LR Max
Local Oaf
9 things:
Buy Warn for electric winches. Fin. When you are SOL, you want the best stuff on your rig. Not some winch that'll melt its solenoids and then run out of control, pulling in cable uncontrollably or smoking out after pulling 2 feet. Yes, these they exist. I know lately the market has been flooded with all different kinds of winches but Warn has still kicked everyone elses @$$ (in my experience). Might as well cut the crap, get the real deal and have something that will just work. Go look at KOH and WEROCK buggies. Open up an issue of CRAWL magazine. What winch does everyone use for these extreme circumstances? Warn. They work, no BS'ing around, no special anything to get going, just hook up, engage, mash your button. Done.
Forget the portable. Buy a winch bumper and put the winch in there. Why? If you hit anything with that winch, it is exposed. The winch case can and will break. So then you've got a brand new winch with half of the case broken off of it. As you can imagine, it doesn't work very well in that configuration. I've seen 2 like this. It is depressing and not covered under warranty. A winch bumper, on the other hand, can hit things like trees, Ford Rangers and deer all while protecting everything. With a winch bumper you can finally say, "I think we hit something". I've got an ARB and with the amount of crap I've hit, I would've killed multiple winches by now. Either I'm unlucky/crappy driver/driving by braille but bottom line is there is a reason everyone uses them. Ok, so you might once want to winch backwards, but rarely.
Also you don't want to fool with trying to rig up a winch once you are stuck. There you are, already ******'ed, in some sort of quagmire, womenfolk are bumping gums saying "I told you so, blah blah blah", its snowpacolypse outside, you are at a 45 degree angle, bigfoot is stealing your sammich, etc. You just want to jump out, pull cable, use tree/tow strap (I usually end up using my tow strap for some reason, doesn't matter since its made out of the same stuff, just longer) winch and get going. Not dig through the back of your rig, all your random crap falling out rolling down the hill into the river and floating away, just looking for the stupid thing and then hauling it to the front of your rig, only to find out that your front hitch point is already buried in dirt. No, this doesn't work very well and usually invokes discouraging words. Usually starting with the letter F and ending with the letter K. This usually get repeated a number of times. Then repeat this entire process looking for your shovel, all the while a Sasquatch is pulling apart your tail lights. See, the situation just goes to crap really quickly when your equipment is ready.
GET SYNTHETIC WINCH LINE. Holy smokes it makes winching almost enjoyable! SSSSOOOO easy to pull out off the spool and easy to work with. Also stronger. When it breaks, it just kinda falls down. Have had that happen to me once and it was kinda a "well that sucks" moment rather than HOLY CRAP CABLE IS FLYING OMG! Also when it breaks, bust out the knots and you are good to go. Oh and forget those hook things. They just rust shut and then you are SOL. Just get a thimble and use shackles. It works.
With your winch, do a "parking lot" pull every month. Basically, you go somewhere you won't get yelled at, pull all the cable out of your winch, attach it to an anchor point and with your vehicle in neutral, reel in the cable. This gives you practice (crucial) and keeps your winch in working order (crucial). The guts of a winch can and will rust due to lack of use. This is most depressing. It has happened to me.
Put your tree/tow strap, shackle and winch controller somewhere you can easily get to it. Don't put it all in the back lock box that you have to open the rear door to get to...because then you are stuck and you are backed against a tree and can't open your rear door. This is most depressing and your friends will give you crap about this until you are on your death bed, then they will remind you of this. Fortunately I never did this but it happened to a friend of mine. Easier for him to learn this and me to take note.
When winching, keep your engine at like, 2500 rpm. Dunno your expedition rig, but at that RPM your alternator will be producing its maximum output. Its one of those things most people don't think about, but makes sense once mentioned. You are winching, and that electric thingie requires HUGE loads. You want all the help you can get!
Except for Slickrock at Tellico, I have seen few places that require a "full pull" of the winch. Usually you just gotta winch like, 10~20 feet and then you are recovered. Of course this is applicable to southeast USA wheeling. Not that it makes a difference, but just thought I'd throw it out there.
For heavier rigs, might also want to look at a hydro winch. Seems to be popular with heavier applications. While I'm not a fan of Milemarker electric winches, apparently they've got their act together on the hydro winches. If you have a newer vehicle (I.E. not a 1973 Land Rover) then I'm sure the engine will stay running under most circumstances.
I hope I have provided some practical winching information for you. Also I hope you have a sense of humor, otherwise you will probably hate this post. In that case, I hope your ice cream melts.
