I learned this the hard way. Brand new winch, unspooled it, attached it to the tree strap. Start pulling and taking up the slack, the line got nice and taut....and then BZZT, the reel just started merrily spinning away but the line didn't move. All the weight was on the keeper screw instead the drum and it popped out. Had to rely on the kindness of strangers to save my ass. Next day, I did some research and did the tensioned respooling. Used it last Sunday and boom...worked just as advertised. I was able to save my own ass this time.
As always, thanks for the really high, non-patronising content. Straight up informative channel that is on point. Cheers brother and keep up the great work.
Thanks Ronny for all of your demos on recovery gear. Thanks for all of the extra information on using the tools and equipment plus safety tips. Appreciate it and I will share this with others.
Very well covered. When I worked in a 4wd accessory shop, we had a bloke come back with a winch that wouldn't spool in or out. Turns out he hadn't paid attention to how the cable had spooled on and it had become completely jammed up on one side of the drum!
never wear board shorts and work boots while winching. if anything happens parametics wont know whether to treat a work related or leisure related injury
Great info man! You do a very good service to off roaders keeping them safe and teaching just what they need to know in a fantastic manner! Only giving good instruction and none of the misinformation that I see on other "off road how to" videos. I have learned so much from your videos and every time I am out and have the opportunity I share the information with others because we all go out to have fun and get away from the day to day grind, not to get hurt by doing the thing we love and enjoy! Thank you very much and cheers from Indiana U.S.A.
So I got a smitty xc20 water proff 10,000 and I’ve learned so much about winching and recovery just from the manuals out of the box that I now know there is a code of conduct to having a winch
i watch many of your vids and normally always agree but not this time. Yes it is important to have a neat and well wrapped jeep cable but you are a boatload better off dragging the empty vehicle to you instead of being in front of the moving jeep winching in. In my case i use my drive way that has a slight incline and more than 90 feet of length and drag my Son's CRV to me with my vehicle in park and handbrake on at the top of the hill. Make more videos however, i love them!!! If you come to the States look me up would love to meet in person.
That's ok until you lose connection with the vehicle you are hauling uphill and it runs away from you driverless with no breaks on! If there is only two of you then never tow an unmanned vehicle up-hill if you can avoid it!
Good job Ronny, always enjoy ur vids. Good tips and techs for the new/respool winch, cheers. Oh, and blanket so the rope can be SEEN is great - I always thought about breakage, but that's a good reason to use them. Good on ya mate.
Rock climbers are usually the nicest people on the planet. If you want to see a rock climber come unglued, step on his rope. NEVER step in a rope, ever.
If you are on a trip or expedition, how often will you retention the rope or cable when you are out in the bush? If you have had to use your winch and the rope is not neatly stowed will you immediately retention it or will you wait to you get back? I'm thinking about situations where you may have to use the winch multiple times over several days is it OK to leave the rope as is until you get home? Thanks Ronnie cheers.
While it is ideal to re-spool every time, I never re-spool until I can get home and clean the rope out. Certain trips I've winched 15 or so times and re-spooling was just not practical. Look up my channel for the STUCK!! Video and you will see what I mean.
Thank you very much Ronnie. You are doing a great job sharing information which will improve safety awareness about using winches &/or kinetic ropes for vehicle recovery & rescues. What can you share about the Barrett Systems ‘screwdriver’ antenna & it’s attached radio? Barrett is big here in the Sierras because of their NVIS networking capabilities. Cheers & 73, ...dan wl7coo. ARRL SJV ASEC & Volunteer EMT.
would you do a video on winch rope vs steel cable. like, going from steel to rope, or rope to steel. i hear that some models are ok to do that with and others not so much. thanks for the videos
Hey Ronny, great videos I've learned a lot so far. I've installed a winch recently and just used it last weekend when I got stuck. The cable is a bit dirty from splash and such so I'm planning to clean it and I'm wondering if I should just spool out the entire cable and soak in a bucket or leave 8 wraps on and soak the part that actually got used. Any other tips for maintaining winch and cable?
I'd like to suggest you stand further away from the winch when you're feeding/directing, maybe no less than 1m from the drum, preferably more. Firstly because there's less chance of you getting your hand stuck. Secondly because you will be more visible to the operator in the vehicle. Being ducked below the bonnet line with your hand stuck in the winch and a car rolling over the top of you would be no fun. FYI also, on the instructions for a winch I saw the other day, pretension under 400kg of load, so probably what you were achieving right there. Good job, well done.
