Ask the Mechanic: How do I use the winch on my 4WD car?

David, your concerns about user knowledge and safety while operating the car winch are valid. Vehicle recovery with a winch is a high risk activity which must be attempted after training, planning, equipment certification and following correct procedure. One must know when to use the car winch, how to set it up and use it safely to avoid causing an accident. A car winch is a device that helps you recover a vehicle that may be stuck in muddy, rocky, sandy terrain or a deep ditch. The winch is designed with a wire or synthetic rope which is spooled out to latch around a mounting point such as around a tree.

This serves as a leverage to help pull the car out of the terrain where it may be stuck. The rotating spool on the winch is often driven by an electric motor, which is remotely controlled. Different car winch designs may differ slightly but generally have similar rigging and operating instructions as well as precautions. You can identify the model and make of your car winch and download on the internet a specific user manual for it.

Generally, you must know the when you need to use a winch such as when your car needs to be recovered. There are three stages of using a car winch; rigging up the winch, recovering the car and unrigging the winch. Rigging the winch involves connecting the remote control switch to the winch and finding a safe place to operate it. Wear a set of thick gloves to protect your hands from injury caused by the wire cable. Find an anchor point for the winch in front of the car such as a tree. Then, use the disengage lever to release the winch cable and pull it all the way to and around the anchor point (tree). Wrap something hard around the tree trunk to protect it from damage due to the load on your car winch cable.

A D shackle attached to a belt wrapped around the tree trunk would be an ideal point to fasten the winch hook. Turn the lever from disengage to engage. This will stop releasing or unspooling the winch cable. Using the remote control, start pulling the winch cable back into the winch until its taunt. At this point, you are ready to pull your vehicle out. Make sure there are no people standing by or near the car, winch cable and tree or anchor point. A taunt cable can cause lethal damage to human beings if it snaps or breaks loose. It is better to operate the winch remotely from the safety of the car cabin.

To recover the vehicle, clear the area and safely sit in the driver seat. Use the remote switch to pull the vehicle slowly with interval breaks to make sure it is moving straight towards the anchoring point. Stop winching as soon as the car reaches firm dry ground then drive the car forward to help slacken the towing cable.

Start the process of dismounting the winch system. Unhook the winch cable from the D shackle or around the anchoring point. Commence retraction or rewinding of the winch cable around the spool slowly as you ensure that the cable does not slide through your hands to hurt you. Stop operating the retracting spool when the hook docks at the winch. Disconnect the remote control switch. Unwrap the tree trunk protector and safely store the D shackle. That is how you can use your car winch to recover your car.

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