Winches

[Bday]

Where Is the best place to buy a winch for the money? Looking for a 12,000 lb. What is a good brand? I know warn is name brand, but is there others that are just as good for a better price?
Thanks

 

[Diamondpilot]

If not using it every day to make a living its tough to beat the Harbor Freight ones. I have a Atlas which is about the same quality. Its 4500# and mounted to my 18' trailer. Its been on it since 2004 without a single issue. It pulled up about 30 vehicles ranging from a 8N to a Suburban.

Got it through Greg Smith Equipment

Chris

 

[RedNeckRacin]

I have a viper max 12k winch with the amsteel blue synthetic winch rope and it came with a doubling block, and some other accessories. I have had it for almost 3 years and no trouble with it at all. That winch rope is strong as all get out. We used it underground on our scoop winches and it was great until it go ran over a sharp corner. The benefit of it though is the light weight and it does not recoil like steel does. motoalliance.com

 

[94BULLITT]

I have a Superwinch S5000 for the car trailer and a TSC Champion 3k winch for the utility trailer. I got the Superwinch through amazon. I think Warn probably sells the best winches. Whatever winch you decide on just google the model number and see what comes up.

 

[Ken45101]

One of the issues with the Warn winches is the warranty. If it fails, you have to send it back at your expense and pay for them to evaluate it ($$$). If they say it's been abused, you are out the cost, plus the winch. I have a Warn winch on my RTV but I am very, very careful with it. The smaller ones have plastic gears. I don't know about the larger ones.

I have the HF winches for logging use. I haven't used them a lot but so far okay and a heck of a better price than the Warn winches. YMMV.

 

[sparc]

The factory winch on my Hummer was a Warn 12k built into the frame.
I used it a number of times and it never failed me.

Having said that I know they are not the least expensive but you need to factor in how you plan to use it and how often ...and... what level of reliability you are willing to accept. And I don't mean to imply that Warn is the most reliable, I don't know enough about the various makes to hazard a guess, I just know I had the same winch for 14 years and it never let me down.

 

[RobertN]

What are you going to do with it? Heavy off-roading?

I grew up in N. Calif, not far from Rubicon, Barret Lake, Sierra Trek etc. Some of the best hard rock wheeling. My Dad did not have one, nor did I when I had the Jeep later on. But everyone we knew who did had Warn's. My BIL put a classic 8274 on his CJ7 28 years ago, and has got good use out of it.

The couple times I needed to be pulled out of a jam, buddies used Warn 8274's.

Everyone I know now is still using Warn's.

Not an endorsement, just observation from 49 years of being around Jeeps that are used.

 

[tonyoz]

Be very wary of buying Warn winch or any type like them with a plantery gearbox.You cannot deadpull on the winch without damaging the winch break. Learnt this from my own experence on 12000lb Warn winch which cost me $1000 just for the part to fix it. A pinnion drive is a much better system and near bullet prof.:2cents:

 

[Dozernut]

I have Ramsey winches, I have an REP3000 on my RTV and had a REP6000 on my old truck. I don't know if it is still true but the Ramsey winches had a lower amp draw than the Warrens, an important consideration if you have a small alternator or do not have a double battery setup. My next winch will be hydraulic as a steady pull will not burn out the motor like a direct current winch will, if you don't let them cool down between pulls.

 

[RobertN]

Most everyone I know is running dual batteries. A Lot of rock crawlers also use custom alternators, set up to for higher current, AND to make power at lower RPM's. Does no good to make power at high rpm when rock crawling generally is done at relatively low rpm.

a lower amp draw than the Warrens, an important consideration if you have a small alternator or do not have a double battery setup.

 

[Dozernut]

Most everyone I know is running dual batteries. A Lot of rock crawlers also use custom alternators, set up to for higher current, AND to make power at lower RPM's. Does no good to make power at high rpm when rock crawling generally is done at relatively low rpm.

I agree 100% with what you said but around here it just hills and mud, not much rock climbing. They do have some rocks 100 miles south of here.

