There are lots of things to look for when examining a winch’s specifications. This includes pulling capacity, product dimensions, line speed, and more. When you’re looking at a WARN winch, you may notice the winch’s line speed listed. The speeds most people look at are at maximum load and no load. As the load goes up, the speed goes down. And while line speed at maximum capacity is self-explanatory, some might wonder why you’d care about the speed without any load. Winches with fast no-load line speeds, such as the ZEON XD, provide excellent benefits. Let’s look at why no-load line speed is important.

Driver-Assisted Winching

The first place where no-load line speed is important is in driver-assisted winching. We define this as winching while driving the vehicle during a recovery. This technique can help take stress off the winch as the vehicle helps reduce the winch load. Driver-assisted winching is often employed in low-friction scenarios like mud, sand, or snow; scenarios where the wheels can freely turn while the winch pulls to help you get unstuck.

When doing this practice, the vehicle may occasionally get traction providing slack on the winch line. Winches with fast no-load line speed (during moments of slack) will help to keep the rope under tension better—they can better keep up with the winch’s pulling speed. This ability to keep up reduces “shock loading.” Shock loading is when there is slack in the rope and then a sudden jolt of tension on the line. This occurrence can be detrimental to a winch as it can strip out a winch’s gears due to that instant shock sent through the unit. In effect, fast no-load line speeds can help prevent shock loading and extend the winch’s service life.

Respooling After Use

Another time when no-load line speed is important is after you’ve used the winch. If you have lots of line out, you’ll need to respool it back onto the drum. With a slow winch, it can take a long time to respool, and no one wants to wait for that. So, whether you’ve done a vehicle recovery or just moved a heavy load around the farm, ranch, or job site, respooling your winch will take less time with fast no-load line speed.

Here, it’s more about convenience and efficiency than extending the product life. But still, a slow winch can feel like it takes forever to rewind the winch line on the drum. A winch with fast no-load line speed is much more convenient and quicker.

About No-Load Line Speed

To determine a WARN winch’s no-load line speed, look at its specs. These can be found on the Specifications tab on warn.com product pages or in our product literature. Line speed is measured in feet or meters per minute. Generally, the higher the capacity, the slower the winch. For example, the ZEON XD 10-S (10,000 lb./4536 kg capacity) has a no-load line speed of 40 ft/min (12.19 m/min). The ZEON XD 12-S (12,000 lb./5443 kg capacity) has a no-load line speed of 31 ft/min (9.45 m/min). You’ll also note that the ZEON XD 10-S has a gear ratio of 141:1, while the ZEON XD 12-S has a ratio of 176:1. That higher ratio means more power but less speed. Interestingly, motor horsepower is not nearly as important in pulling as gear ratios, but that’s for another blog at another time.

Safety First

No matter the winch’s speed, always remember to wear your winching gloves (even with synthetic rope) and follow best practices and suggested winching techniques. Warn offers a host of fast no-load line speed winches. The fastest is our iconic M8274, but the new ZEON XD is the fastest Premium Series winch we’ve offered. So, if you’re looking for speed, look to Warn.