Winch selection advise needed

[MikeT]

Im looking for a winch that will only be used very occasionally. Not for rock crawling, but if the mud simply gets too much while doing chores. Happened twice with UTV, and when you're by yourself a winch seems to be the way to go.

I was looking at a winch in the 8-9K rating and I saw several different brands that looked to be the exact same with just sticker changes. Maybe the same manufacturer, maybe form follows function. I have read that Warn is very good, but very costly. With Warn being the premium line, what would be recommended for an occasional use winch that will last? Looking at a midlevel brand with a good reputation.

Is the 8-9K winch enough?
What brand do you recommend?

Thanks in advance to the more experienced people here.

 

[toolsinaction]

WARN is for sure the best in the business. Service support and design is all top notch. Super winch, HF, venom all have winches for a lot lower price point, so depeneding on your budget. To me I always go WARN because its worth the few extra bucks to know that when im in a bind I have the best possible winch pulling me out and wont be stranded

 

[Kickinrox]

Ive done alot of winching with my atv and i can tell you warn is hands down the best winch to work with out there. Im building custom bumpers for my rox that have receiver ports on the front and rear bumper. The winch can go in either end so if you need to back up you can. I had the montana jacks system on my polaris sportsman and would never have another off road machine that i couldnt swap the winch onto either end. That being said, you can get by with a small winch if you carry enough rigging for doubling back to your machine or rigging a three to one so you tripple your pulling power. My personal favorite is the warn vr 8000. The rox only weighs 3000 lbs so you are over kill on single line pull. You could actually get by with a atv rated winch if you bring a snatch block and extra winch cable to double back. But if you want simple and easy the VR8000 is the way to go for what you described.

 

[MikeT]

Appears Warn is a favorite. Even though the VR is Chinese?

 

[Appellandscape]

I have good luck with harbor frieght or mile marker an 8k will cost about 300 and for the once or twice a year you most use them they last

 

[4X44JOR]

Warn!

 

[Bfree]

I went with a Smitty Bilt 9500# Synthetic Rope Winch. I got it at 4wd.com. Works great, and saved some weight on the front end and no more than I plan on using it, it should do the job! And like you I just couldn't justify the cost of the WARN!!

 

[Campyman]

I got a 13000lb xbull from eBay for just 340 bucks. I comes with synthetic rope, 2 remotes and even a cover. I pulled several people out of a ditch during the snow storm this winter and it worked great.

 

[SMH]

I have a wireless and waterproof Smittybilt X2O 10k on my open car trailer and like it alot. I'm putting the same on the Roxor. I splurged for the roxor and got the synthetic line. Many of my friends utilizing them on their Jeeps. For the money I don't think you can beat them. Got the steel cable version for $360 from auto anything. The synthetic line was $470.

 

[i303]

I'm getting a Harbor Freight one. I'm not winching every day and it's not 1987 anymore. Besides, I had Warn winch crap out on me. It's not a guarantee they will work when you need them the most.If we are driving a Indian knock off, I'd get a Chinese winch for less than half the price so you can buy 2 with money left over for just one Warn winch. Warn winches are either made some where else, or most of their components. Besides, a lot of HB stuff seems to have done OK in recent years.

 

[Strubby]

I'm not much help to the OP except for saying there are other reliable brands than just Warn. I'm very happy with my KFI that swims every ride for nearly 4 years. Unfortunately, they only make up to 5k winches, and I can't be sure what other manufacturer is comparable. Superwinch? Smitty? Just guesses.

 

[Campyman]

I'm getting a Harbor Freight one. I'm not winching every day and it's not 1987 anymore. Besides, I had Warn winch crap out on me. It's not a guarantee they will work when you need them the most.If we are driving a Indian knock off, I'd get a Chinese winch for less than half the price so you can buy 2 with money left over for just one Warn winch. Warn winches are either made some where else, or most of their components. Besides, a lot of HB stuff seems to have done OK in recent years.

