A more powerful battery will provide better winching performance, but a weaker battery won't be compromised to failure -- it just won't pull very hard.

FWIW, exercise some care with the side terminals of Optima batteries. The top terminals are of a more robust design, with higher current handling capabilities. A heavy winch pull can draw 400 amps, which can be enough to melt the side terminals and void the warranty.

http://www.optimabatteries.com/publish/optima/americas0/en/config/product_info/technology/tips.html
Connect high amperage accessories such as a winch to the top terminals only. Do NOT use the side terminals.

Another link: http://www.stu-offroad.com/recovery/winch/warn-1.htm#Here%20is%20a%20response

Randii

higher the CCA's the better. Like a starter on steriods, a winch pulls a high amount of amperage for a short amount of time. deep cycles won't be good for this purpose as they are designed for a sustained draw over a long period of time. combination deep cycle/starting batteries (ie optima yellow top) are nice since they can handle the high loads and also sustain repeated drains and charges (something a typical starting battery doesn't do well).

-Rob

ahhh now we are getting somewhere...

Actually, deep cycle are good for winching/high loads, they are designed to be drained and then charged, from what I've been told, deep cycle will go bad pretty fast if only used for starts, and again, thats why the optima's are great, but I've been on a marine battery (50 less cca's than my factory bat) for well over a year now and have run my winch for extended periods of time with no problems (and I can listen to my stereo for hours on end too)

:edit: If you can afford it, grab an optima, I personally like the marine battery cause of the extra posts (I have my winch wired directly to the battery with the extra posts) but all the optima's are great and have plenty of power to spare. I have a marine battery because my battery died when I didn't have any extra $$ floating around so I got what I need.

Peter -

yes, deep cycle's can be used for winching/starting applications without harm. However, all things being equal, a deep cycle isn't going to give you as many amps... though it will sustain those amps much longer and recover from a deeper discharge. As long as you pick a deep cycle that can provide the current you need, you are fine to use one in a starting application... whereas using a starting battery in an application for a deep cycle will most definitely kill it fast.

the marine batteries you are talking about are what i was referring to above as a "hybrid" between a starting battery and a true deep cycle. they can't be discharged quiet as far as a true deep cycle, but provide you with the high CA you need for winching.

when looking at batteries, its all about cycle (discharge/charge) vs. life (how far you discharge) and picking the appropriately constructed battery for your application. As with anything, its all a trade-off

-Rob

yup <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />