These winches are designed to handle higher loads, and the two speeds make for both quick pulls at low loads, and more power at higher loads. The shift lock design allows changing gears without moving the crank handle from shaft to shaft. Just lift the shift lock and slide the shaft into the desired gear position. The shift lock holds the shaft in gear. A neutral freewheel position allows quick line pay out without spinning the handle. The ratchet pawl also has a neutral position.
These are not self-locking winches, like a brake winch or worm gear winch, and are only recommended where the freewheeling characteristic, or the higher capacity, is of primary importance. This lack of a self-locking feature makes them unsuitable for hoisting or lifting applications, so they are only recommended for horizontal or incline pulling, such as pulling a boat onto a trailer.

A general ratchet winch sizing guideline is to choose a winch whose capacity is half the total weight of the boat, or load, it must pull. The winch should be sized larger in high friction situations or where the boat must be towed a long way onto the trailer. It can be smaller if the boat can float most of the way onto the trailer
Zinc-plated, stamped carbon steel frames provide rigidity for gear alignment and longer life
Gear ratios for the 2000 lb winch are 4:1 & 10:1; all others are 5:1 & 12:1
Power ratio in table is for lowest speed
Max. pull is for first layer on drum; at full drum pull is approx. one half of max; use only as much rope as you need
All models are designed for use with rope or cable - see table
Cable and rope are sold separately