Tom E Good point about the extra distance from the drum, it is hard to see the line on the drum further back but it would be safer as you stated... thanks for the feedback
That seems like a very dangerous way to do it with your face and hands right next to the winch. I stand back and watch the winch get spooled while the driver slightly turns the steering wheel one direction or the other which makes it spool in that direction.
I`m a newbie and have steel cable on my winch. My question is: If you have to pull from an angle, how do you stop the winch line from piling up on one side of the drum and jambing up? I have tried to stop winching, pull a bunch out and reline the drum and start again, but that is a huge pain
Can you continue to use the winch and the rope if both the anchor point on the winch and end rope broke off? The answer feels obvious and at the time same i wonder if physics and rope under tension can be forgiven within these circumstances. Thanks
Great content as usual. If automatic transmission, do you keep the winching vehicle on park and hand brake to provide resistance if you don't have uphill for natural resistance? Wouldn't it break the parking brake or the hand brake?
Bit late, but leave the transmission in neutral and the park brake on. All the park brake does is apply the rear brakes (usually) which won’t brake it. It’s the same as braking under normal conditions with the park brake on
With steel cable, I just count in my head the number of turns and then stop and check the spool. Maybe add a few more, then slightly turn the wheels and reverse the wrap. I have never had a "spotter" when doing this and I always get an even and tight wrap on my old 12000 Warn. Having your hands on the line even under such low tension does not seem like the best way to do that.
Thoroughly enjoy your video's thanks Ronny. One part I do not agree with though is the stepping on the line, to get over it. I agree it may be a "safe" way to climb over, but you are creating a far greater danger. Each time you step on any line, on dirt you drive dirt / stone particles into the rope itself, over time this will cause a potentially dangerous weak spot. From a climbing background we seriously gave people a kick in the a-rse if they stood the rope.
Paul OS thats an interesting point from a climbers view, would have never thought of that. Really no should step over or on the line but just felt the need to say it to prevent peoples jewels. Will keep this in mind cheers
My thoughts as a climber / rope tech also. The dirt gets pushed into the rope by standing on it and then is compressed against fibres when under tension causing internal rope abrasion.
rope floats in water. ropes much lighter rope doesnt carry inertia of it snaps rope can easily be joined back together on the side of a track if it snaps rope doesnt last as long rope cuts easily if u are dragging the rop across the ground or sharp rocks rope needs regular washing cable is less maintenance cable is cheaper cable can be dragged over rocks while being more forgiving the cable cable is alot heavier and harder to maneuver cable will do damage if it snaps and your blanket doesnt catch it. cable is alot rougher on your hands. theres plenty more but that might give u an idea
In the SES [Emergency Services ]& the ADF we were taught "WALK AROUND, NEVER OVER"a winch cable / rope whether it is under tension or not. ADF especially was under threat of a charge.
Better to remove the flip-up plate first so you don't have a reason to put your hand near the hawse -- if you hand gets caught in the hawse the winch will rip it right off.
Why are you not worried about the rope snapping when you're by the spool? The winch is still pulling an entire car. Is it because since your car isn't stuck the winch and line has no problem with the load?
+Matt V (Camel51) being a lot less load on the winch it's very unlikely to snap. Even if the vehicle weighs 3-4t the winch is only pulling a little bit of weight as the wheel are rolling. Obviously if there are signs of bad wear and tear it's best to put it (rope) in the bin and get a new one.
If you don't put good tension on the rope you are likely to force the rope to violently rub against the rest of the rope and cause shock loads as it will tighten and force its way between the looser layers of rope. Also as I mentioned in the video you could even risk spinning the entire rope on the drum snapping the locator screw off even with two entire layers of rope on the drum. There is better detail in the video on this...
***** It's a 'low mount' which came with the bar work, in Australia 90% of winches are low mounted and hidden. We rarely see the high mounts here unless they are on a Jeep with an American designed bar work or comp truck. They are a pain to work with some times when it comes to trouble shooting etc as the access is limited but it looks neater and is safer for city traffic.
