6,000 lb Recovery Winch [PS6000]

Q: What should I do about my vehicles wheels while winching? 

Position blocks under your vehicles wheels while winching.

Q: How do I re-spool the wire rope? 

Wear leather gloves while re-spooling wire winch rope. ATTENTION: DO NOT allow the wire rope to thread through your hand. Keep a slight load on the wire rope while re-spooling. Hold the wire rope with one gloved hand and the remote control in the other.

Q: What maintenance is required? 

A little preventative maintenance will ensure a long winch life. You should regularly lubricate all grease points, inspect all bolts, all electrical connections (especially at the battery) and cable. Check to ensure there is no worn coatings or corrosion on electrical connections, and that all connections are tight. Check for wear, flat spots and broken strands on your wire rope. Damaged or worn cable should be replaced. Read more about winch maintenance here.

Q.  How do I secure a load?

Use ratchets and straps for secure points. Winches do not make suitable tie downs because the gears can be damaged if under continual undulation.

Q.  Can I increase the line speed of my worm gear winch? 

Yes, but you will lose about half of your pulling power. On electric winches, a simple exchange of gears can provide up to a 50% line speed increase, and on hydraulic winches, you can change your motor to one with different displacement.

Q.  How much pulling power do I require? 

You need a winch to be powerful enough to pull your vehicle while overcoming the added resistance caused by an obstacle, moving water, mud, snow or sand on a steep hill. Choose a winch with a maximum line pull of at least 1.5 times greater than the gross vehicle weight.

Q. How can I double my winch capacity? 

Use a snatch block to double your winch capacity, half the winch speed and maintain a direct line pull to the center of the rollers.

Q. How can I provide a safe anchor point? 

Use rated D-Ring or bow shackles in conjunction with an approved tree truck protector.

Q. What do I do when pulling heavy loads? 

Lay a heavy blanket or jacket over the wire rope when pulling heavy loads. Should wire rope failure occur the cloth may help prevent wire rope backlash.

Q: Can I use a fuse to protect my winch and vehicle? 

Use of a fuse, or some circuit interrupting device, is highly recommended. A better idea would be to use a breaker. High amp fuses are costly, and amperage spikes are not uncommon when winching. A breaker that will throw at 400 amps is ideal. It may cost more in the beginning, but will far outweigh the cost of replacing 400 amp fuses. Cut-off switches are less costly, while not preventing amperage spikes, they will allow you to disconnect power in the event of a short in the winch.

Maintenance

PLEASE NOTE: Before you begin read the manual directions, and follow all the safety precautions. Do not attempt any testing or advanced steps listed below if you do not have the expertise or equipment. It is better to find a licensed mechanic or technician than to put your equipment or self in danger.

A little preventative maintenance will ensure a long winch life. Regularly inspecting your winch before the seasons change will keep you from experiencing lots of inconvenient situations like finding yourself with frayed winch ropes before the first snow or without battery life when you are ready to go mudding.

Damaged equipment must be properly repaired or replaced by the manufacturer or an authorized service center. Inspect and maintain the wire rope and winch frequently.

Whether you’re operating an electric winch, a hydraulic winch or you’re industrial winching, the check list below will help keep your equipment in tip top shape. 

Winch Maintenance Check List:

• Regularly lubricate all grease points
• Inspect all bolts
• Inspect all electrical connections, (even at the battery) and cable
• Check to ensure there is no worn coatings or corrosion on electrical connections
• Tighten all connections
• Check for wear, flat spots and broken strands on your wire rope
• Replace Damaged or worn cable

Grounding your winch

A correct ground is essential to safe, reliable winching. You’d be surprised how many calls we receive asking if a “ground” is putting the winch on the floor! Here we highlight, “how to keep your winch grounded,” as in negatively grounded to the equipment.

Step 1 – Connect either a number 2 (two) or 4 (four) cable directly to one of your winch motor bolts that connect the winch motor. 

Step 2 – Connect the other end directly to the negative (-) battery post.

Step 3 – Make sure the battery cable is not in direct contact with anything that is flammable, could melt or is moving. Use zip-ties to secure the cable.

Test your Solenoid

Solenoid Test 1976-2011

Use the photo and accompanying directions to test your winch solenoid.

1. Make sure the winch is properly grounded. 
2. Make sure you have a good 12V source hooked to #1.
3. Make sure #3 and #4 have continuity.
4. Using a jumper wire jump from #1 to #5. Once you do this post #2 should have 12 volts.
5. While jumping from #1 to #5, posts #3 and #4 should lose continuity.
6. If all of this works properly your solenoid is good. If not your solenoid needs to be replaced.

Solenoid Test 2011-Today.

Use the photo and accompanying directions for how to test the function of your solenoid. 

1. Make sure the winch is properly grounded. The ground should connect to terminal #2. 
2. Make sure you have a good 12V source hooked to terminal #4.
3. Make sure you have continuity between terminals #5, #6 and #7.
4. Using a jumper wire, jump from #4 to #1. Now terminal #6 should have 12 volts, and terminals #7 and #5 only have continuity.
5. Using a jumper wire, jump from #4 to #3. Now posts #7 should have 12V and #5 and #6 should only have continuity.
6. If all of this works properly your solenoid is good. If not, your solenoid needs to be replaced. 

Test your Motor:

We’re going to show how to test a standard, heavy duty, and a faulty motor. If your system is not working and you know your solenoids are good, but clicking then your motor is the culprit. Read the transcription below of our “Testing Your PS654 Winch Motor” video. 

Greasing your Winch:

Improper Grease and Results:

If you don’t grease your clutch properly, your winch may fail. This one has been sitting with no grease. You’ll notice the grease insert is actually broken. If that ever happens you need to replace it so you can grease it. Also, when it’s broken it allows a lot of the elements to get in there and it will get ruined or freeze up a lot quicker.

You’ll notice this handle moves just a little bit. That’s the handle moving on the shaft. The shaft will not move itself. Remove the bolts and loosen the frame from its mounting. Just slide it off. You can see the inside is completely rusted. You can replace it or you can try soaking it using a good penetrating anti-seize. Most of the time in our experience when rust is this prevelant they will have to be replaced.

Housing Replacement and Winch Grease:

The new housing will come dry. You will see it does move but it’s just metal on metal. Before it’s installed, apply wheel bearing grease or any good grade grease to the following parts:

• Dog
• Yoke
• Both grease zerks
• Visible metal around the shaft

When you’re putting the housing on, make sure the teeth line up with the groove and then raise it up so that the shaft sits in the inside hole. Now your Pierce 654 winch is ready to work!

This is just an overview for how-to properly grease your Pierce PS654 winch, watch our video for more:

Please note: This is intended to be an overview, not an exact step-by-step process. Before you begin read the manual directions, and follow all the safety precautions.