If you ride an ATV in Utah, learn how to use a winch
On a ride on the Kane Creek Trail near Moab, an ATV group had to use the winches on three machines to extract the quad from the crack in the ground.
Most of the ATV owners I talk to with winches installed on their machines have never used them. If you own an ATV and you don’t know if you have a winch, stand in front of your quad. If you see a hangy-down hook thing on the front, you have a winch.
What do you do with it? My most common use for a winch is for raising and lowering my snowplow blade, but I have had some interesting adventures that involved the use of my winch.
Coming down the Sand Rock Ridge Trail toward Fillmore with my grandson a few years ago, we hit some hairpin switchbacks that can be tricky if you are going too fast. I was able to control my speed and make one of the turns, but I wanted to warn my grandson to slow down. Just as I turned in the saddle, he slid into the turn and flipped over the edge. Fortunately, he was not hurt, but his ATV was stuck in a tree.
Having a winch, I positioned my quad to extract the machine. Unfortunately, there was no way to anchor my quad, so I used reverse to aid the winch in the pull. We got the ATV out of the tree and back onto the trail, but in doing so, I had stressed my transmission belt. It got me back to the trailer, but I had to replace it later. It is important to anchor your machine so that the winch can perform properly.
Stopped off the trail with a group of riders up Bullion Canyon above Marysvale one year, we met another group of riders. Pine Creek runs through the canyon with steep banks in some places. We were discussing the canyon’s features when a rider came over a rise, racing down the middle of the trail. I think he was surprised at the traffic. He could not make the turn, flew over the bank, and went crashing down through the brush into the creek.
We ran over to see what we could do to help. The drop was at least 15 feet. He was sprawled by the stream, and his machine had landed upright in the creek. He was scraped up a little, but surprisingly unhurt.
The next job was getting his ATV back up out of the creek. Several riders had winch-equipped machines. We positioned two at the edge of the bank, dropping cables in a cross pattern, with the machine on the right hooking on to the back of the ATV in the creek and the ATV on the left hooking on to the front.
Anchoring the machines with two other ATVs, we began lifting the machine in a scissor action against the bank. Lifting one end and then the other, we pulled the machine over the edge, bringing it back on the trail.
Although there was some broken plastic, it was in fairly good shape. After some thanks for the help, he fired up the machine and headed off down the trail. His only comment about the incident was that he needed to get the brakes fixed.
Another ride found us in Moab on the Kane Creek Trail. We had a first-time rider with us who proved that there are just some people who should not ride. He had the bad habit of freezing up when coming to a technical section. In one segment, he froze, grabbed the throttle, bumped across the section and ended up buried sideways in a crack in the ground. He was fine, but now we needed to figure out how to extract the ATV.
It took three ATVs with winches to do the job. Attaching cables to the front and rear of the downed quad, we used a snatch block to run a cable to right the ATV while the other two pulled the quad out sideways.
I have found that a winch can be an important piece of equipment to have on the trail. When you go, take plenty of water, keep the rubber side down, and learn how to use a winch.
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