20k winch questions Help

[Gunzy]

I can't seem to find the answer to my problem in the TM. My winch will reel in but has no pulling power. The truck is an M923 that I have put the system on. My questions are:
1st; Is the cable supposed to reel in over the top of the drum or go under the bottom?
2nd; Does it matter which direction the drum rotates to wind or unwind?
3rd; Does one direction of the winch(correct reel in) have more pulling power than the other?
I ask because I thought I had the winch drive hydraulic lines backwards at first, wind would reel out and unwind would pull the cable in so I switched the lines around at the drive motor on the winch. I didn't reel the cable as it was already on the winch when I got it and the cable currently goes in on the bottom of the drum. I think the hydraulics were right initially and that the cable is wound on the drum backwards. I am hoping there is some winch Gurus that have seen this problem and can answer my questions as the winch is some what useless the way it is working now. Thanks for all your help.

 

[NDT]

Under is correct. Maybe all the air is not out of the system?

Edit: WRONG, read on.

 

[Gunzy]

Under is correct. Maybe all the air is not out of the system?

Managed to find 1 diagram in the -24 that shows the cable reeling in over the top of the drum. So I need answers for my other 2 questions to clarify cable wrap. I guess I could always rewrap and test but that is time consuming to say the least.

 

[Ddmk18]

Mine did the same thing last week. It was the wind/unwind cable not moving the plunger in the hydraulic valve far enough. I had someone hold it in the wind position and I crawled under the truck and twisted it back and forth while p

 

[Ddmk18]

Pushing it in and it worked great. It had build up of paint on the shaft. Now it works great.

Sorry no idea why it cut my post in half.

 

[goldneagle]

I just looked at the 2 winches I have for sale and have the spoolers attached. They go up to the spooler from the back and down to the front. So on my 2 it is top feed going forward.

 

[MtnSnow]

From everything I can find Gunzy is the cable over the top side of the drum and then under the front roller and that is how is shows on the winch without the level winder (as well with level winder) in Goldneagle's post

Here are a few other images but I do find them wound up the way ours are currently as well but the Over the top/Under the roller is what I found in the TM (pic/drawing) but it is "not spelled out so to speak" .. and would also explain why the cable moves in and out opposite of what the lever says in the cab (from when we tested mine out at the Big Jim's car show)

 

[Gunzy]

Still seeking an aswer the question #2 and #3 though. I am going to rewind my cable this afternoon, swap the Hydraulic lines back and retest. I may pull the filter and retest also. I thnk a 12K lbs wrecker in park will test it.

 

[MtnSnow]

Just got off the phone with Mark over at Boyce and he said Over Drum/Under Roller. So looks like I am going to rewind mine as that will make mine operate correctly in the direction of the controls in the cab are labeled

 

[Gunzy]

OK, here's the deal. My cable was reeled onto the drum backwards. As I said before in that configuration it will reel up the cable but has ZERO pulling power. It wouldn't even pull a little tree out of wet ground. I have rewound the cable in the correct direction(cable coming off the TOP of the drum). I swapped my hydraulic hoses back to the correct positions also so the controls work as designed(wind in and unwind out). I then tested the pull by pulling an F350 tow truck in park with the parking brake applied and the winch had no problems pulling that truck. So we have answered my own questions;
1: the cable reels off the TOP of the drum, not out of the bottom.
2: the direction the winch drum turns IS important, wind rolls away from the bumper, unwind rolls toward the bumper.
3: the winch DOES have more pulling power(torque) in the correct wind position as power(torque) is not required to unwind the cable.
So if your winch has no power, check which way the cable is wound onto it.

 

[MtnSnow]

Looking forward to a "working on the beasts weekend" so we can re-wind mine as with two of us it will be faster and easier! Thanks for testing it out

 

[juanprado]

Gunzy,

Could you post pictures and description for the correct hose placement? I installed my hoses but want to verify I have it right. I still have to install the cables and tower so I have not been able to test.

Thanks!

 

[Gunzy]

Gunzy,

Could you post pictures and description for the correct hose placement? I installed my hoses but want to verify I have it right. I still have to install the cables and tower so I have not been able to test.

Thanks!

Pictures probably won't help. Just make sure that your cable reels off of the top of the drum then test wind/unwind at controls. If it is operating backwards just swap the hoses at the winch drive motor.

 

[Squirt-Truck]

If you operate the winch backwards, (line on the bottom of the drum) you will destroy the back brake. A winch without a functional back brake is even more dangerous and even more so on a hydraulically driven unit.

 

[spicergear]

Do you mean the band brake on the worm gear, is that the back brake?

 

[Squirt-Truck]

Yes, the band on the front side of the worm drive. It is a self energizing band brake, and will destroy itself if regularly operated backward. Not to mention that if adjusted tight will take a lot of power to overcome.

 

[Tinstar]

I know this is an old thread, but........

Im confused
My winch wire rope (925A2) comes off the top of the drum and under roller like it sounds like it's supposed to.

However, mine also does the opposite of the labeling in the cab.

So do I swap around the hoses? Some info here says that's bad.

I've used it only once and not of really any weight really so I don't know if I was getting all it could give.

More of a "how to use it" exercise

Or am I overthinking this?

Thanks!

 

[Rmtaunton]

Looks like I have to rewind mine when I pick it up

 

[Ford Mechanic]

I know this is an old thread, but........

Im confused
My winch wire rope (925A2) comes off the top of the drum and under roller like it sounds like it's supposed to.

However, mine also does the opposite of the labeling in the cab.

So do I swap around the hoses? Some info here says that's bad.

I've used it only once and not of really any weight really so I don't know if I was getting all it could give.

More of a "how to use it" exercise

Or am I overthinking this?

Thanks!

Yeah swap the hoses