Just because winches have the same rating doesn't make them equal. Since the question was asked, let's examine the Mile Marker Pe8000 and the Warn M8000i that Franco802 mentioned:
Layer Pull Rating
Often, I look not at the max winch rating but the 2nd and 3rd layer line pull ratings since this is where most of my winching is done, on these layers. You're supposed to leave about half the 1st layer wrap on the drum to provide proper holding. So, if you compare the differen layer ratings the Warn has a nearly half ton pull advantage over the Mile Marker by the 2nd layer on the drum. By the 3rd layer the Warn can pull a 1400 lb. heavier load and by layer four the M8000 has close to a full ton pulling advantage over the Pe8000. The Mile Marker has a layer 5 even though both winches hold the same amount of cable, 100 ft. By the outer most layer on each winch there is a 2330 lb. pull difference. Guess which has the lower rating.
Warn - 100 ft of cable
Layer 1 = 8000 lb.
Layer 2 = 7280 lb.
Layer 3 = 6670 lb.
Layer 4 = 6230 lb.
MileMarker - 100 ft of cable
Layer 1 = 8000 lb.
Layer 2 = 6335 lb.
Layer 3 = 5243 lb.
Layer 4 = 4473 lb.
Layer 5 = 3900 lb.
Line Speed Under Load (ft / min)
While not as critical as layer pull rating, the line speed comparison does have its use. Largely I see this as the "convenience factor". How long do you have to wait for a load to be hauled in? Imagine you're standing in knee deep muck or it's frigg'n wet and cold out, or you just want to get wheel'n again. You'll want to wrap things up quickly, right? The Pe8000 is almost 1/2 the speed of the M8000i at full load. But when you're done and want to roll you should unspool the cable and wind it back up in a somewhat neat wrapping. Under no-load the line-in speed for the Warn is a blazing 42 ft/min vs. MileMarker's 12 ft/min glacial speed. This may not seem like a big deal but on a recent outing one of the guys had a Mile Marker winch and it felt like we had to wait forever for him to wind in the 80 ft of cable he spooled out. Truely, it was a glacial pace. I never thought this was important until I saw enough wheel'n where winches were being used regularly.
In the example above, winding in the stuck Jeep took an extra 5 min and then spooling out and neatly re-winding in the cable again took 7 extra min. So whole operation took 12-15 min longer than if the Warns were utilized. If you start having a lot of fun and need to start using your winch 3-4 times per day then those little bits of time add up and you could lose an hour of wheel'n time.
Warn
8000 lb. = 8 ft/min
6000 lb. = 10 ft/min
4000 lb. = 12 ft/min
2000 lb. = 16 ft/min
No Load = 42 ft/min
Mile Marker
8000 lb. = 5 ft/min
6000 lb. = 6 ft/min
4000 lb. = 9 ft/min
2000 lb. = 11 ft/min
No Load = 12 ft/min
Motor Type
Again, looking at the two winches we see the Warn has a 17% more powerful motor with the superior series wound design vs. the Mile Milemarker permenant magnet setup. Series wound motors can endure a higher duty cycle and are more resiliant to overheating damage on hard pulls.
Warn = 4.8 hp Series Wound Motor
Mile Marker = 4.1 hp Permenant Magnet
"Intangibles"
On top of the technical superiority of the Warn, they also have a great reputation and product support. You'll be able to find parts to maintain the Warns for decades to come. Can this be said about the Mile Marker? Time will tell.
This comparison isn't exactly unique between the Mile Marker and the Warn units but rather indicative of how other brands stack up to Warn. Simply looking at "Rated Capacity" won't tell you the whole story behind the various winches on the market. Nor will strictly looking at price alone. You need to weigh what you get for your money with each winch. There's a reason why the Warn are typically the prefered top end winches, but they have a price to match. I've looked at specs on different winches and noticed that Warn's "8000 lb." winches will often match or exeed the layer-pull ratings of competitors' "9500 lb." winches by the 3rd layer, right in that "usable cable" area.
Consider this an investment in your rig, especially if you do a lot of winching work or plan to, or simply plan on having your winch a long time . . . possibly moving it from Jeep to Jeep over the years a head. The cost difference between the Warns and the Mile Markers (in this instance) is "only" $250 or so. Compare this to other things on your jeep and it begins to be a decent investment.
