An ATV winch is a great accessory for your outdoor machine. It can haul a buddy’s ATV out of a ditch, pull a load up a ravine or even get you out of trouble if need be. But no matter how powerful the winch is, you need a strong cable, with no kinks or bends to handle the payload. You can replace a cable that has been scraped along a rock, or is starting to fray to prevent a catastrophe before it happens.
Remove the old cable by turning on the ATV winch then putting the winch motor into forward and then starting the recovery winch action. While wearing gloves, pull the cable hand over handle as the winch unwinds, and coil it on the ground.
Slide one U bolt into the bottom of a milk carton, then thread the ends of the U bolt with matching nuts, until the nuts are about 1/2 inch up the U bolt (one on each side). Do this for a second milk carton as well. Place them about 2 feet apart in front of the ATV winch with the bottoms facing up.
Slide a broom handle through a spool of 1/4 inch steel wire, and then slide one end of the broom handle through one of the U bolts on the milk carton, and the other end through the other U bolt. This will hold the spool in place while the winch is wound. Set concrete cinder blocks in front of and behind the milk cartons.
Pull off about 3 feet of steel wire. Thread the wire into the winch cable lock receptor and tighten with a ratchet. If there is no such thing on your winch, wrap the cable around the ATV winch, and then clamp it with a steel cable clip. This fits over the wire and is crimped with a pair of large pliers.
Set the winch into reverse or “haul”. Then begin to slowly wind the cable back on the spool. Use another broom handle to guide the cable evenly across the winch.