Question Which brand of Winch???

[ponyexpress94]

I am trying to select a winch to mount on my flatbed trailer. I have never owned a winch before so I don't know if Warn, Superwinch, T-Max, Ramsey, or Mile Marker are equal or if one is better than the others. The trailer already has dual Optima batteries to power the hydraulic tiltbed so I just need to choose a winch that will be capable of pulling on rolling vehicles or tractors that will weigh 7,000 pounds or less. Any help on build quality, performance, warranty issues, regrets , or any other things you have learned would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[patrickc]

I have had Warn, Superwinch, and Mile Marker winches in the past. I didn't have much luck with Mile Marker the motor burnt out after 6 months of weekend use on my wheelin rig. It wasn't a big deal about $100 bucks to fix. Keep in mind though it was constantly in and out of water on weekend wheeling trips.

I have had very good luck with both warn and superwinch but i think warn is a far better winch yet they do carry a much higher price tag. More than double.

I know several people with T-max 9000lb and 12000lb models and they are both turning out to be very good products at a decent price.

Hope this helps!

Cheers. Patrick

 

[Crumm]

Hydraulic tiltbed

How is your hydraulic pump setup? If there is a way to plumb into it I would recommend a Mile Marker Hydraulic Winch. They are normally powered by your power steering pump but since you have a pump already on the trailer it only makes sense to use it for double duty. Hydraulic winches are far superior to electric ones. If you must go with electric I would recommend Warn.

 

[f100cleveland]

The Summit winch is the same as T-max brand winch and cheaper. Its a good winch but has weak solenoids. Once I replaced them with solid state ones I've had no problems. I think the new winches come with the improved solenoids.

 

[RoyBoy]

I have a Warn 16.5 K mounted on my hyd tilt gooseneck. That would be more than you need but I will say that I've SKIDDED (all 4 tires locked up) a 16,000+ lb tractor up the deck with a snatch block (cable doubled back) set up
I'm sold on Warn, but I use mine pretty regularly, you may or may not need one that good