Winch recoveries are a fact of off-road life, or so Graham tells me. Here’s some tips to get more from your winch next time you get your Patrol bogged!

First up – get the right sized winch for your vehicle. 4WD Supacentre has two 12,000lb options; the Domin8r X or the Grande MkIII. 7hp motors, 218:1 gear ratios and powerful automatic brakes mean they’ve got the power to get any 4WD out of even the stickiest boghole. And the boys at 4WD Action have proved that!

The Winch Controller

If you’re not running in cab winch controls, you’ll need to connect the winch controller cable to the box on the front of your 4WD. Once you’ve plugged it in, make sure that the controller wiring doesn’t hang loose between the control box and the inside of the vehicle. This is the easy bit, wrap the lead around the upper cross-tube of the bullbar twice. Keep the lead tight, feed it back and around the driver’s side wing mirror and wrap it twice around that too.

Now you can pass it through your open window, and there’s no way it’ll hang loose and risk getting caught by a turning wheel.

Selecting an Anchor Tree

Selecting a tree to winch off isn’t rocket surgery, but we’ve still seen trees pull out of the ground that at first inspection seemed fine. If you’re planning to anchor a 2 or 3 tonne 4WD to it and then drag that sucker out of mud up to the sills, or even just up a loose, scrabbly climb, the tree you choose needs to be at least a foot in diameter, and it’s preferable if the tree is alive as that means the roots will have spread deep and have a really strong hold.

Always, always use a tree-trunk protector, even if your winch is equipped with synthetic or dyneema winch rope, and whenever possible, keep the tree-trunk protector as close to the ground as possible.

The exception to the rule of placement of tree-trunk protector as close to the ground as possible is when you’re winching up and over a rise with synthetic dyneema winch rope. It’s great stuff and almost perfectly suited to winch recoveries, but it can easily cop abrasive damage from rocks and tree roots. In this case, it’s better to position the tree-trunk protector up the tree.

The rough equation I use for finding a suitable tree is that for every two feet up the tree the tree-trunk protector is positioned, the tree should be one foot thicker in diameter than what you’d normally consider okay to winch off.

Mobile Anchor Points

Sometimes (OK, pretty much all the time, thanks for that Murphy) there isn’t a suitable tree around. The next best option is to use one of your mates 4WDs as an anchor point. Secure the winches hook to the rated recovery point on your flash new vehicle anchor. Before winching starts I always ensure I’m in the vehicle with the engine on, the handbrake on and my foot firmly on the brake pedal. If you’re really stuck, it’s always a good option to try and secure the anchor 4WD to a nearby tree as a back-up.

Winching Sideways

Sometimes you simply can’t winch forwards – you may need to winch off to the side to pull your 4×4 up and away from this bank. Often when you drop into some deep ruts, it’s tempting to try and drive out of them, but all that does is jam your panels hard into the dirt and stuff them all.

Winching at anything up to a 45ׄ° angle is perfectly acceptable, and the Domin8r X or Grande MkIII will easily get the job done, but you’ll need to un-spool the winch cable when you’re back on flat ground and re-spool it in, because it’ll have bunched up on that side you were winching towards.

Recovery Points

The 4WD Action team have been beating this drum for a long time, but that’s because it can be literally life or death. Rated recovery points are the ONLY thing to ever connect onto on your vehicle in a recovery situation.

We still see people using tie-down points or towball’s to connect their winch hook to, and worse, people die every year because of it.

It’s easy – if it is welded to the chassis with a couple of small spot welds, it’s a tie-down point for securing the vehicle on a towtruck.

If it’s bolted to the chassis with massive fat high-tensile bolts, or it’s an eyelet on the front of a bullbar that’s one single piece with the bullbar, it’s okay to use as a recovery point. And of course, never recover off a towball, in case of failure a towball can become a cannonball! instead use a tow hitch receiver with a rated shackle

Winch Dampeners

Always, always use a winch dampener when performing a winch recovery. Even when you follow all the right steps or not, sometimes things go wrong and something will let go during the recovery process. A winch dampener is a failsafe that prevents a failed shackle or recovery point from turning into a deadly missile aimed straight at your head. Never winch without one.

Recovery Accessories

A quality recovery kit doesn’t have to cost the earth these days, and in fact it’s almost better if they don’t. You can score a Hercules Recovery Kit from 4WD Supacentre for less than $100, which is good because recovery gear should be replaced regularly if it’s getting used and abused. Mud and grit gets into recovery straps and can weaken them to the point that they will lose strength. If your gear is starting to look faded or frayed you’re better off replacing it than having it fail next time you’re relying on it.

Bonus Tricks

In really tricky terrain, a favourite trick I’m a big fan of is pre-spooling out your winch line and wrapping it around your bullbar or lights. What this does is save you from having to dig your way through thick and smelly mud to get to your winch when you need it the most!

And if you’re stuck in muddy ruts, don’t be afraid to grab the shovel and knock some of that central hump out of the way to help your winch get you out of the tough stuff without bending a steering arm or snapping a CV…