 

[RobertN]

Maybe a "B" button could be added to your truck? It worked on the Mach-5

Button B, Belt Tires (ベルトタイヤ Beruto Taiya?, Belt Tire): Sprouts special grip tires for traction over any kind of terrain (firm, icy, or unsteady ground; ocean floor; vertical mountainsides). At the same time, 5,000 horsepower (3,700 kW) is distributed evenly to all four wheels (1,250 hp/932.13 kW).

Mach 5: What Does This Button Do? - YouTube

 

[Topkicker]

I have a Smittybilt XRC comp winch w synthetic line and alloy fairlead on my JK. It's been used on trails and recovery in snow. It's not as fast as a Warn or Superwinch, but it does work well and is easy on the wallet. 12,000+ lb. Electric Winches by Smittybilt - Smittybilt Winches and Winch Accessories - -RH1

 

[56FordGuy]

I have a Vortex 12,000 lb winch on a receiver mount that I use on my truck and trailer. It's cheap, probably similar quality to the HF winches. I paid about $300 for it, new. I've had it for a couple of years now and it's been working great.

 

[oldtractors]

I have a Vortex 10,000 on my bumper pull trailer. It has winched on and off two tractors so far and I like it. The gearbox had a problem when delivered, but the seller took care of it. The wireless remote is great.

 

[kenmac]

I have an 8000# Ramsey on my trailer for about 15 yrs now.I have used it alot. From stumps,logs to autos to tractors Still works great

 

[npalen]

I have a 3000 lb HarborFreight winch that has 6 gauge cables for the 12 volt power and calls for a 50 amp fuse or breaker. What I don't understand is when looking at full load amperage draw on 3000 lb winches they show in the neighborhood of 150 to 200 amps. The 200 amps is way more than 6 gauge wiring and/or a 50 amp fuse is rated. I understand the intermittent duty rating of devices such as winches but it looks like full load for more than a couple seconds would blow the fuse. Can someone shed some light on this?

 

[the old grind]

Npalen, this chart says 6 AWG for up to 10' at 200a. Wire Gauge Amps Ratings for 12 volt Automotive Systems
Since a fuse protects the wire, 200 would be logical max (yours seems very well protected) and you could carry other fuse sizes if worse came to worse afield. (100a, etc?) It would seem the smaller the fuse you DON'T blow the less your winch has to prove, but the less you're "pushin' it" in terms of expected service life, too.

I heard the HFT 12k lb winch is quite a performer, esp for the bargain price. Even as a 'disposable' item (no reason to suggest, btw) that'd be ~3 per $1000 part....

 

[David Devuono]

Winch prices have come way down now that China is making a billion winches a year. I have at least three still in boxes (don't tell my wife) Two 2,000 lb'ers for 50 bucks each and a 10,000LB that I paid $139 dollars for, and that included a Wired remote, a wireless remote, roller fairlead and cabling. Personally I use a 7,500 lb Keeper brand on a multi-mount that goes in my Silverados front Receiver mount. For heavy pulls, I keep a Pully-block handy. The Keeper also comes with a wireless remote which is handy when pulling out a stuck tractor. I can operate the trucks winch from my Tractors seat.

 

[npalen]

Npalen, this chart says 6 AWG for up to 10' at 200a. Wire Gauge Amps Ratings for 12 volt Automotive Systems
Since a fuse protects the wire, 200 would be logical max (yours seems very well protected) and you could carry other fuse sizes if worse came to worse afield. (100a, etc?) It would seem the smaller the fuse you DON'T blow the less your winch has to prove, but the less you're "pushin' it" in terms of expected service life, too.

I heard the HFT 12k lb winch is quite a performer, esp for the bargain price. Even as a 'disposable' item (no reason to suggest, btw) that'd be ~3 per $1000 part....

Between the solenoid to winch and solenoid to battery my cables are about 21 feet in length which becomes 42 feet when figuring both positive and negative wires. The chart doesn't go that far in length but 25 feet at 50 amps calls for 8 gauge wiring. I suspect that most winches are way over-rated in pulling power and would guess that a lot of the amperage is lost as heat in the wiring.
The reason my wiring is so long is that the winch is located near the rear of a small trailer and am using the pickup battery for power. The winch is used with a cable system to dump the trailer.