Essential 12V Winch Accessories
–If you want to get the most out of your 12V winch, you need to make sure that whenever you’re planning on using it you bring out some add-ons or accessories with you. The use of some of these will allow the winch to pull heavier objects, some will make winching easier, and some will just make your work easier. The most essential other tools that you need in addition to your winch are snatch blocks,, a tree strap, clevis shackles, and gloves and a shovel.
Snatch Blocks
Snatch blocks are incredibly useful for anyone that’s planning on doing any off-road recoveries. A snatch block is attached to a second anchor point than your winch and doubles the winch cable back onto your winch. This halves the load on the line, allowing you to pull twice the amount of weight. The trade off is that the load takes twice as long to reel in as normal straight pull will. While this is useful, where snatch blocks will really help most off-roaders is in short, difficult or heavy pulls, and in off-center pulls.
Using a Snatch Block
Winches have different levels of strength depending on how cable is left on the spool when it is being pulled. Manufacturers rate their winch’s pull capacity when the winch is at the strongest, with one line of cable still left on the spool. However, if you’re only doing a short, straight pull there’s a lot of cable left on the line. This isn’t a problem for light pulls, but what if the load you’re pulling is heavy or your vehicle is stuck in deep mud. The pull may take a long time as you try to wrestle with the mud and keep the winch from overheating. However, with the use of a snatch block you can take some of the weight off the winch and also pull out some more cable, using the strongest part of the winch to pull your vehicle out of the mud.
Snatch blocks also help on off-center pulls. If you’re pulling off-center, you have to stop the winch every few seconds to rewrap the cable because it tends to bunch up unevenly. However, with a snatch block you can step the cable to run straight from the winch to the snatch block and then from the snatch block to the car, making two straight line pulls.
Tree Straps
If you’re doing any off-roading, tree straps are just as essential as your winch. In fact, in many areas they are required if you plan on anchoring your winch to a tree. Winch cables, especially the ones made of steel are rough and can put a dent in a tree’s bark. In the worst cases, this causes a ring where the bark is stripped off the tree and leaves the tree vulnerable to pests. Eventually this results in the death of the tree. Not only can the tree fall on the trail, complicating life for other people venturing off-road, but it also destroys the nature that you can to enjoy.
Avoid this and use a tree saver or tree strap for your 12V winch. It makes sure you left Mother Nature exactly the way that you found it.
Clevis “D” Shackle
Another essential accessory for your 12V electric winch is a Celvis, or D Shackle. These are the link between your tree strap and the winch cable. There are other models that you can buy but the D shackle is the easiest to use and the strongest. Just make sure that you buy a model that is strong enough to support the load your winch with a snatch block attached can.
Gloves and a Shovel
The last two things you need aren’t for your winch specifically, but can help you immensely. A pair of gloves is great to have when you’re handling a steel cable, which might have a few strands come loose and leave you with annoying cuts. If you anticipate having to use a hand winch at all as well, they’re also great to prevent blisters on your hands.
The shovel is used for when you are in deep mud. In these conditions your tires might not be able to get any traction, putting a huge amount of stress on your winch. You can avoid this by using the shovel to dig out the area under your tires and replacing it with rocks or branches to give you some traction to start your pull.
12V winches are great tools, but for them to work at their best, you need some accessories. Snatch blocks, tree savers, D shackles, and gloves and a shovel, will make sure that your winch pulls the biggest amount that it can quickly and easily.
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Tags: 12V winch accessories, clevis shackles, D shackles, gloves, shovel, snatch block, tree saver, tree strap