On all winches, especially larger ones, rigorous testing is vital to ensure both performance and safety. Customers often visit our site to ‘witness test’ before the winch is deployed. This provides validation to the customer that the equipment is fit for purpose.

Winch testing is something that Rotrex Winches takes very seriously. So much so that we’ve invested in a range of high-quality, robust test equipment. This range of testing equipment gives us a comprehensive testing capability, providing customers with the assurance that winches will work exactly as required, operating within predictable performance and safety margins.

Our testing facilities include:

• 250Te SWL Test Bed – this powerful test rig is used to test winches and other pulling/lifting equipment either statically or dynamically via a 2-metre stroke hydraulic cylinder. The ram can either be pulled out at the SWL or pull in, which is particularly useful for testing winch brakes – which have to be tested above the pulling capacity of the winch. The test rig is complete with a 250Te load link with remote readout. The rig comes complete with two winch-mounting platforms, which enable rope to be spooled under back-tension.
• Test Rig 1 – this test bed is suitable for testing all types of winches, and can test up to 30 tonnes of live load, lifted to a height of 12 metres.
• Test Rig 2 – this test bed is suitable for all types of winches, and can test up to a 10-tonne load, lifted to a height of 5 metres.
• Hoist Test Rig – this test rig is suitable for testing chain hoists up to 20 tonnes.