I like the low mount much more! Are there any brands that make a good low mount? I'm just getting in to off roading so I'm new to all of this. Also what would be a good winch? I have a 2010 Toyota Tundra Crew Max that weighs about 5,500 pounds.
rope is safer, lighter, and depending on brand it can handle more load. Cable can handle mud, UV light and abrasions, these things will kill a rope if not maintained...
I have used both and I like rope better than cable for this first reason, Sometimes cable strands break and if you have ever slid your hand over cable and got that stray strand in your hand you know how much that hurts. I also like the rope for how much lighter and flexible it is, My rope floats. Another thing I like but it hasn't happened is if the rope would happen to break it will not whip back and if it would ever break it can be tied back together so you continue with your recovery effort. When I replaced my cable with rope I was able to use a smaller diameter rope vs.. my old cable size and still have the same strength as what my old cable was rated and that allowed me to get a longer size rope to fit my spool, I think I was able to have 20 more ft. of rope than what my cable length was, 80ft cable vs. 100ft of rope or something very close to that. I would recommend winch rope to anybody. It is expensive though. Ronny Dahl also has some very good points too.
I am new to your channel and enjoying your videos a lot. I am looking at putting a winch on the front of my cruiser, What is your opinion on PTO winches vs Electric winches?
I cant for the life of me get my rope to grip on the drum. It was pretensioned with my jeep on a small hill, but it continually spins on the drum. I cant use the winch as it is....what Iam doing wrong?
I learned this the hard way. Brand new winch, unspooled it, attached it to the tree strap. Start pulling and taking up the slack, the line got nice and taut....and then BZZT, the reel just started merrily spinning away but the line didn't move. All the weight was on the keeper screw instead the drum and it popped out. Had to rely on the kindness of strangers to save my ass. Next day, I did some research and did the tensioned respooling. Used it last Sunday and boom...worked just as advertised. I was able to save my own ass this time.
As always, thanks for the really high, non-patronising content. Straight up informative channel that is on point. Cheers brother and keep up the great work.
Thanks Ronny for all of your demos on recovery gear. Thanks for all of the extra information on using the tools and equipment plus safety tips. Appreciate it and I will share this with others.
Brad Coffman thanks mate, good to know you found it useful
Just bought a new winch today and this vid is by far the easiest to follow and understand now let's find me a tree and get out there.
Thanks Ronny, got my Wrangler 4 years ago, just upgraded her with a bumper and winch, learned a lot from watching your videos! Be safe!
Very well covered. When I worked in a 4wd accessory shop, we had a bloke come back with a winch that wouldn't spool in or out. Turns out he hadn't paid attention to how the cable had spooled on and it had become completely jammed up on one side of the drum!
thanks Intents Offroad wow that must have really been jammed!
never wear board shorts and work boots while winching. if anything happens parametics wont know whether to treat a work related or leisure related injury
hahaha
If it was leisure Ronny would be wearing thongs.
Its incredible how much I've learned watching your videos, keep it up bro!
I need to switch to synthetic winch rope. I wasn't aware that you had to pretension. Good to know for when I end up switching over. Thanks.
Been reviewing your vids as I just purchased a new winch (synthetic rope). Good stuff Ronny! Thanks for the straight-forward instruction.
Learned about you from Brad at TrailRecon. Glad I did. Great video on winching and I learned some things. Thanks for taking the time to make these.
Great info man! You do a very good service to off roaders keeping them safe and teaching just what they need to know in a fantastic manner! Only giving good instruction and none of the misinformation that I see on other "off road how to" videos. I have learned so much from your videos and every time I am out and have the opportunity I share the information with others because we all go out to have fun and get away from the day to day grind, not to get hurt by doing the thing we love and enjoy! Thank you very much and cheers from Indiana U.S.A.
I'm new to winching. Thank you for the quality tips.
So I got a smitty xc20 water proff 10,000 and I’ve learned so much about winching and recovery just from the manuals out of the box that I now know there is a code of conduct to having a winch
i watch many of your vids and normally always agree but not this time. Yes it is important to have a neat and well wrapped jeep cable but you are a boatload better off dragging the empty vehicle to you instead of being in front of the moving jeep winching in. In my case i use my drive way that has a slight incline and more than 90 feet of length and drag my Son's CRV to me with my vehicle in park and handbrake on at the top of the hill.
Make more videos however, i love them!!!
If you come to the States look me up would love to meet in person.
