How does the PTO winch work?

My 1970 CJ5 has a Ramsey PTO winch, but I have no idea how to work it (if it actually does work). Can anyone give me some direction? Thanks.

 

Assuming all the parts are there and hooked up (a PTO case on the rear of the transfer case and a shaft connecting the PTO case and the winch) it's a simple matter to operate the winch.

Your PTO should have a lever coming through the floorboards behind the transmission shift lever. On mine there are two levers. One engages the PTO and the other selects whether the power goes to the rear of the Jeep or the front. I've only had my Jeep and winch for 41 years and I have no idea which lever does which job. I just pull them both back and it sends the power to the front. I don't have anything hooked up to the rear PTO output.

After engaging the PTO lever, you put the transmission in gear and start the engine. I'd start in reverse so you don't suck the cable in until you are ready.

Now, if everything is working correctly, your PTO shaft should be spinning. Going to the winch check if the drum is turning. If not, there is a lever on the passenger side of the winch that needs to be rotated about 20 degrees. This is a disconnect inside the winch.

With the drum turning (I hope in reverse) you can control the speed and direction of the winch with the engine and transmission. The winch turns fastest in 3rd gear, slowest in 1st gear. When the transmission is in reverse it plays out the cable. If you move the lever on the winch to disconnect the coupling, you can pull the winch line out by hand (free spooling).

That's it in a nutshell. Be careful! There is a lot of power there.

John

 

put your transfer case in neutral, engage the pto ,with the shift lever in the floor board, the pto is operated by putting the trans in gear and letting the clutch out. the forward gears in the transmission wind the cable in while reverse will spool the cable out. there is also a handle on the winch itself that will disengage the winch so you can pull the cable out to hook to whatever you are attaching it to.

 

Thanks guys. I'll try it first thing in the morning!!

 

an good safety tip is to wear gloves when handling the cable. another is to make a latch that would have to be moved to allow the pto handle to be engaged.