Buy Warn for electric winches. Fin. When you are SOL, you want the best stuff on your rig. Not some winch that'll melt its solenoids and then run out of control, pulling in cable uncontrollably or smoking out after pulling 2 feet. Yes, these they exist. I know lately the market has been flooded with all different kinds of winches but Warn has still kicked everyone elses @$$ (in my experience). Might as well cut the crap, get the real deal and have something that will just work. Go look at KOH and WEROCK buggies. Open up an issue of CRAWL magazine. What winch does everyone use for these extreme circumstances? Warn. They work, no BS'ing around, no special anything to get going, just hook up, engage, mash your button. Done.
Forget the portable. Buy a winch bumper and put the winch in there. Why? If you hit anything with that winch, it is exposed. The winch case can and will break. So then you've got a brand new winch with half of the case broken off of it. As you can imagine, it doesn't work very well in that configuration. I've seen 2 like this. It is depressing and not covered under warranty. A winch bumper, on the other hand, can hit things like trees, Ford Rangers and deer all while protecting everything. With a winch bumper you can finally say, "I think we hit something". I've got an ARB and with the amount of crap I've hit, I would've killed multiple winches by now. Either I'm unlucky/crappy driver/driving by braille but bottom line is there is a reason everyone uses them. Ok, so you might once want to winch backwards, but rarely.
Also you don't want to fool with trying to rig up a winch once you are stuck. There you are, already ******'ed, in some sort of quagmire, womenfolk are bumping gums saying "I told you so, blah blah blah", its snowpacolypse outside, you are at a 45 degree angle, bigfoot is stealing your sammich, etc. You just want to jump out, pull cable, use tree/tow strap (I usually end up using my tow strap for some reason, doesn't matter since its made out of the same stuff, just longer) winch and get going. Not dig through the back of your rig, all your random crap falling out rolling down the hill into the river and floating away, just looking for the stupid thing and then hauling it to the front of your rig, only to find out that your front hitch point is already buried in dirt. No, this doesn't work very well and usually invokes discouraging words. Usually starting with the letter F and ending with the letter K. This usually get repeated a number of times. Then repeat this entire process looking for your shovel, all the while a Sasquatch is pulling apart your tail lights. See, the situation just goes to crap really quickly when your equipment is ready.
GET SYNTHETIC WINCH LINE. Holy smokes it makes winching almost enjoyable! SSSSOOOO easy to pull out off the spool and easy to work with. Also stronger. When it breaks, it just kinda falls down. Have had that happen to me once and it was kinda a "well that sucks" moment rather than HOLY CRAP CABLE IS FLYING OMG! Also when it breaks, bust out the knots and you are good to go. Oh and forget those hook things. They just rust shut and then you are SOL. Just get a thimble and use shackles. It works.
With your winch, do a "parking lot" pull every month. Basically, you go somewhere you won't get yelled at, pull all the cable out of your winch, attach it to an anchor point and with your vehicle in neutral, reel in the cable. This gives you practice (crucial) and keeps your winch in working order (crucial). The guts of a winch can and will rust due to lack of use. This is most depressing. It has happened to me.
Put your tree/tow strap, shackle and winch controller somewhere you can easily get to it. Don't put it all in the back lock box that you have to open the rear door to get to...because then you are stuck and you are backed against a tree and can't open your rear door. This is most depressing and your friends will give you crap about this until you are on your death bed, then they will remind you of this. Fortunately I never did this but it happened to a friend of mine. Easier for him to learn this and me to take note.
When winching, keep your engine at like, 2500 rpm. Dunno your expedition rig, but at that RPM your alternator will be producing its maximum output. Its one of those things most people don't think about, but makes sense once mentioned. You are winching, and that electric thingie requires HUGE loads. You want all the help you can get!
Except for Slickrock at Tellico, I have seen few places that require a "full pull" of the winch. Usually you just gotta winch like, 10~20 feet and then you are recovered. Of course this is applicable to southeast USA wheeling. Not that it makes a difference, but just thought I'd throw it out there.
For heavier rigs, might also want to look at a hydro winch. Seems to be popular with heavier applications. While I'm not a fan of Milemarker electric winches, apparently they've got their act together on the hydro winches. If you have a newer vehicle (I.E. not a 1973 Land Rover) then I'm sure the engine will stay running under most circumstances.
I hope I have provided some practical winching information for you. Also I hope you have a sense of humor, otherwise you will probably hate this post. In that case, I hope your ice cream melts.
