swapped89

I just installed my new WARN 8000 and have a question. Should i leave the motor running while winching, the book said not to. but i think it would help keep from draining the battery.

Bru

what type of battery are you running? well you will drain it with any good pull you do. leave the motor running. my 2cents.

swapped89

my battery is a lesschwab battery only 650 cold cranking amps. just the minimum rating for my winch

GSGALLANT

I always leave my truck running when winching and I am running my winch off an auxiliary optima blue top battery. With the truck running, you are able to help the winch along by having the truck in drive while you're winching (depending on the situation you're in). The battery voltage will also be slightly higher (15% or so) with the truck running, which will cut down the amps that the winch draws.

tc

x2 GSGALLANT

I would call Warn and ask "WTH are you thinking saying engine off when winching"?

Rockram

I have a Warn 8274-50 on my Jeep and always leave it running when winching.

Johannes

They don't want you to do something dumb while winching, like use the winch as a tow strap too...it's a liability issue, they're just protecting their hides.

Question though, Warn seems to be the industry leader and standard in winches, but it looks like there's a lot of winches to choose from these days. Anyone used another brand (besides Ramsey, I like them too) and have anything to say?

EvaMonky

x2

Plus if the engine is running, people might put an Auto in Park and not Neutral.... Not good while it's getting pulled along with a Winch.

But I guess someone could do that while it's off too lol.

Maybe it's because on older Vechicles, running the motor while whinching might cause the Electrical System to overheat? Spark? I mean you choose your potential disaster.

In the end it's all about lawyers.

tc

I think it would be MORE common if the engine was off. It's gets to be quite an ingrained habit to make sure it's in park before turning off the engine (because otherwise, you can't get the key out)

Like I said, I can see NO reason to turn it off and TONS of reasons to keep it running...

fireman1559

i love my dayton its a good winch i always leave my truck running while i pull if you turn your truck off to winch someone will be pulling you out of where ever you are and trust me tow truck drivers hate when you get there trucks dirty

TOYOTA 1

^x2..

Johannes

So to go along with this, I have a Warn 800 on my Runner and it's kind of beat up, and been exposed to the elements for a long time. I picked up the truck a couple of months ago and it's been used before (the line is crap, fraying in places).

Anyone ever changed a winch line? Cant be that hard right?

Anyone have a Warn 800 Remote lying around that they'd want to get rid of?

tc

It's easy - take the opportunity to go with synthetic - you'll wonder how anyone still uses wire rope!

Johannes

Wait, I've seen those on Ebay, but like climbing rope, doesn't it degrade when exposed to sunlight?

crackerjack

I let my engine run, besides better voltage I think it helps to pull cooler air over winch motor.

tc

No - they are UV stabilized. Check out winchline.com or amsteel

Johannes

Sweet, that's pretty awesome. Thanks for the info. I guess my only concern is what they already warned, sharp edges on bumpers and trees.

TrikeKid

Tree savers are cheap, there is no reason to be putting bare winch line around a tree in a recovery situation. They can also be used to wrap around a bumper if you're like me and have friends that don't have any tow points on their rigs.

sa51

agreed, i cant stand when people wrap their cables around bumpers or trees. damages the tree and kinks the line.

tc

In many cases, it will kill the tree. If you cut through the bark on a significant portion of the circumfrence, the tree will die. I think it's called ringing the tree.