The Physics of Off-Roading
By: Nicholas Beeker
Winching
Winching is probably one of the most important and physics rich part of off roading simply from the shear number of things you must consider when trying to figure out how to get unstuck. First you have the winch itself which contains a motor that turns a pulley full of wire in or out where you are getting rotational torque from the pulley and tension from the wire itself. You have the weight of the vehicle to consider, the strength and breaking point of the cable you are using, and the friction and suction of the surface in which you are stuck to take into account when picking out a winch or recovery rope to throw in your vehicle.
(Taken From: http://www.warn.com/truck/winches/ZEON.shtml)
When you get stuck the first thing you need to think about is how you got into the situation and asses how you can get out. For an example we will say a truck gets stuck in the middle of a mud pit up to its frame. The first thing is where are you going to pull from? The best solution is to go straight forward or straight backwards eliminating the unnecessary tension going to the side meaning all of the pulling force to get you out is going in one direction. Although in some cases an angle can get you out of a sticky spot. The strength of the winch is very important as well as the strength of the cable. A general rule of thumb is that you want the winch to be able to pull twice what your vehicle weighs and for a very good reason. When you get stuck that means your vehicle can no longer use its own power and force to move and the winch has to pull it from that you would think that one about the same would work just fine until you factor in the friction of the surface in which you are stuck. A good way to think about it is if you have ever gotten a foot stuck in the mud, you try to pull it out but the force and energy required to pull your foot out is alot more then when you are just picking it up. The same thing applies to your vehicle not only is it pulling the weight of the vehicle out but it is also pulling against the suction force of the mud that it is stuck in. This requires alot of force to do especially with something so heavy. Therefore it is important to take into consideration the external forces that are acting on the vehicle with pulling it out.
(Taken From: http://www.fourwheeler.com/product-reviews/131-1302-warn-zeon-winch-lineup/photo-01.html)
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