet to line up with your anchor point. By doing this, you will always ensure even layers of wire rope on the drum. Steer accordingly to keep on this straight line. This is good practice for the future when winching yourself out of the mire.

Having formed and pre-stretched the rope, I suggest you now freespool the rope back off and run it back on the drum at least six times with no load to bed the winch gears in. It is also good practice to respool the wire rope back on to the drum, keeping the wraps together as tight as possible.

When paying on the loose rope always be sure to keep your gloved hands well clear of the roller fairlead. Aim to let the wire rope go through your hands at least a metre from the winch. It is also vitally important that you know when the hook is coming up behind you. When it does, hold the hook at its end by your thumb and forefinger rather than grab the whole hook by the palm. Better still, use the 'handsaver bar' to take away any risk of catching your hand in the roller fairleads. It's too easy for a stray spike of wire from the splice to get caught in your glove which could drag your hand into the roller fairlead.

It is always easier to have a colleague operate the handset so as to allow you to put the wire rope away by going hand over hand. Always read the winch handbook through thoroughly.

Recovering Yourself

In the off-road field there are two distinct ways of using your winch. You will either be recovering yourself, or recovering others. I will deal with the former first.

Index [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

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