Which Winch Motor? Which Winch Gear?

Construction & Contractors Blog

The type of gear train and the type of motor used in an electric winch often has a significant impact on the rating of an electric winch and on its performance.

It's important to understand the various types of gear trains and the various types of motors before you choose one type of winch over another. Here is a brief discussion on the mentioned winch components.

The Motor

An electric winch will either have a series wound motor or a permanent magnet motor. The motor in an electric winch is made up of an armature and a stator. The armature is a set of internal coils, while the stator is a set of permanent magnets or a set of larger coils (in series wound motors).

When voltage is applied to a permanent magnet motor, the stator produces a magnetic field that rotates the internal coils when electricity is introduced into the motor. In a series wound motor, this magnetic field is produced by the set of larger coils connected to the armature. For this reason, series wound motors consume more electricity than permanent magnet motors. Therefore, a winch that uses series wound motor is likely to drain your battery much faster than one that uses a permanent magnet motor.

On the flip side, permanent magnet motors are known to generate more heat than their series wound counterparts. Permanent magnet winches are therefore more likely to overheat when used for an extended period of time.

The Gear System

Spur gears are often considered the most efficient gearing system for an electric winch because they produce very little friction. This system uses at least two parallel shafts on which the gears operate. The larger gear is located on the shaft of the motor while the smaller gear is located on the shaft of the winch itself.

Planetary gear systems have one or more cogwheels that rotate around another cog wheel, almost similar to the manner in which planets revolve around the sun. Planetary gear systems are suitable for heavy-duty applications because the load is distributed across the various cogwheels ("planets") as opposed to being handled by a single gear. Planetary gear systems have a compact size that makes it possible for an electric winch to be used in applications where there's limited space for winching.

Worm gear systems use a screw-like device referred to as a worm and two gear wheels into which the worm meshes. Once the threaded surface of the worm is engaged with the teeth of the gear wheels, these wheels are pulled or pushed, and this makes the wheels rotate. Worm gears are often less efficient than spur and planetary gears, but their design gives them a self-braking mechanism that prevents spooling (involuntary rotation of the winch cable) when the winch is loaded

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30 June 2016