That's ok until you lose connection with the vehicle you are hauling uphill and it runs away from you driverless with no breaks on! If there is only two of you then never tow an unmanned vehicle up-hill if you can avoid it!
Great video mate. All your videos are easy to follow, informative and they make sense. Cheers Ronnie
I just wanted to say thanks for all of the helpful videos.
All these vids you make are very informational. Thank you so much
Good job Ronny, always enjoy ur vids. Good tips and techs for the new/respool winch, cheers. Oh, and blanket so the rope can be SEEN is great - I always thought about breakage, but that's a good reason to use them. Good on ya mate.
Rock climbers are usually the nicest people on the planet.
If you want to see a rock climber come unglued, step on his rope.
NEVER step in a rope, ever.
When I'm dragging a rock climber to his death behind the prado, I'll remember he'll expect me not to step on his rope😎😂🤣👍
@Bill Rayvan Someone missed nap time at daycare.
Hi Ronny, must say thank you for such great and informative videos. I really appreciate it. Well done. I liked and subscribed.
If you are on a trip or expedition, how often will you retention the rope or cable when you are out in the bush? If you have had to use your winch and the rope is not neatly stowed will you immediately retention it or will you wait to you get back? I'm thinking about situations where you may have to use the winch multiple times over several days is it OK to leave the rope as is until you get home? Thanks Ronnie cheers.
BETTER to ensure the rope/cable is properly spooled after each use of the winch.
While it is ideal to re-spool every time, I never re-spool until I can get home and clean the rope out. Certain trips I've winched 15 or so times and re-spooling was just not practical. Look up my channel for the STUCK!! Video and you will see what I mean.
Very informative videos Ronny. How can I pre-tension/spool the winch on my own, without assistance from others? Thank you!
International hand signals education
"That's international for stop whatya doin!" 😂 Love it Ronny, great video as always
do you need to re-spool after each use with steel cable or just synthetic?
Wow I was doing it wrong! Mine had no tension, I simply winched in or “winch, winch-in’d” lol thanks for sharing! I’ll correct my mistake
thanks Ronny and Brian this vid reminds me to tell my mate to clean his winch rope and respool itCheers Rolly
Thanks again Ronny. I'll use this method for sure.
Thank you very much Ronnie. You are doing a great job sharing information which will improve safety awareness about using winches &/or kinetic ropes for vehicle recovery & rescues. What can you share about the Barrett Systems ‘screwdriver’ antenna & it’s attached radio? Barrett is big here in the Sierras because of their NVIS networking capabilities. Cheers & 73, ...dan wl7coo. ARRL SJV ASEC & Volunteer EMT.
I didn't know about pretesion makes sense though. I should go do mine now
Thank you for posting
Brilliant videos mate 👍🏽
would you do a video on winch rope vs steel cable. like, going from steel to rope, or rope to steel. i hear that some models are ok to do that with and others not so much. thanks for the videos
there is one coming tomorrow morning on the channel, its the lead up video but is pretty much a cable vs steel video as well.
Hey Ronny, great videos I've learned a lot so far. I've installed a winch recently and just used it last weekend when I got stuck. The cable is a bit dirty from splash and such so I'm planning to clean it and I'm wondering if I should just spool out the entire cable and soak in a bucket or leave 8 wraps on and soak the part that actually got used. Any other tips for maintaining winch and cable?
Mate I reckon only cleaning the parts that got dirty is fine.
Saw u and ur m8s on 4wd actions mag 👍 good work
Thanks mate :)
I'd like to suggest you stand further away from the winch when you're feeding/directing, maybe no less than 1m from the drum, preferably more. Firstly because there's less chance of you getting your hand stuck. Secondly because you will be more visible to the operator in the vehicle. Being ducked below the bonnet line with your hand stuck in the winch and a car rolling over the top of you would be no fun.
FYI also, on the instructions for a winch I saw the other day, pretension under 400kg of load, so probably what you were achieving right there.
Good job, well done.
Tom E Good point about the extra distance from the drum, it is hard to see the line on the drum further back but it would be safer as you stated... thanks for the feedback
Grat video, would love to see a comparison of solid Axels and ifs
Thanks mate, will put your video request in the pipeline :)
That seems like a very dangerous way to do it with your face and hands right next to the winch. I stand back and watch the winch get spooled while the driver slightly turns the steering wheel one direction or the other which makes it spool in that direction.
