I won a Smittybilt X20 10,000lbs steel cable winch. I followed the directions for the set up which took me about an hour. Once I had everything hooked up, I made sure the wireless remote worked. I let the winch out about five feet then in. I didn't want to unspool it completely until I had a chance to get in an open area. The winch came pre-spooled. When I went to hook the cable to a tractor to respool the cable under a load, I powered out five feet of cable. Once I got five feet of cable out I switched to freespool and as soon as I turned the clutch I got a birdnest of cable. The drum just spun out. Once I get the cable out I winched in under power with the load on to respool the winch. I've had to do this process every time because when I switch the clutch to freespool it birdnest like a baitcaster reel. Is there anything I can do to tighten the drum to keep the freespool from unwinding every time?
Winch help
- Thread starter higgybop
- Start date
ZachJKUR
Member
The birds nest happened because of the "clock-spring" energy stored in the steel cable. This will be reduced greatly the first time you "stretch" the winch cable. You can prevent this by just keeping force applied to it with a GLOVED hand. To apply the force, just pull outward on the cable while it spools in and if its stopped, by pressing down on the top of the drum. Again, after the cable is stretched, this will not really happen.
Happy Jeeping! and congrats on the win!