Which way to wind it on the winch

[NegevLandRover]

I have a hydraulic Mile Marker 10'000 lb winch on my Defender. The motor is on the left side (if it makes a difference and I think it must - you can mount the motor either side). So should the rope (plasma) start under the drum or over the drum ?? At the moment the rope starts over the drum and the winch works fine but has no free spool and after taking it apart and putting it back together I "suddenly" figured that the free spool might work if the rope went the other way around - from the bottom up.

TIA

Adam

[steve b]

Freespool on the MM should work either way round. The general rule is load rope from underneath to minimize load on the mounting bolts , if the winch is mounted to a vertical mount I guess it wouldn't make any difference

The more important thing - I think - is which way the overcentre valve is set to lock the drum

cheers

Steveb

[NegevLandRover]

Thanks Steve - can you explain the bit about the valve please. I take it you mean the small lever that should allow the free spool ? If the free spool does not work, and it does not, and all the cogs etc look fine any ideas why it is not free spooling ?

Adam

[BogMonster]

It should go under the drum. There is no over-centre valve on the std UK market MM installation but what is important is which way the restrictor is in the piping to provide braking when lowering out.

The easy way to describe it is that if you power the winch in and out with no load on the rope, one way it should run freely and quietly, the other way there will be a definite "hydraulicy" noise which is the fluid being forced through the restrictor. You want it set so that the rope is going under the drum and that you get that noise when paying rope out, not when winding it in. If it's the other way around you should swap the pipes over on the motor and you will also then need to swap the wires on the solenoid so the switch still works the right way.

Freespool should allow the drum to turn freely either way but you should have 2 levers if is a H12 winch? one for engaging high range and one for engaging low, with both engaged the drum will lock solid and not move, engaging high will lock high, engaging low will lock low, and with both disengaged you will have freespool.

[NegevLandRover]

Thanks guys - it is a single speed MM - older. It is dark and cold outside so it will have to wait abit. In the morning I will fool around with it.