by Blackened » 06 Dec 2016, 11:17 am
Think of the winch drum like a gear.
You can't run a winch without a layer of rope because the locator screw which holds the rope to the drum is just to get it started, it's not load bearing, so you need to have 1 layer down and bound to the drum with friction to start using it.
With the first layer of rope on, it's a short gear.
After you've spooled the second layer on the gear has become taller.
When you spool the 3rd layer on, it's onto the now taller gear so the winch has less torque, less capacity.
Every layer you add increases the length of the gear thereby decreasing the capacity of the winch.
It depends on the size of your drum and thickness of your line how fast the layers build, but it's very significant as by the time you're 3 or 4 layers up you will have reduced your winch capacity by something like 40-50%.
A 9,500lb winch is not a 9,500lb winch all the time. Less often than more in fact.