Polaris ACE 570 (2018 year). Manual - part 18

76

WINCH GUIDE

Winch Operation

Read the Winch Safety Precautions in the preceding pages before using 

your winch.

Tip: Consider practicing the operation and use of your winch before you actually 

need to use it in the field.

Improper winch use can result in SEVERE INJURY or DEATH. Always 

follow all winch instructions and warnings in this manual.

Each winching situation is unique.

• Take your time to think through the winching you are about to do.
• Proceed slowly and deliberately.
• Never hurry or rush during winching.
• Always pay attention to your surroundings.
• You may need to change your winching strategy if it is not working.
• Always remember that your winch is very powerful.
• There are simply some situations that you and your winch will not be able 

to deal with. Do not be afraid to ask others to help when this happens.

1. Always inspect the vehicle, winch, winch cable and winch controls 

for any signs of damage or parts in need of repair or replacement 

before each use. Pay particular attention to the first 3 feet (1 meter) 

of winch cable if the winch is being used (or has been used) for lift-

ing an accessory plow assembly. Promptly replace any worn or 

damaged cable.

2. Never operate a winch or a vehicle in need of repair or service.
3. Always apply your 

vehicle’s park brake and/or 

park mechanism to hold 

the vehicle in place during 

winching. Use wheel 

chocks if needed.

WARNING

Hook Strap

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WINCH GUIDE

Winch Operation

4. Always use the hook strap when 

handling the hook.

WARNING! Never put your fingers into 

the hook. This could lead to SEVERE 

INJURY.

A. Attach the hook itself onto the 

load or use a tow strap or chain 

to secure the load to the winch 

cable.

Tip: A “tow strap” is NOT intended to stretch. A “recovery strap” is designed to 

stretch.

WARNING! Never use a recovery strap when winching due to the excessive 

energy that can be released if the winch cable breaks. This can result in 

SEVERE INJURY or DEATH. See the Shock Loading section on page 82.

B. Never hook the winch cable back onto itself. This will damage the 

winch cable and may result in winch cable failure. 

WARNING! Replace the winch cable at the first sign of damage to prevent 

SEVERE INJURY or DEATH in the event of failure. For your safety, always 

replace POLARIS winch parts (including the cable) with genuine POLARIS 

replacement parts available at your authorized POLARIS dealer.

C. If possible, keep the winch cable aligned with the centerline of the 

winching vehicle. This will help the spooling of the winch cable and 

reduce the load on the fairlead.

D. If freeing a stuck vehicle by attaching to a tree, use an item such as a 

tow strap to avoid damaging the tree during winch operation. Sharp 

cables and chains can damage and even kill trees. Please remember 

to TreadLightly® (treadlightly.org).

E. Before operating the winch, be sure 

that the safety latch on the winch 

cable hook is fully seated when the 

load is attached.

F.

Never operate your winch with a 

damaged hook or latch. Always 

replace damaged parts before using 

the winch.

NO

YES

NO

YES

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WINCH GUIDE

Winch Operation

5. Never remove the hook strap from the hook.
6. Release the winch clutch and pull out the winch cable.
7. Pulling out as much cable as possible maximizes the winch’s pulling 

capacity. Always be sure that at least five (5) full turns of winch 

cable are wrapped around the winch drum at all times. The friction 

provided by this wrapped cable allows the drum to pull on the 

winch cable and move the load.

8. Read and adhere to the following information for winch damping to 

ensure safe winch use.

A. In order to absorb energy that could be released by a winch cable 

failure, always place a “damper” on the winch cable. A damper can be 

a heavy jacket, tarp, or other soft, dense object. A damper can absorb 

much of the energy released if a winch cable breaks when winching. 

Even a tree limb can help as a damper if no other items are available to 

you.

B. Lay the damper on top of the mid-point of the winch cable length that is 

spooled out.

C. On a long pull, it may be necessary to stop winching so that the 

damper can be repositioned to the new mid-point of the winch cable. 

Always release the tension on the winch cable before repositioning the 

damper.

D. Avoid being directly in line with the winch cable whenever possible. 

Also, never permit others to stand near or in line with the winch cable 

during winch operation.

9. Never hook the winch cable back onto itself. This will damage the 

winch cable and may result in winch cable failure.

10. Never use straps, chains or other rigging items that are damaged or 

worn.

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WINCH GUIDE

Winch Operation

11. The ONLY time a winch-equipped vehicle should be moving when 

using the winch is when that vehicle itself is stuck. The winch-

equipped vehicle should NEVER be in motion to “shock” load the 

winch cable in an attempt to move a second stuck vehicle. See the 

Shock Loading section on page 82. For your safety, always follow 

these guidelines when winching a vehicle free:

A. Release the winch clutch and spool out the necessary length of winch 

cable.

B. Align the winch cable as close as possible to the winching vehicle’s 

centerline.

C. Attach the winch cable hook to the anchor point or the stuck vehicle’s 

frame following instructions in this manual.

D. Re-engage the clutch on the winch.
E. Slowly winch in the slack in the winch cable.
F.

Select the proper vehicle gear to propel the stuck vehicle in the 

direction of winching.

G. Shift to the lowest gear available on the stuck vehicle.
H. Slowly and carefully apply vehicle throttle and winch together to free 

the vehicle.

I.

Stop winching as soon as the stuck vehicle is able to propel itself 

without the help of the winch.

J.

Detach the winch cable hook.

K. Rewind the winch cable evenly back onto the winch drum following the 

instructions in this manual.

12. Never attempt to winch another stuck vehicle by attaching the 

winch cable to a suspension component, brush guard, bumper or 

cargo rack. Vehicle damage may result. Instead, attach the winch to 

a strong portion of the vehicle frame or hitch.

13. Extensive winching will run down the battery on the winching 

vehicle. Let the winching vehicle’s engine run while operating the 

winch to prevent the battery from running low if winching for long 

periods.