An ATV is a vehicle often used for adventure sports activities like off-roading. Such activities, when done for recreational purposes, require a lot of preparation. As these activities are mainly done in the countryside, you have to prepare for any kind of difficult situation as you venture into the unknown. One should be equipped with an ATV winch, which will provide assistance to rescue oneself from such a situation.
What is an ATV Winch?
A winch is, essentially, a device which is like a heavy-duty spool, frequently seen on the back of Stowing trucks and off-road vehicles like ATVs, UTVs, etc. Winches come in handy for lifting and pulling heavy loads. A winch in its basic form features a horizontal rotating drum, which is wounded by a cable or rope—people who, for off-road or other such activities, equip their ATVs with a suitable winch. An ATV winch is more powerful than a regular winch mounted on the front of the vehicle and helps recover the vehicle.
How to determine what size of winch you need?
When buying a winch, there are many factors that one needs to consider, like durability, capacity, rope type, etc. If you are relatively new at recovery work and are planning to buy a winch for your ATV, it is important to determine what size of winch you need, as pairing a big winch with a small vehicle can prove to be destructive for the vehicle.
Similarly, putting a small winch in a large vehicle can be more disastrous than an off-road accident, as the winch might get overloaded. ATV winches come in many different sizes suitable for specific vehicles. Therefore, finding the correct winch size for your specific off-road vehicle and its ride style is essential.
You should get a winch that will be able to support the overall weight of the vehicle and additional weight as well.
Rule of thumb for choosing the correct size is to determine the pulling capacity of the vehicle. Determine the gross weight of the vehicle for which you want to get the winch and then multiply it by 1.5. A winch having a rated pulling capacity of about 1.5 times the gross weight of the ATV is considered suitable for the job.
Though, it cannot be applied to all winch applications. When used for recovery work, a winch will require more than average pulling power when you are winching on an incline. Normally, a 2500 to 3500 pounds rating is suitable for most ATV winching applications.
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Important factors to consider
Mounting Plate
Most ATVs and UTVs do not have a fixed place on them where you can install a winch. Therefore, when buying a winch, you would need to think about where you would mount it on your specific vehicle. It is important to check whether the winch you are buying has a mounting plate, as a winch without a mounting plate will not come in use.
Most mounting plates are universal, allowing easy installation of winches of different brands. Though, it is important to check whether it has the required rating to support the line pull capacity of the winch and is suitable for your specific vehicle. Also, the winch and the mounting plate should be compatible with each other.
Short Drum or Wide Drum
A winch drum is a part of the winch system around which the winch cable or rope is wrapped. There are mainly two width types when it comes to categorising winch drums- short drum and wide drum. The type of drum in a winch varies from brand to brand and has different purposes for serving. Therefore, when buying an ATV winch, it is important to check the drum size.
It is ideal to buy a winch with a wide drum as it will be able to hold more length of the winch cable or rope compared to a short drum winch. A longer winch line will help you to reach your vehicle anchor point with your hook more easily, without any struggle.
One of the main advantages of a wide drum winch over a short drum winch is that using a winch which has a wide drum provides you with additional wraps of cable along the bottom part of the winch, which is highly impacted by the pulling force. If there is less space, a short drum winch will come in handy.
Cable Type
The sturdiness of the winch line determines the sturdiness of the winch. That is why it is important to choose the correct type of winch line. The manufacturers offer mainly two types of winch lines- steel cable or synthetic rope winch line.
Most winches feature a steel cable line and are also recommended by many seasoned wheelers for obvious reasons. Steel is durable and sturdy, providing resistance from abrasion against uneven terrain. Although, a steel winch line can break and corrode over time. When working with a steel cable, one must wear proper gloves, as fraying can happen. Steel cables are heavy and more prone to breaking, which makes them difficult to work with.
Over the last two decades, the synthetic winch line has also gained popularity due to its super light polythene construct, which makes it easy to handle, repair and spool. The chances of injury or damage are less when using a synthetic winch line, as a synthetic rope has less potential energy, which makes the rope snap under high tension.
Also, a synthetic rope is as strong as a steel cable and is much easier to handle because of its flexibility. Although, a synthetic rope is sturdy enough to prevent abrasion against a rock. A synthetic rope line is a good option for standard recovery and trail applications.
Pulling Capacity or Pulling Line Rating
The pulling capacity or pulling line rating of an ATV winch, generally given in pounds, indicates the maximum weight the winch will be able to pull before it stalls. The pulling capacity is measured on the basis of a single layer of winding on the bottom of the winch drum, where the pulling power is maximum. As more layers of the winch line are wrapped, the pulling line rating decreases.
If you are to use the winch for heavy-duty work, it is recommended to do the work with one to two layers of cable on the winch drum due to decreasing pulling capacity. This is called the pulling zone, which helps the winch pull with less effort and increases the winch’s service life.
Looking for something more specific ? Below I have compiled a list of other articles related to ATV winch that might help you. Do check them out!
Waterproof
Activities like off-roading in the countryside on your ATV involve high chances of encountering rocks, boulders, mud and water. Therefore, when considering buying a waterproof winch for your ATV, water, mud and dust particles can be detrimental to the winch.
Waterproofing is important even if you do not use the vehicle for off-road activities, as driving in rain and snow will expose the winch to water, damaging the electrical wiring of atv winch. The Ingress Protection or IP ratings indicate the degree of protection provided from water, dust and other debris that might enter the system.
Check the IP rating, which ranges from one to eight. It is recommended to buy a waterproof winch with an IP68 rating[1], as it will provide resistance against water, debris, and dust particles and submersion up to a maximum depth of 1.5 metres for half an hour.
Your Ride Style
If you like to traverse the countryside and indulge yourself in a variety of off-road activities on your ATV, you must have a riding style of your own. The type of ATV winch you should buy for your vehicle is also determined by your riding style and how you will use it.
For instance, if you often go for mudding, there are high chances of getting stuck every now and then. When in such a situation where you would need to rescue yourself, you would need a strong waterproof ATV winch which has a good pulling capacity.
Summary
Thus, it is a necessity to have a good quality ATV winch if you frequently go on adventure sports activities like off-roading. Since there are different types of winches available in the market, it is important to consider certain factors when buying a winch. The first thing to remember is the size of the winch. It is important to get a winch which will be suitable for your specific off-road vehicle.
One easy rule of thumb is to choose a size winch which has a rated pulling capacity of around 1.5 times the gross weight of the vehicle. Other factors that one should consider when buying an ATV winch are its mounting style, drum type, the type of winch line, pulling capacity, ride style and whether the winch is waterproof or not.
References
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Polycase. (n.d.-f). IP68 waterproof rating. TechTalk Blog. https://www.polycase.com/techtalk/ip-rated-enclosures/ip68-waterproof-rating.html
