What is a Winch?
A winch is a machine for hoisting or hauling. The basic winch consists of a set of gears, a drum (or cylinder), and a cable. The cable is attached to the object to be hoisted or hauled. To turn the gears and drum and pull up the cable, a winch has either a permanent magnet motor or a series wound motor. Winches use a fairlead to reduce the pulling resistance and break-over angle and to minimize wire rope abrasion (even on off-angle pulls). There are two types of fairleads, the roller fairlead and the hawse fairlead. The roller fairlead offers better cable protection and longevity because it has rollers that move with the cable as it passes through the fairlead. The hawse, on the other hand, does not have rollers. Therefore, there is some friction between the cable and the fairlead itself. This can cause some wear on the cable over time. Winches are rated in pulling capacity, measured in pounds. Consider the amount of weight you need to pull when determining what type of winch will fit
