The invention relates to a cable winch consists of a cable drum (1) and a drive unit (4) thereof, wherein said cable drum (1) comprises a windable cable (12) and a cable guiding device (2, 3) for guaranteeing that the cable exit (9) is maintained on a fixed output point during operation. The winch elements, in particular the cable drum (1) and the drive unit (4), are mounted on a common support structure (6) and are arranged with respect to the fixed output point in such a way that gravitation forces produced thereby are compensated at least about an axis orthogonally to the vertical cable exit (9).