Winches

[MF283]

I got my JD XUV last November, it has a place for a winch on front & i know they make hitch mounted ones for the rear as well.
While i have a tractor to do pulling or other things when necessary, i was wondering , those of you that have winches on your off road vehicles, do you really use them a lot & do you think it's money well spent??

Thanks,
Ronnie

 

[GPintheMitten]

I rarely use my winch. But when i have used it, it was a must have.

 

[oosik]

I would venture to say that most winches are seldom used. Unless you do a LOT of off-roading, you will probably seldom use it. I see ATV's with their winch hooked to a log/tree, pulling it. WHY??? Hook a rope/chain to the log and pull it with the ATV. Either way - if the log is too heavy neither the winch or ATV will pull it. If the log is too heavy - the winch will simply pull the ATV towards the log. A winch becomes a pretty expensive status/macho symbol.

Had a friend with a Warn winch on his Jeep. It only sat there on the front bumper and he never found out how to use it. The day he & his wife got stuck with the Jeep - he sat there for four hours before calling me to come help. By the time I got there he had all the winch line unspolled & completely soaked/covered in mud, the battery was hotter than the surface of the sun from constant use/recharging and the wife was seriously considering walking out to the county road and hitching a ride home. It was not a pretty picture.

About 50% of the time when I would get the Jeep stuck and need the winch - there would be nothing to attach the winch line to. Bring on the double-fluke boat anchor. Start the anchor into the ground and believe me the winch will completely bury it. I learned quickly what a ten foot "back line" was for.

Remember - if you do a lot of off-roading, you are probably in an area where some form of tow vehicle would never be able to reach you. In this case a winch can be a real life saver. But only if you know how to use it - and use it safely.

 

[ovrszd]

I rarely use my winch. But when i have used it, it was a must have.

Well stated. When you truly need a winch, nothing can replace it.

 

[nybirdman]

Can't see a winch mounted on the front;what if you need to pull backwards.Only good use is raising a snow plow.Looks like you have a tractor to pull your self out if stuck.

 

[ovrszd]

I would venture to say that most winches are seldom used. Unless you do a LOT of off-roading, you will probably seldom use it. I see ATV's with their winch hooked to a log/tree, pulling it. WHY??? Hook a rope/chain to the log and pull it with the ATV. Either way - if the log is too heavy neither the winch or ATV will pull it. If the log is too heavy - the winch will simply pull the ATV towards the log. A winch becomes a pretty expensive status/macho symbol.

Had a friend with a Warn winch on his Jeep. It only sat there on the front bumper and he never found out how to use it. The day he & his wife got stuck with the Jeep - he sat there for four hours before calling me to come help. By the time I got there he had all the winch line unspolled & completely soaked/covered in mud, the battery was hotter than the surface of the sun from constant use/recharging and the wife was seriously considering walking out to the county road and hitching a ride home. It was not a pretty picture.

About 50% of the time when I would get the Jeep stuck and need the winch - there would be nothing to attach the winch line to. Bring on the double-fluke boat anchor. Start the anchor into the ground and believe me the winch will completely bury it. I learned quickly what a ten foot "back line" was for.

Remember - if you do a lot of off-roading, you are probably in an area where some form of tow vehicle would never be able to reach you. In this case a winch can be a real life saver. But only if you know how to use it - and use it safely.

Lot of good stuff in this post. Great examples of not understanding a winch. A winch requires a good platform to pull from. A good anchor point. And a good power source.

A properly sized and powered winch should easily be able to drag the host vehicle.

 

[ovrszd]

I got my JD XUV last November, it has a place for a winch on front & i know they make hitch mounted ones for the rear as well.
While i have a tractor to do pulling or other things when necessary, i was wondering , those of you that have winches on your off road vehicles, do you really use them a lot & do you think it's money well spent??

Thanks,
Ronnie

Ronnie, I don't think we can answer that for you. We don't know how often you put your vehicle in a potential "stuck" situation. If you could add some clarification of that our added comments would be more logical.

 

[ovrszd]

Can't see a winch mounted on the front;what if you need to pull backwards.Only good use is raising a snow plow.Looks like you have a tractor to pull your self out if stuck.

No flame intended so please don't take this comment as that.

You defintel don't need a winch.

Ronnie, this post is an example of what I mean. Nybirdman's uses don't justify the cost of a winch.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Can't see a winch mounted on the front;what if you need to pull backwards.Only good use is raising a snow plow.Looks like you have a tractor to pull your self out if stuck.

What if it's mounted on the back, and you need to be pulled out forward???

SR

 

[oosik]

nybirdman,Sawer Rob:

Warn winches makes a winch that attaches to the ball hitch on the stuck vehicle. So you carry the winch in the vehicle in its cute carry bag and when you need it - attach to the ball hitch. This allows for a strong ball anchor point on both the front & back of the vehicle.