Thread: Winches - Clutch in or out when not in use

I do with mine and it was like that when I bought the rig.

I always leave the clutch locked in so the cable doesn't come loose or out. I'm not sure why that would be a problem.

leave it locked with tension on it, as you said a cretin may play, but also on the road and tracks it will most likely losen up and the wire rope will 'birds nest' on the drum, like that stuffed up cast you did with your fishing reel, can't just cut this stuff off and tie another hook on.

The reason for leaving the clutch disengaged is that should you accidentally operate the winch the cable will not wind in the bull bar or whatever it is attached to.
Having said that I always leave the clutch engaged. When I had a pto winch I always left the clutch disengaged and retained the cable with some small gauge wire to stop it unwinding and becoming loose.

ian

The reason behind it is more to do with corrosion inside the clutch.

As with a bit of moisture, you can sometimes end up with the clutch siezed in the drum which can be a pain and make it almost a throw away item as when it is in free spool it isnt in contact with anything it can rust it self to.

In saying all that, I dont trust it enough to enguage again so I leave mine enguaged as I can always spool it out the slow way using reverse.

Im very surprised that no one has mentioned the fact that if your clutch is disengaged and the hook comes loose that the cable can drag underneath and get caught on something

And the result id hate to think , not that i have heard of it ,but it is a possability

Originally Posted by rangieman

Im very surprised that no one has mentioned the fact that if your clutch is disengaged and the hook comes loose that the cable can drag underneath and get caught on something

And the result id hate to think , not that i have heard of it ,but it is a possability

Good point Chris..

Is there any truth in the story that it is possible for someone to hook your winch rope over the roof and onto the towbar, short out the contacts somehow and walk away leaving you vehicle to do some awful damage to the roof? Or is that as I suspect yet another urban myth. If it's true would that make any difference to the way you would leave the clutch?