Here's a pretty dumb question for yall. I've never used a winch before. I enstalled one on my truck not too long ago and had to use it the other day. When I wound it in the cable kept overlaping itself and bundling up on one side of the drum. When I was able to I walked the cable out, held it taunt, and had a friend wind it it while I tried to keep it straight. It did the same thing but not nearly as bad. Will this be okay or will it damage the cable? Do I need to spend a lot of time making it wind in perfectly

 

It doesn't need to be perfect, just make sure you get it as good as you can. What kinda winch did ya get?

 

that happens when winching sometimes....just always wind it out and spool it back in with tension on it and keep the cable spread best you can, it usually takes two to do this right

jus tmake sure you wear some good gloves, and watch your hands...especially if you have something like an 8274-50
74 ft a min is fast....

ive had a few close calls with mine

 

I anchor mine to a tree on a slight decline (rolling load) and pull it up to wrap it neatly. You can push the cable to one side while it is winding on the drum with a six foot (or a broken torsion bar) pry bar, a lot safer then holding one end and using your hands.

 

It is not good to have it come in all on one side while you are pulling hard, This will shorten your cable life fast And to good on your winches bearings. Were you pulling straight? Always get as straight as you can, if you can't get in line with what you are pulling, a snachbox will help you get a straighter line some times. To get the cable back on straight after you are done ,try pulling on a car or truck that is in neutral. I use my sons truck in the drive. A cable will get a memory if you leave it all messed up and get harder to use each time. Oh and overlapping will bruise the cable and if done under a heavy load will really shorten its life and make it very dangerous. A cable braking under load is like a big steel rubber band. Allways throw a coat or blanket over your cable when you are pulling. That will make it alittle safer. I always lift my hood too. Erv

 

Thanks for the replys yall. The winch is a Warn 9000i (somebody asked) on a 84 F150. When I was pulling the line was in a straight line with the truck but I had to pull uphill and to the right so it kinda got messed up like that. I heard about using the jacket or something in the middle so I folded a horse blanket up a couple times and used that. I pulled the line out again earlier and kind of walked it in by hand. I still didnt get it on there too good. Tomorrow I'll unwind it again and use another vehicle on level ground. Thanks for that tip.