Need a winch, suggestions?

[orion_134]

Long story short, I just had to rent a backhoe to go back in the woods and pull out my truck. It was wedged at a downward angle with the front end in a creek and the front bumper resting on the opposite bank and the front tires were off the bottom. So, if I had a winch beforehand it would have saved me the trouble...lessons learned, now I buy one.

The brands I see are Milemarker, Rand, and Warn for almost the same prices (under 1000 on ebay). I was looking at the ones that were 8000+ deadweight not rolling weight. So, I need to know what to stay away from and what to look for when purchasing a winch. I am going to fab a bracket for it to attach it to a 2" receiver.
Any help?
Jesse

 

[Red Monkey]

Get a Warn and don't look back. When you NEED a winch you want it to work without having to 'work on it'. After 15 years of off roading I wouldn't own anything but a Warn winch. And be sure to buy enough winch, a PS diesel an't light, your truck weighs over 7100 lb. empty.
Make sure the 2" receiver mount is in a secure location ON the frame, NOT on the bumper. If you are going to use it on the rear reciver get the cable kit waren makes for that application.
Hope this helped.
Hal

PS Thanks for your service SGT

 

[BamaSixGun]

warn

 

[jvencius]

Depending on where you're located, the member N_P has a 15K-rated Ramsey winch for sale in the (go figure) "For Sale" section that you might be able to work a good deal on...

 

[orion_134]

Is Ramsey any good? I see that the Jeep guys use them alongside the Warns.

What do you mean cable kit? The roller guides? Or do you mean battery cable? I wanted to do it on the reciever so I can keep it in my toolbox when not needed or move it from front to rear or visa versa.

I see a lot of winches advertising weight, then I see others advertising rolling weight....Does Warn advertise in rolling weight or deadweight? The way my truck was wedged today, I need one rated at deadweight 8000+
Thanks for the responses,
Jesse

 

[groundhawg]

I've got a Ramsey ProPlus 9000 on my off-road toy and it has been a fine winch for me. Warn is the hands down favorite of most though...and they are good winches.

As mentioned, the PSD is one heavy SOB...mine goes 7700 full of fuel and with me in it, no camping gear, supplies or such. The standard way the winch manufacturers tell you to choose a whinch is go 1.5 times the weight of your vehicle. So, for me it would mean at least a 12K rated winch.

One thing that I would like to caution you about with the receiver mount is that they are fine for straight line pulls, but if you put much of a side load on them, you could be asking for trouble. Not to say that type of mount is bad, just keep that in mind.

Another thing...snatch blocks are you friend...effectivley doubles the pull of the winch. They are also great for changing your cable direction.

 

[orion_134]

Not sure what a snatch block is. I saw them advertised, but by looking at the picture I couldn't tell what they do.

Also, is it a good investment to get the pulley that goes around a tree trunk and allows you to pull from a different direction?

Jesse

 

[groundhawg]

The pulley is a snatch block. Just make sure that all of the accessories that you get are rated for the winch.

The cable kit that was mentioned is refering to the battery cable kit. You can make your own, but the cable and the connectors aren't cheap, you would just have to figure it up.

The roller guide you mentioned is called a roller fairlead...there is also a hawse fairlead that is basically just a mouth, but it is used mostly for the guys with the synthetic rope.

 

[orion_134]

So you could run the cable to a snatch block on a tree (far away) and anchor to a tree (up close) and the load on the winch is cut in half? Coulld you use more snatch blocks and do it again and the load is cut in half again? Remembering those physics classes....
Sounds like this could get expensive.
Jesse

 

[orion_134]

.....PS Thanks for your service SGT

Thanks for the support, by the way.
Jesse