I think you may have misread it. If you do find that it does say to turn off your vehicle while winching I'm not to proud to admit I'm wrong. When you winch under a heavy load you can drain a battery dead in less than 15 minutes. A winch under a heavy load will pull the battery voltage low and therefore make the alternator work hard. There is a low risk of burning your alternator out but it's small and uncommon. You also make the alternator work hard if it has to recharge a dead battery so you are not saving the alternator by winching with the engine off. Regular car batteries like to stay topped off. So if you do decide to run your winch with the engine off you are also shortening the life of your battery more than if the vehicle is running. Even the optima yellow tops prematurely lose life when you drain the battery low.



It's not hard steel or otherwise. Synthetic is much easier to handle. Splicing is not complicated although I'd recommend practicing it a few times before relying on it. Neatness counts on the splice. Remember to condition your steel line by making sure there is a small load on the line when spooling it for the first time. Remember to get a rock guard for your synthetic if you go that route.


Sure can. It's important to make sure it's been treated for UV resistance. Technora for example loses 50% of it's strength in 1.5 months if it's untreated. Even treated they lose 50% strength when exposed to the sun for 3 months. So whether you go with technora (Tech 12) or Amsteel Blue you should cover your lines. This includes the area of exposed rope around your thimble/hook.

Amsteel Blue is the most popular but it can lose half it's line strength if the drum gets warm at 160 F° and the drums commonly do get that warm. Technora loses half it's strength at 450 F°. Something else to consider is that although you tend to get little cuts on your hand with steel it doesn't mind rocks like synthetics do. I prefer synthetics because it's easier to handle but it does take more care and paying attention than steel.

 

 

that is correct.

 

At the moment I have no choice. There is a short somewhere in my system and whenever i use the winch my engine dies. But having the engine running while winching seems like a better idea to me.

 

Sounds like you need to figure it out before ever using the winch again... kinda hard to get off the trail with your entire electrical system burned down!