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NEWS | Oct. 4, 2022

M88-Series Recovery Vehicles: PM Keeps Winches Working

BLUF: Consistent PM is needed to keep winches working properly.
 
Crewmen, your M88-series recovery vehicle’s winches need regular care so they don’t kink up your next mission. Here are some tips to follow after every mission to ensure those winch cables are ready to do their job when needed:
 
  • Spool out the cables on the main and hoist winches slowly. If you spool them out too fast, the cables might unspool completely and end up on the ground. Then you get to spend precious time winding them back onto the winches.
 
  • Check the hydraulic controls for the boom, main winch, hoist winch and spade and make sure they’re in good working order.
 
  • If the winches were used during the last mission, check the cables for damage. Cables are unserviceable if there are three (3) broken wires per strand or six (6) broken wires per lay. Clean and lube good cables like it says in the -10 TM.
You’ll find everything you need to know about keeping the kinks out of your recovery operations by following the AFTER PMCS procedures in TM 9-2350-256-10 (Feb 19) for the M88A1 and TM 9-2350-292-10 (May 22) for the M88A2.