This is true. Hb makes a lot of good stuff. However the zbull I got is the best deal out there. It’s even cheaper in cost and is built even better.

 

[Kickinrox]

Whatever brand you get just be sure your contactor pack is sealed and your gears aren't plastic. I have personally seen some of the earlier harbor freight stuff with plastic gears, but that was on the atv sized winches. But with harbor freight, buy it, break it down, and if its not quality parts, take it back.

 

[i303]

The 12K lbs Badlands from HB for $400 seem to be the choice of winches. So my research tells me it's a good winch, maybe HB 12K = a Warn 8k, who knows? But from what I've read up, repack the gears and guts with more grease, take extra step to seal up the electronics from water, make sure you have a good ground, and perform routine maintenance and it's a great winch. And like Kickinrox said, if it craps out, return it. I also come from the days of made in the USA Warn vs Ramsey vs Superwinch. I wouldn't hesitate to get this HB winch.

12000 lbs. Off-Road Vehicle Electric Winch with Automatic Load-Holding Brake

 

[plumbstraight]

I tend to use a snatch block on most pulls unless it is a very light pull. It doubles the pull and having more line off the winch gives it more advantage also. Is much easier on the gears and winch motor.

Winches are rated on first layer line pull. The more it fills up the less power it has. The last layer will not pull half the rating of the winch.

 

[1BB]

I was in the infantry for four years, and they would always ask if anyone wanted to go to different schools. I always raised my hand and jumped at any chance I had to learn something new. One of the best schools I went to, was a three week long recovery school. Basically it was a school with a lot of math, and some SERIOUSLY stuck vehicles.

When I look for winches, I apply some basic math to figure out what I really need in a worse case scenario of resistance. I look at the mire factor, gradient factor, and tackle factor. There's much more, but for a Roxor, these are the important things to consider,

Mire has three categories.
1. Wheels buried up to, but NOT over the hub = ONE vehicle weight of resistance
2. Wheels buried over the hub, but NOT over the top of the wheel = TWICE the vehicle weight of resistance
3. Buried to the fenders = THREE times the vehicle weight of resistance

Gradient factor in its simplest terms equals 1/60th of the vehicle weight plus cargo TIMES the degrees of incline or slope.
1. So if we're stuck on a 25 degree slope and our vehicle weighs 4,200 pounds / 60 = 70 X 25 = 1,750 more pounds of resistance.

Tackle factor is a flat 10% for EACH snatch block used.
If we have a vehicle mired with a factor of TWO, and on a 25 degree slope, and 8,000 pounds of available effort or winching capacity ON THE FIRST WRAP ON THE DRUM BARREL, we have a mire factor of 8,400 pounds of resistance + 1,750 pounds of gradient resistance for a total of 10,150 pounds of total resistance. Here it's easy to see we need to add a snatch block to gain a mechanical advantage, but we also have to factor in tackle resistance of 10%.
1. So we have 10,150 pounds X 10% = 1,015 more pounds of tackle resistance for a grand total of 11,165 pounds of resistance to over come.

Once you have a basic real world working knowledge of what your area is like and what you may encounter in worse case scenario, you can start looking at how big of a winch you need, as well as recovery gear.

Something else to consider is your vehicles ability to supply the needed power to run an electric winch for a heavy extended pull. You'll want to upgrade the battery for sure or add in dual batteries. This is why I use hydraulic winches only now, except on 4wheelers.

 

[AZROX]

@1BB: nice writeup!

 

[Roxasuras]

We have a smittybuilt 9500 on the Roxor and CJ, personally never had a problem with them, we use it only a few times a year, not very often. No complaints with them. Warn is top notch, no doubt!

 

[Colderweather86]

Warn USA made if you want the best.
Harbor Freight for Chinese made.

Stay clear away from Rough Country, or any of the other warn knock off Chinese winches. They will not stand behind their Warranty.