Industry News

Don't ignore these-precautions for winch operation

2021-11-08
A considerable part of off-road safety accidents occur when the vehicle is trapped and rescued. In recent days, I believe everyone has been screened by the video of the Great Wall gun’s towing hook breaking. From the perspective of rescue safety, if all preventive work is done, no matter whether there is a problem with the vehicle, at least personal safety can be guaranteed. , Not just by luck.
The winch is an even more powerful guarantee equipment for off-road vehicles. If it is used reasonably, it is natural, simple and efficient, and can get twice the result with half the effort. If it is improperly operated, there are many hidden dangers. Many riders have installed winches on their vehicles, but as for the specific operations, they are only limited to basic retractable ropes.
So let's start from the moment when a car trapped in the wild and decided to use a winch to rescue. After the car is stuck, you should get out of the car and observe the terrain and environment. Use experience or reference formulas to roughly calculate the pulling force required to get out of the trap, and determine the required cable length (when the cable is laid to the last layer of the drum, the winch can provide Maximum pulling force, but you need to pay attention to the steel cable needs to leave at least 5 turns on the wire drum, and the soft cable at least 10 turns), or whether it is necessary to use a pulley.
Regardless of whether the trapping situation is optimistic or not, put on protective gloves before starting all operations.
Next, you can choose the anchor point. Whether it is self-rescue or rescue teammates, you must ensure that the anchor point is secure. If you use a tree as an anchor point, you must use a tree-holding strap. If it is fixed to other vehicles, pay attention to the applicable occasions of the original tow hook, and it is obviously not wise to directly attach it to the bar of the metal front bumper. In order to prevent the cables from accumulating on the side of the drum and damaging the winch, keep straight towing as much as possible.
It is also necessary to pay attention to whether there is a risk of abrasion on the cable path when the cable is tied up. This is especially important for nylon flexible cables.
After fixing the anchor point, it came to the common topic-cable flag. I believe that most players don’t have a special cable flag in their hands. Using clothes, backpacks and other items with a certain weight on the center of the cable can also prevent the cable from breaking and shaking. If you are worried about getting them dirty, use It's okay to replace the fallen thick branches. It doesn't matter what you use, the key is not to be lazy.
Then you can connect the controller and engage the clutch. The connecting wire of the winch controller is generally relatively long, so when operating, pay attention to the control wire to keep away from the winch guide and tire to prevent it from being caught. Then slowly retract the cable, let the slack cable stretch straight, and reconfirm the fixing point and the cable flag. From then on, do not straddle the tight cable.
For the sake of safety, it is best that you alone control the winch during the rescue process, and at the same time, "boom away" irrelevant personnel who are not involved in the rescue. The safest place to operate the winch is in the cockpit. When everything is ready, you can start to take up the cable.
In the process of winding up the cable, make sure that the brain is "awake" and always observe the dynamics of the vehicle and the surrounding environment. Don't be anxious. Smoothness and slowness are the kingly way.
During this period, the rescued vehicle can slowly give oil to make the rescue easier, but pay attention to the match between the speed of the vehicle and the rope speed of the winch, and do not let the tires run wildly. Once the adhesion is restored, the vehicle will suddenly jump out and relax instantly. The cable is likely to get caught in the tire. The rescue vehicle should maintain a certain speed in the neutral state while punching the eyes and braking the vehicle, so as to maintain the battery voltage.
The winch has a huge working current when the cable is taken up under load, so it cannot be taken up continuously for a long time. It is recommended that the take up of the cable should be suspended every 2 meters to allow the motor to dissipate heat.
After successfully getting out of the trap, be sure to get off the car and pack up the equipment after the car is parked and put into the P gear. Before removing the towing hook, make sure that the cable is in a slack state. When taking up the cable, the cable should be evenly and tightly wound on the drum, so as to prevent the outer cable from getting caught in the inner layer and entangled together.
Many players think that WARN's red seat belt is just a decoration, but its function is to prevent the hand from being caught between the towing hook and the guide port, causing a tragedy. When the distance from the cable to the towing hook to the guide is the same as the controller wire length, stop, and grab the red seat belt before continuing to take the cable. If your winch tow hook is not bolted with a seat belt, you can also use it Rope or long towel instead.
In the actual rescue process, it is inevitable that there will be slack or uneven winding when the cable is taken up. In order not to leave hidden dangers, the cable should be re-released and correctly retracted again after the chance.
After finishing all operations, don't forget to remove the controller in time to avoid accidental touch.

The above are just some places that are easy to be overlooked when operating the winch. They are not comprehensive. You should still follow the principle of safety first in actual use. You must think about each step of the operation in order to complete a beautiful rescue scientifically and reasonably.





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