The Top 5 Reasons You Need a Winch on Your Bucket Trucks

Winches are nothing new for bucket trucks. In fact, winches have become practically imperative for some cherry pickers. If you are in forestry, line-work, or go off-road much, you should have a bucket truck with a winch.

Let’s talk about why you need a winch for your bucket truck:

1. Getting stuck in mud, high centered, or on ice. If you go offroad for work sites in your bucket truck, you should absolutely have a bucket truck with a winch. The winch will save you tons of time and money in order to get you unstuck and back to work.

2. Pulling. You may need to pull poles, other trucks, and random objects with your bucket truck. In order to do this, you’ll need a winch. It isn’t recommended you use a bucket truck for pulling but, it may be the only option you have. Keep in mind, bucket trucks and the parts for them aren’t cheap. Use extreme caution.

3. Short distance towing. Need to tow a load for a few feet but don’t have a trailer hitch? You can use your winch to tow it for a very short difference. It is a delicate process so, secure your load and be careful. Don’t tow for any considerable distance and definitely don’t tow on roads… don’t jeopardize other people’s safety.

4. Using a winch as a directional tool for hitching. If you have a very heavy load that you need to hitch to your truck, use a winch to guide the load onto the hitch securely. It’s much easier than navigating your bucket truck carefully or trying to shove the trailer under the hitch precisely.

5. Going on a steep incline / decline. If your driving on a steep grade, it’s suggested you use a winch to keep your bucket truck secure. Obviously, you’ll never work at a site like this but, in order to keep the truck stable, it is recommended you use your winch for added security. Some jobs are in the hardest to get to places, for those jobs, use your winch.

In conclusion, having a winch on your bucket truck can be pretty handy in sticky situations. It may even enable you to help out a friend from time to time [if that's your thing]. As you know, we have several bucket trucks for sale and rent from Southwest Equipment. We also have our very own page dedicated to self recovery winches for bucket trucks that had a manual explaining how to use these safely. Check out our inventory and visit or call us today so we can answer any questions you have about our available inventory!