(I looked on the archives for an answer to this question but did not find one -- sorry if this is a repeat.)We use a winch to get our little trailer up our little driveway -- the trailer is parked with the nose toward the garage. There is no way to tow it up the driveway -- this is in Southern California, with very small lots for each house.I mount the winch on either a chain running from a bolt in the concrete, or else I mount the winch platform on the bolt itself. Either way, the winch easily pulls the trailer up the incline of the driveway.The problem is that the trailer approaches its parking area from a slight angle, since the opening of the driveway onto the street is offset from the parking space. Since the trailer is off to one side of where the winch is mounted, the cable tends to bunch up on that side of the winch as it reels in. I have used a galvanized pipe to push the cable to the other side of the winch drum, using leverage. That method works, but not very well -- the cable slides around on the pipe, and it takes a lot of force to move the cable.So that is my question -- what method do you use to ensure that the cable winds smoothly onto the drum, without bunching up in any particular area?Thanks in advance for your advice!

Is there any way you can center the winch's anchor point?What about anchoring a pulley for a straighter pull?

Owning a boat, having a crank up tower and other things where I use a winch very simple. Wear good heavy leather gloves and guide the cable as you crank.

Would a hitch on the front of your TV get the job done?

enblethen wrote:Is there any way you can center the winch's anchor point?What about anchoring a pulley for a straighter pull?This is the best approach. Then the cable should naturally spool pretty evenly in this case. If you cannot do that then you might be able to use two bolts to mount the winch plate. Have a hole in the winch plate for one of the bolts and multiple holes for the other to enable the winch to be rotated such that you can force it to spool better. The above approach should work, but it might be slow and cumbersome if you do it often.

Mount the winch so that it can swivel toward the load. side loads will always bunch the cable on one side. Is there a way to park a rig or something solid that you can run a chain from your anchor point and another vantage point? That way you can hook your winch into the chain between the two anchor points which will give you a straight shot to winch from. Even if you park your truck and put a chain around one of the wheels down low to the ground.

How to keep winch cable from bunching up on one side

24 Replies

enblethen
Nomad
Dec 29, 2015
They make line guides for larger winches.
Small winches would be expensive if equipped.
RJsfishin
Explorer
Dec 29, 2015
We can get to the moon, but we can't make a line guide on a winch ??
profdant139
Explorer II
Dec 29, 2015
wnjj, I like that idea! It is certainly uncomplicated, if it works. I will give it a try, along with using a pulley between the trailer and the winch.
mkirsch
Nomad II
Dec 29, 2015
If the winch were solidly mounted so it could not pivot, and pointed towards the load, it would spool up the cable neat as can be.

It can be misaligned to some extent, and the force of the cable laying over itself will keep things winding neatly.

The problem here is the winch is allowed to pivot, and once the cable gets to one end of the spool, it's all over. The winch pivots so much that the cable can't overcome it, and it all bunches on one end of the spool.
enblethen
Nomad
Dec 29, 2015
It would take some pressure to guide either the cable or winch. It is best to let the winch and snatch block do the work.
wnjj
Explorer II
Dec 29, 2015
profdant139 wrote:
It is true that the winch rotates toward the strain point, since it is on a chain. But it is so moveable, paradoxically, that there is not enough resistance to cause the cable to spool onto the drum in an orderly way -- it just piles up, unless I push the cable sideways with a piece of pipe. I have not tried using a gloved hand to do that, but I suppose I could try.

Have you considered the reverse? Attach something like a broom handle to the winch and push it back and forth as needed rather than the cable.
loggenrock
Explorer
Dec 29, 2015
If you can't change the winch mounting to align better...can you run the cable thru a snatch block (pulley) so the cable is aligned straight to the winch, but re-directed by the pulley??? ST
profdant139
Explorer II
Dec 29, 2015
RJ, that sure looks a lot easier than winching! I will have to see if I can get one of those bad boys on Craigslist -- pretty expensive to buy it new.
RJsfishin
Explorer
Dec 28, 2015
I move 3 trailers in tight places quite often.
This 120v caster works great. I built this one, but they are available
commercially
profdant139
Explorer II
Dec 28, 2015
We do let the trailer down the driveway with the winch -- that is the easy part. And Cal, we do not stand near the cable when winching -- there is a remote control for the winch, and the control has a long wire. We also drape heavy carpet scraps over the cable when winching, to slow down the whiplash if it breaks.

Also, our driveway is not very steep or very long -- if the cable were to break, the trailer would slowly roll to the street and stop. But just to be safe, we wait till there is no traffic before we start winching.

It is true that the winch rotates toward the strain point, since it is on a chain. But it is so moveable, paradoxically, that there is not enough resistance to cause the cable to spool onto the drum in an orderly way -- it just piles up, unless I push the cable sideways with a piece of pipe. I have not tried using a gloved hand to do that, but I suppose I could try.

I think that an anchored winch pointed right at the trailer is the solution, as others have explained above. And after pondering the possibilities, probably a pivoting pulley between the winch and the trailer will be the easiest method of achieving that goal.

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How to keep winch cable from bunching up on one side

24 Replies

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