Monday, Jan 29, 2007 at 21:02
PEM you will have no problems. The plasma rope copes very
well with the Ox and any other winch. I use Dynamica which has a quite higher heat tolerance than several of the others. As a trainer the winch gets used a lot more than a normal one and I have never had a problem with either the winch or the Dynamica rope. One post indicates the need to keep it clean and you also need to protect it from UV which is quite easy you simply put a sleeve cover over the continually exposed bit and it is fine. Depending on use you will need to take it out and give it a clean a couple of times a year. That is fine as you need to
check it fully at least that often if you don't use them regularly. If of course you use any recovery equipment in dirty/muddy conditions that will always deteriorate them to the point of being potentially dangerous. So it is always a good thing to clean all straps etc after use in sand and mud.
The correct winching technique for powering in is to only engage for 30 seconds or so to prevent heat build up and that is fine. The Ox, like most others of its capacity is very easy on power drawer due to is quite high gearing. Have a close look at current draw on load and you will see some rather interesting differences.
Don't worry about the battery type just as long as you have 650 CCA. I am using two of the new Supercharge SLA batteries on
test at the moment and they are excellent in all aspects so far. I have tested the Orbital for several years and found them to be different in some ways but reserve capacity is king when it comes to winching. So the process, regardless of battery type, is to keep them in peak condition and make sure you keep the engine RPM correct to maintain a continuous charge if winching for any length of time
The rest of your setup sounds fine. Just keep an eye on front tyre wear and pressures for a while as sometimes the increased weight impacts on certain tyres due to their compounds. Your "infrequent" use will not place any pressure on your system as you have described it. Use caution, at least one snatch block, a bridle and that combination will reduce the stresses on the recovery points and if you keep to the 30 second rule it will be fine.
All the best with it
RobA
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