The invention relates to a drive device (1) for the spool (6) of a winch. The drive device (1) comprises a drive motor (2) having a drive shaft (5), a transmission (3) and an output shaft (4) that drives a spool (6). The transmission has a first drive connection (10) between the drive shaft (5) of the drive motor (2) and the output shaft (4) to the spool (6). The first drive connection (10) drives the output shaft (4) over a first rotational speed range (DB1) in a first gear. According to the invention, a second drive connection (30) is provided between the drive motor (2) and the output shaft (4), wherein the second drive connection (30) drives the output shaft (4) over a second rotational speed range (DB2) in a second gear. The second drive connection (30) is designed to be separate from the first drive connection (10) as a parallel drive path, and is driven by the drive motor (2) together with the first drive connection (10). If the output shaft (4) is driven by the second drive connection (30), the power flow of the first drive connection (10) from the drive shaft (5) to the output shaft (4) is interrupted.