This SAE Standard includes only those towing winches commonly used on skidders and crawler tractors. These winches are used on self-propelled machines described in SAE J1057, J1116, and J1209. Specifically excluded are those winches used for hoisting operations.

Purpose—This document classifies the major types of winches and establishes nomenclature for major winch components. Examples used here are not intended to include all existing winches nor to be descriptive of any particular winch.