How much winch line do you keep on the drum?

[SnowyHaijo]

On a recent trip I got stuck on a challenge obstacle (bunch of telephone poles at various angles and spacing) and used my winch to get me over the last couple that were spaced just right and held me in place. It was a fun obstacle and I enjoyed the challenge, however after pulling myself over I made an observation of how my winch line stacked up on the drum during the pull. Since my anchor was slightly to the passenger side, my line stacked up on one side of the drum to the point in chaffed against the cross bars. Yes, I could have checked how the rope was winding between the 2 pulls that got me over the obstruction, but it got me questioning the amount of rope I have on the drum. I currently have the nearly 80 ft. of rope it came with from the manufacturer all spooled on. When wrapped nicely, it all fits “snugly”. Also, I wheel primarily in the Midwest so I’m never far from a tree or friend as an anchor.

As I see it, I have a few options:
1. Get in the habit of spooling out nearly the entire drum and finding an object farther away or using a snatch block to halve the rope and double my pulling power. This would bring me down to the lower wraps maximizing the winch potential power and space on the drum before experiencing interference from inefficient spooling during the pull. However if doubling back to the Jeep I need to winch in twice the rope to cover the same distance thus bringing in the same issue.
2. Reducing the length of rope on the winch. I’m considering cutting 20-25 of my 80 ft. length off. This would reduce the amount needing to be spooled out to reach the lower wraps. I would keep the removed section as an extension should I need more length.
3. Similar to the first, spool out nearly the entire drum, but use one of those fancy doohickeys like X-Lock from Safe Xtract to shorten the line.

I get that the length needed is the amount to reach the nearest anchor point, which for me in the Midwest tends to be 2-3 vehicle lengths (mostly a guess). So it brings me back to the question in the title, how much line do you keep on your winch drum and why?

Sponsored

 

[Reinen]

I have 90'. The most important thing is that you keep your line spooled nice, neat and tight under minor tension. When you pull without being fully extended you're pulling against wrapped line, that needs to be neat and tight so it doesn't slip in or bind. But if your lower wraps are neat and tight it isn't a problem.

Spooling neat isn't always possible during a recovery but it should at least be tight. Don't extend your line any longer than necessary to keep the lower wraps neat & tight. Afterwards you can unspool and spool it in neatly under minor tension. I typically do this by finding some flat ground, extending the winch line, attaching to a tree and dragging the Jeep along with the parking brake partially applied. Guiding the line if necessary to insure the lower wraps are spooled as neat and tight as possible.

 

[Tech Tim]

I cut 35' off the end on my winches and run 65' on the drum (minus the amount used for the splice).

Then spliced an eye on the cut off piece and carry it as a winch line extension in case a longer pull is needed.

Gets me to the lower wraps faster for more pull and gives more room on the drum for the rope bunching up that inevitably occurs.

 

[Gorilla57]

My Warn came with 100ft of line and I cut 35ft off of it. Most pulls in AZ are 50ft or less, but I carry the 35ft with me just in case. Plus, I carry a 30ft tow strap and a 10ft tree saver. I've got plenty of recovery line/strap. Cut some off and carry it with you.

 

[GATORB8]

Definitely depends on where you normally wheel.

Out east, I’ve been in some situations where it was hard enough to hook a line, but would have been substantially harder to do a multi connection pull. (Muddy uphill where footing was extremely difficult). If you are always in situations with good line access, keeping the extension sounds like it would solve both issues.

 

[Vinman]

100’ on the drum and a 150’ extension.
If I’m pulling at an angle I will spool out an extra few wraps then spool them in on the opposite side of the pull, ie, I‘m pulling towards the driver side I’ll intentionally re-spool the excess on the passenger side to allow room for the rope to spool on the drivers side during the actual pull.

 

[Philly_]

Less line on the drum gets you more pulling force from your winch, so definitely not a bad idea overall to shorten the line.

If you do shorten it, I would carry an extension like @Vinman mentioned. This way you’re still prepared for anything and don’t have to fumble with your line.

Personally, I’m not sure it’s worth shortening. I would rather have it there if I need it, and use a snatch block for the extra pulling force. Plus, if I break my ~100ft line in half, I would rather have ~50ft left to work with than anything less. Granted, it’s not hard to repair synthetic line and lose virtually no length, and the line is more likely to break at one end than it is in the middle, but I wanted to throw it all out there.

I see it as having more line is better suited for more situations than having less line is, but there are lots of factors to consider for your use case.

 

[Compression-Ignition]

Shorter line on the drum, an extension line, and one of these Safe-Xtract X-Lock.

$149.99 from ASR

 

[Tech Tim]

Shorter line on the drum, an extension line, and one of these Safe-Xtract X-Lock.

$149.99 from ASR

Those are really handy.

Sponsored