I have experience with 3 winches. Warn HS 9500, Milemarker (?), and a Superwinch S9000. The warn survived the fire on my first Rubi (RIP) with some replaced paower cables and new solenoids. It now lives on my son's 2001 TJ. More info in a minute.
The Milemarker was on a Landrover Disco that I had for a little while. I did a couple recovery pulls and plenty of work around the property with it. My impressions was one of solid durability and reliability. Slow as the day is long, but that did not matter to me. Realistically I never really put it to the test but my impression was favorable.
After picking up my current 05 LJ Rubi, I found a used Superwinch S9000 for a good price. I have cleaned it up and added synthetic line. IT has proven reliable, decent linespeed, limited braking ability (or whatever you call it when the line is holding the vehicle being recovered). All in all a solid winch. Happy with it since it was a great price.
So the rest of the story, as they say...
A few weeks ago my son (18) called and told me he and a buddy had been out "riding the powerlines". OK so I knew right away he must be stuck... then he says, "We're in a bit of a pickle"... no lie, at 18 he says this and I immediately know it is BAD.
and it was.
Long story short... 6.5 hours later, my jeep, my winch, his winch and a front end loader and he was out. Here is the moral of the story:
The Warn was under water the entire time. He was in a stream where the sand/mud on the bottom was soft and the water ws moving, effectively burying his jeep OVER the front axle... Nothing but the top 25% of his 33's showing. The superwinch could not break the jeep free. The front end loader broke the rear loose, but could not get the front at an angle to get it moving. We eventually pulled cable from the warn 90 degrees and cranked it to life (still under water) It pulled the right side of the jeep out of the sand/mud/water and broke the suction enough for us to use both the tractor and the Superwinch to finally pull the jeep out. I will circle back if I can get my hands on the pictures...
My point is this. The Warn has been with us since about 2004. I cannot count how many pull it has on it, or how many non traditional winch duties it has performed. It lived through the fire, it lived under water, it needs a new cable after this latest ordeal, but the damn thing will not die and has saved us more times than I can remember.
Go with the Warn. Nothing against the superwinch, it is still doing it's job. The warn has again exceeded any reasonable expectation.
Hope that long story helps.
John