Just got a new truck with a steel cable winch. How often do you have to retention your winch and clean it?
I`m a newbie and have steel cable on my winch. My question is: If you have to pull from an angle, how do you stop the winch line from piling up on one side of the drum and jambing up? I have tried to stop winching, pull a bunch out and reline the drum and start again, but that is a huge pain
Can you continue to use the winch and the rope if both the anchor point on the winch and end rope broke off? The answer feels obvious and at the time same i wonder if physics and rope under tension can be forgiven within these circumstances.
Thanks
Good Stuff, Great Help, Good Tips 👍Thanks!
Great content as usual. If automatic transmission, do you keep the winching vehicle on park and hand brake to provide resistance if you don't have uphill for natural resistance? Wouldn't it break the parking brake or the hand brake?
Bit late, but leave the transmission in neutral and the park brake on. All the park brake does is apply the rear brakes (usually) which won’t brake it. It’s the same as braking under normal conditions with the park brake on
With steel cable, I just count in my head the number of turns and then stop and check the spool. Maybe add a few more, then slightly turn the wheels and reverse the wrap. I have never had a "spotter" when doing this and I always get an even and tight wrap on my old 12000 Warn. Having your hands on the line even under such low tension does not seem like the best way to do that.
Keep up the great work mate
Thoroughly enjoy your video's thanks Ronny. One part I do not agree with though is the stepping on the line, to get over it. I agree it may be a "safe" way to climb over, but you are creating a far greater danger. Each time you step on any line, on dirt you drive dirt / stone particles into the rope itself, over time this will cause a potentially dangerous weak spot. From a climbing background we seriously gave people a kick in the a-rse if they stood the rope.
Paul OS thats an interesting point from a climbers view, would have never thought of that. Really no should step over or on the line but just felt the need to say it to prevent peoples jewels. Will keep this in mind cheers
My thoughts as a climber / rope tech also. The dirt gets pushed into the rope by standing on it and then is compressed against fibres when under tension causing internal rope abrasion.
Hi from Oamaru New Zealand Ronnie. Hey what size winch u suggest for my 2012 Nissan Navara D40 diesel?. I'm looking at Warn
Why do winch manufactures no make them with levo wind. Similar to say fishing reels?
Thanks for the information... love the accent
How do you retension after recovery if you’re traveling by yourself? And isn’t it dangerous to stand in front of the winch as you retension it?
What to choose for a light 4x4 like a Samurai? Tight or wide drum? 8000 or 9500,fast speed or normal speed?
what's the life expectancy of a synthetic rope /cable ,and what are the pros and cons of both rope and cable
rope floats in water.
ropes much lighter
rope doesnt carry inertia of it snaps
rope can easily be joined back together on the side of a track if it snaps
rope doesnt last as long
rope cuts easily if u are dragging the rop across the ground or sharp rocks
rope needs regular washing
cable is less maintenance
cable is cheaper
cable can be dragged over rocks while being more forgiving the cable
cable is alot heavier and harder to maneuver
cable will do damage if it snaps and your blanket doesnt catch it.
cable is alot rougher on your hands.
theres plenty more but that might give u an idea
thanks for sharing video,,
Is the Jeep in Neutral when this happens? And do you have to Re tension every time you use the winch?
two tips:
1. Never step over ropes.
2. If you need to step over......then see rule 1.
3. Never step on a rope......dirt and grit will weaken rope....
M koopk
In the SES [Emergency Services ]& the ADF we were taught "WALK AROUND, NEVER OVER"a winch cable / rope whether it is under tension or not. ADF especially was under threat of a charge.
Hey Ronny any plans to do winch reviews I.e best entry level /best for money/performance as you might have guessed I'm in the market for a winch 😜
RONNY WHAT WINCH DO YOU RUN ?
Do this in neutral if alone?
if you are on an incline, when you put the car in neutral to winch would it not start rolling down?
Better to remove the flip-up plate first so you don't have a reason to put your hand near the hawse -- if you hand gets caught in the hawse the winch will rip it right off.
Great video!
I'm looking at getting a new rope for my 11000lbs winch. Any tips on which brand I should buy?
Master Pull makes high quality stuff
Great video, cheers
Do you do this same with the synthetic rope which?
