[Dark Helmet]

So my winch was installed from the dealer and I'm not a lifelong offroad guy, but I think my line is on the spool wrong. My line comes over the top of the spool. When I use the remote, that's how it spools my line and the buttons on my shifter work the same. It's very easy to swap the buttons on my shifter so I was wondering if it was wrong. When looking at winch videos online, they have the line going to the bottom of the spool. What's right and do I need to reverse something to correct it? I've had issues with amsteel lines and my steel line breaking however I believe my hawse is part of that issue.

Thanks

 

[fswan]

Normally, the line comes off the bottom of the spool.

 

[Expat]

Forde I am seeing lots of them spooled off the top nowadays. The winch that came on my 800 and my buddies 900 both spool off the top. We both though it was wrong but assume that it how they are intended...since the came factory installed and spooled that way. It does bother me though!

 

[rowe doo]

My warn come's off the bottem.

 

[fswan]

Forde I am seeing lots of them spooled off the top nowadays. The winch that came on my 800 and my buddies 900 both spool off the top. We both though it was wrong but assume that it how they are intended...since the came factory installed and spooled that way. It does bother me though!

Yeah, I seem to recall Peter from Motoalliance commenting on this a while back. If I recall correctly, he said no harm coming off the top - just depends on how the winch is mounted. Hope he see's this and chimes in...

 

[papa10]

Motoalliance suggests spooling off the top on a 2015 Ranger 900 XP. Coming off the bottom results in a severe angle from the bottom of the spool to the hawse outlet. Off the top results in a nearly straight angle. I questioned Motoalliance about the effectiveness of the wince brake by coming off the top and they advised the brake on the viper winch works equally as well in either direction.

 

[ranger24]

I was told by A Superwinch tech when I installed mine that the line should come of the spool on the closest side to the mounting hardware so to reduce the torque stress on the drum and the mount. This also lets the line go through the fairlead at the straightest angle as mentioned above. I had to call them because I had to change the direction of wind in and that was the explanation I was given. Im no expert but it made sense to me.

 

[HRTKD]

On both my Mile Marker winches they spool from the top. I would go with what Joel said. Which ever way it will go through the fairlead/hawse without coming into contact.

 

[Discraftpro]

Same here, I have a thread if you search for Viper Winch. Simply reverse the battery cables from the battery to the winch and respool the line.

Discraftpro

 

[Dark Helmet]

Mine is actually a Polaris HD4500 and it mounts straight back, but it seems to make more sense for it to come off of the top since it reduces the angle to the plow. Not sure which direction would actually cause less stress on the winch

 

[yooper265]

Coming off the bottom would produce less strain on the mounting bolts , off the top would give the line more leverage / angle to pull the bolts out of the winch , in theory .

 

[OFRCboy]

Bottom is correct as is causes the line down when it breaks. That said the industry has for some reason changed the old school thought. I personaly think with all the different buggys out there and winch makers they do what works best for them for each unit right or wrong. If you have cable always throw your coat or something over the line incase it breaks.

 

[ranger24]

My winch is hanging down from the mount plate so it spools in on the top.

 

[revrnd]

Old school here. I bought a new Warn 8274 back in the 80s & my RT40 both come off the bottom. No issue w/ the RT40 concerning the angle of the line going thru the roller fairlead.

Warn Industries - The history of the WARN M8274 winch

I wonder if anyone has tried to mount 1 on a Ranger. Heavy as heck, you'd probably have to beef up the front suspension. LOL

 

[HRTKD]

The winch I'm running on the front of my Ranger is rated at 9,500 lbs. Yes, it's heavy. The cradle I put it in adds a good amount of weight also. My suspension seems to be OK.

 

[yooper265]

What kind of battery do you have for the 9500 lb winch ?

 

[HRTKD]

I'm running it off of an Odyssey PC925 which is isolated from the OEM battery using a WirthCo Battery Doctor Isolator.