A quality winch is your best mate on the tracks and a recovery kit is your winches best mate, read closely, we are going to cover just what it takes to get the most out of your winch on the tracks and to get your 4WD out of some serious trouble when it matters most!

First thing is first!

A winch is a very powerful tool, but only when it is used correctly, if misused or set up incorrectly it has the potential of getting you and your mates into a touch more strife than you bargained for, so when setting up a winch recovery it pays to be calculated and cautious to prevent things from going wrong.

So when you are setting up your winch recoveries there are a few important rules to consider, firstly, you should always consider where you are going to anchor your winch, as much as a winch can pull you free, you must consider that a winch works best if the point of pull is in a direct line from the mounting point directly forward from the front of the vehicle, a winch will pull out to approximately 30° from center in either direction, but any more than this can cause the winch cable to bind up on the spool and render the winch inoperable.

This is where a reliable Recovery Kit comes into its own – Something like an Hercules Essential Recovery Kit which includes a tree trunk protector which offers 4WDers a way to anchor their winch cable to a stable tree trunk without the risk of ring barking the tree and completely killing it.

The Tree Trunk Protector distributes the load across the surface of the tree and allows you to firmly and securely anchor your winch cable to your anchor point, if you needed to setup your anchor even further down the road to one side you can anchor and then redistribute your winch line using a snatch block.

The next benefit to a Recovery Kit is that you have the ability to extend your winches reach by an impressive 10m using the Hercules Winch Extension Strap for a total of 36m of winching range, which is nearly double the length of a tennis court.

The winch extension strap comes in incredibly handy for when you have the need for double the  pulling power from your winch this might be when you are bogged by sand or hung up on your chassis with no wheel traction to drive you through, the solution is to use your snatch block pulley for a double line pull which will half the winch speed but twice the pulling power. the ability to double the pulling power of your winch is incredibly handy, when you consider that a Domin8r X can pull a HUGE 12,000lbs with a single line pull that increases your recovery strength to a HUGE 24,000 lbs or over 10 tonnes of direct pull, with multiple snatch blocks you will have many factors of pulling force!

No matter which kind of recovery you need to undertake, simply getting your hands dirty with a simple folding shovel will save your winch from having to work too hard when things get tough, by clearing debris from underneath the chassis, you will allow your 4WD to regain grip on its tyres and make driving it free that much easier.

Lastly but certainly not least, the ability to dampen the winching hook and any metal components used in the case of accidental failure, from flying towards anyone or any vehicle, this is accomplished by a winch damper blanket, which should be draped over the metal components. All Hercules Recovery Kits include a winch damper blanket. Because of the tremendous forces involved, any metal components can become like bullets, the winch damper drags the broken components to the ground potentially saving a live or even a vehicle windshield/body panel!

To find out more about the range of recovery equipment, give us a call on 1800 88 39 64 or drop into our stores to speak with an expert directly on the best setup for your 4WD or even visit our website at www.4WDSupacentre.com.au for all the detailed specifications.