Why are you not worried about the rope snapping when you're by the spool? The winch is still pulling an entire car. Is it because since your car isn't stuck the winch and line has no problem with the load?
+Matt V (Camel51) being a lot less load on the winch it's very unlikely to snap. Even if the vehicle weighs 3-4t the winch is only pulling a little bit of weight as the wheel are rolling. Obviously if there are signs of bad wear and tear it's best to put it (rope) in the bin and get a new one.
good info.
oh please answer me...... i need hinches like whats on this car for the number plate as my winch is in the same postition.
Why you need so much tension on it?
Wouldnt it be enough if you just spooled it in while holding the cable?
If you don't put good tension on the rope you are likely to force the rope to violently rub against the rest of the rope and cause shock loads as it will tighten and force its way between the looser layers of rope. Also as I mentioned in the video you could even risk spinning the entire rope on the drum snapping the locator screw off even with two entire layers of rope on the drum. There is better detail in the video on this...
What kind of winch mount is that?
***** It's a 'low mount' which came with the bar work, in Australia 90% of winches are low mounted and hidden. We rarely see the high mounts here unless they are on a Jeep with an American designed bar work or comp truck. They are a pain to work with some times when it comes to trouble shooting etc as the access is limited but it looks neater and is safer for city traffic.
I like the low mount much more! Are there any brands that make a good low mount? I'm just getting in to off roading so I'm new to all of this. Also what would be a good winch? I have a 2010 Toyota Tundra Crew Max that weighs about 5,500 pounds.
Looks similar to a Smittybilt Atlas bumper.
3:33 most important tip! ....lol
Lol. Ouch
Semp
What is better? a rope or cable winch?
rope is safer, lighter, and depending on brand it can handle more load.
Cable can handle mud, UV light and abrasions, these things will kill a rope if not maintained...
Ok thanks for that Ronny. Loving the videos
no worries Josh Skittles
I have used both and I like rope better than cable for this first reason, Sometimes cable strands break and if you have ever slid your hand over cable and got that stray strand in your hand you know how much that hurts. I also like the rope for how much lighter and flexible it is, My rope floats. Another thing I like but it hasn't happened is if the rope would happen to break it will not whip back and if it would ever break it can be tied back together so you continue with your recovery effort. When I replaced my cable with rope I was able to use a smaller diameter rope vs.. my old cable size and still have the same strength as what my old cable was rated and that allowed me to get a longer size rope to fit my spool, I think I was able to have 20 more ft. of rope than what my cable length was, 80ft cable vs. 100ft of rope or something very close to that. I would recommend winch rope to anybody. It is expensive though. Ronny Dahl also has some very good points too.
it would be better to have the winch truck parked and pull the other vehicle
Nads, another international signal
Truth
thanks a lot
I am new to your channel and enjoying your videos a lot.
I am looking at putting a winch on the front of my cruiser, What is your opinion on PTO winches vs Electric winches?
Why you don't get the command of the winch then you are in total control of it?
NEVER step over a winch rope!! If you do while it's not under tension it creates a bad habit and you're more likely to do it under tension!
Reaching between that license plate and the moving cable is not a good idea. I cringed watching that part.
Gnangarra pines?
Proper radio use, wait a half second to a second before speaking after pushing the button
Hi
Strap to a tree... you don't need the second truck.
Instead of pushing and pulling the rope, you might also steer the vehicle gently left and right.
another good point, I actually did that the other day as I was doing it on my own...
I cant for the life of me get my rope to grip on the drum. It was pretensioned with my jeep on a small hill, but it continually spins on the drum. I cant use the winch as it is....what Iam doing wrong?
Are they 33’s on that Jeep??
And any lift?
do you really need a walkie talkie when his window is open 3 feet away
OMG this 6 min video feels like it's 5 hrs long.........
What Brandis beat there all made China?
just uploaded my first videos of my fjz80 check them out
DON'T EVER BUY A SHERPA 4x4 SNORKEL (OR WINCH) If I can save just one person, I've done my job. Scintex is a major scam company.
What's wrong with sherpa winches everything I've heard has been positive, and they seem to perform better than warn in tests?
definitely dont do this like ronny. you'l end up killing yourself
Stop
go
One question after rain the the rope winch needS to be drying or it’s fine?