There are some drivers that aren’t just satisfied with driving their favorite and beloved cars on the road, so they would often participate in off-road driving and racing, as these particular events are actually more fun and exciting than simply driving road cars. However, getting a thrill in off-road driving has its advantages and disadvantages, and one of the disadvantages is that your car may sometimes find itself stuck in mud or its wheels cannot rotate properly above a pile of rocks. Luckily, there is one particular car tool that you can utilize to get your vehicle out of those situations, and this tool is called the car winch.

A car winch is a device that is primarily used to pull vehicles out of rough terrain. The tool is able to do this feat by having a cable hooked to a stable structure that should be heavier than the vehicle (like a tree trunk) and a gear system that pulls the cable and moves the car forwards. The car winch is a very useful tool to have for off-road vehicles, and it is safe to say that any truck or car driven primarily off-road should have one installed. To know more about the applications of this device, here are some tips on when to use a car winch.

For Pulling Your Vehicle Out

As mentioned in the introduction, the main use of the car winch is to pull your vehicle out of dangerous and problematic situations, like getting stuck in mud or being unable to move forward because the terrain is too rough for the wheels. 

However, if you want to efficiently pull the car out, you will need to hook the cable around a very sturdy structure, like a tree trunk or a cemented post, as these examples can usually carry more weight than your vehicle. So, it is important that the structure you are hooking the cable on should be very sturdy so that it won’t move while the winch is activated. If you are going to use a winch on a tree trunk, make sure that you utilize a wide tree saver strap so that you won’t need to wrap the cable around the trunk and damage the tree accidentally.

For Pulling Another Vehicle

If your car is in a safer location but another vehicle nearby isn’t, you can use your car winch to pull that vehicle towards the area of your car. Again, you would need to be in a stable and sturdy location in order to pull the other vehicle out effectively. Also, your car should also be heavier than the other vehicle so that you won’t be the one that will be pulled out of your location. In addition, if the other car is too stuck in its area, your vehicle won’t be able to pull it by just using a winch.

For Retrieving a Stuck Object

Car winches are also useful for pulling objects that are stuck in mud or in other areas where you cannot get them using your bare hands. But, retrieving objects using a car winch can be tricky since you may not be able to wrap the winch strap around the item. So, only large objects can be pulled using a winch, as smaller items cannot be hooked properly. Before winching, make sure that the object is draped in a blanket that will provide cushioning under the winch strap to prevent damage.

How to Use a Winch

Now that we know the situations where we can use a car winch, let us now discuss how to actually use the tool. Below are the steps to follow in order to use a car winch correctly and safely.

• Connect the winch’s controller to your car. If you are using a wireless winch, you should plug in the adapter or receiver of the controller instead.
• Wear a pair of padded gloves for protection. Winch cables can sometimes be dangerous to handle since they may cause cuts, bruises, blisters, and burns while it is activated.
• Press the disengage button on the remote or pull the disengage lever on the winch to release the cable.
• Pull the cable towards the sturdy structure you intend to hook it on. Remember to use a tree saver winch strap if you are hooking the cable to a tree trunk. You can wrap the winch strap around the trunk and connect the two ends of the strap to a D-shackle for a stable connection.
• Connect the D-shackle to the winch’s hook, and then push the engage button on the controller to turn the lever of the winch to the engage option.
• Press the pull button on the controller to let the winch pull the cable and move the car forwards. Remember to winch the vehicle slowly since hastily pulling it could result in damages for the winch and the car.
• Once the car is on stable ground, stop pressing the pull button and start unhooking the winch. After the winch is unhooked on the stable structure, rewind the cable back towards the winch’s gear system. Then, retrieve the D-shackle and the winch strap.

Using a car winch is fairly easy, as long as you know what to do. Pull vehicles out of the mud and rough terrain safely by utilizing a car winch properly. Always remember that safety should always be a priority when it comes to handling heavy-duty tools or devices.