Patent ID: 8585021

Claim:
A system for controlling slack in a winch rope associated with a vehicle, comprising: a winch coupled to the vehicle; a working implement coupled to the vehicle and operatively associated with the winch; at least one support member pivotably coupled to a frame of the working implement, the at least one support member carrying a pulley rotatably coupled thereto, the pulley receiving the winch rope for raising and lowering the working implement; a limit switch operatively associated with the frame and the winch and configured to selectively enable and disable lowering of the working implement by the winch; a first member carried by the at least one support member and operatively associated with the switch; and a biasing member configured to bias the at least one support member to a first position when a load on the winch rope is below a predetermined threshold, the first member being in at least substantial alignment with the switch when the at least one support member is in the first position, the switch configured to change an activation state upon the at least one support member and the first member being in the first position to automatically disable lowering of the working implement by the winch.