winch wars

[firesq14]

ok thanks for the thoughts on the shocks....blistien is what i am going with. new poll. looking at a winch, why, because, why not. so as i have said i have a 99 burb, going to the junk yard to get a new GVW slip. what are your thoughts on brands? i have seen many many out there and i just do not want to buy something on name but rather reliablitiy.

 

[SDDiver5]

With name you usually get reliability/quality...

I wish they still made PTO winches. I would totally get one for my truck if they offered it. I have one on my IH Scout and they are sweet.

D

 

[pappawheely]

My vote is for Warn; tried and true.

 

[Viggen]

With name you usually get reliability/quality...

I wish they still made PTO winches. I would totally get one for my truck if they offered it. I have one on my IH Scout and they are sweet.

D

Why not go with a Milemarker hydro winch then? Same thing but no length of metal driveshafts. Just short runs of high pressure line.

 

[ZG]

My vote is for Warn; tried and true.and broken several

yeeeappp.....

 

[98dango]

Well let's watch which winch.


I have owned many still have one.

Current Warn m12000 burnt up paper weight. Mounted on a superduty
When it works I love it problem it cooks a motor or a relay almost every time.

Mile marker 12k. 88 jeep wrangler
Never had a problem but I never taxed it

Warn m5000 1989 s10 rear
Always worked pulling logs trucks over used it every time.

T max 9500. 1989 s10 front / 84 toyota / 75 suburban / 93 wrangler
Beat the crap out of this winch on many rigs it never failed me. Ripped a warn transformer bumper off my s10

Harbor freight 8k still in use on a multi mount
its been good been in the motor 2 times

warn 8274 1978 f250 1976 scout both had 38" plus rubber and lived in the mud.
This was my second winch in high school I winched every thing we did a ton of mudding hunting and gate removal always worked worked fast

Warn xd9000i 1990 jeep wrangler 1987 samuri 1989 wrangler
Came with my first jeep I used it a lot had to have it rebuilt once.

 

[madmax718]

I have one and love it, but its not for everyone. In low mode, it is SLOW! But its the same speed, pretty much all the time. No matter how hard I ran it (I ran two trucks at once up a slick clay climb) and it never complained. High speed is decent., and can still move some weight.

There are some scenario's where hydro and pto winches are terrible:
1. If your engine stalls out, or if you cant run your engine. (water crossing? off angle with a carb? upsidedown?)
2. Maximum speed- not as fast as pto- and not as fast as electric.

There are some pluses:
1. Less electrical stuff- You don't need a second battery. You don't have to "upgrade" your electrical. You don't need a high amp alternator.
2. Its pretty much sealed from the elements. You can run the winch under water with pretty much no issues- if the solenoids stay working.
3. No motor to burn out- And if you have a decent working power steering pump, it will be of no issue either.
4. Unlimited pulls with no cool down. I did no less than 30 pulls with my full size chevy and a gen 2 montero with a tow strap behind.
5. free spool is easy. Its actually usable.

So it all depends. If you think flopping on your side is a common occurance, get an electric. (though you can flip yourself over with a small 1500 lb electric winch and a block of wood too).

 

[98dango]

That's a good list of eletric winches.

I have had pto and hydro to. I will never have either for self recovery again.

 

[daddyusmaximus]

Well let's watch which winch.


I have owned many still have one.

Current Warn m12000 burnt up paper weight. Mounted on a superduty
When it works I love it problem it cooks a motor or a relay almost every time.

This bothers me. I'll be winch shopping come spring. I have a heavy Super Duty and will need something strong. I imagine if you used a pulley and doubled up the line it would help to save the motor.

 

[98dango]

I have actully never used it to move this truck. I was pulling an elk 1000# tops up a slop. I ended pulling it with the cable and a 5.4 in 2wd and in reverse so it was not that bad. I have as of yet tore it down to see what the newest problem is.

If I where to buy a new winch I would look at 12+ warn or mile marker if I was used shopping 8274 all the way. As soon as i. Find one.it will be on my Ford and the 12 will be on my bed.

 

[Revco]

I had good luck with my Rugged Ridge 8500, which is just a rebranded T-Max Winch. I sold it and now I need another winch so I'll probably buy another Rugged Ridge.

 

[911regular]

I had a Warn 16.5 on my 08 Superduty. The truck was 8700 pounds all loaded up with 1800 pounds of trailer, Never had a problem pulling it up hills and out of bad situations. Only thing I didn't like was the fact you cannot run synthetic line on it. Warn would never give an answer about that. Other than that the winch performed perfectly,,,descent line speed.

 

[LR Max]

Warn M12000 here. I've have motor and gearbox problems but all of my problems were due to neglect. I'm getting back on monthly winch maintenance.

Overall, my M12000 is big, heavy, slow, and unstoppable. I've pulled myself, others, heavy equipment, etc with it. It just works. Coupled with synthetic winch line, its great.

If I had to replace it, I'd probably stick a faster warn on there. The reality is my truck is a lot lighter than I give it credit for (~4000 lbs) and that winch is way overkill for it. A fast 9000 lb winch would be awesome to have. If I ever got rid of my ARB bumper, then a 8274 would look proper on the front of the 109.

Smittybilt makes good winches. However everyone I know who has one can't wait to replace it with a Warn. Despite being a good winch, they want to replace it. Huh...

The Warn M8000. The most underrated winch ever. If you have a non-full sized rig and want a winch that works, this is it. Stupid things just work, and pull and pull and pull.

Considering how infrequent I winch, and only winch for a short distance (less than 100ft at a time) and the convenience, electric is the way to go. Its a self contained unit on the front. Only linked by a couple of wires. Compact and can fit easily in any winch bumper.

PTOs are cool but kinda a pain. Something else to leak oil and be a problem. However if I was winching all day, everyday, doing 250ft pulls, then a PTO would bring all kinds of win.

 

[Buliwyf]

Yeah. I'm considering a Warn VR12000 for the front of my F350. Weighing the pros/cons of that model vs. far more expensive M12000, M15000, Xd9000i etc. etc. It's a small frame so it doesn't offer the performance of the M12000 and better Warns. But I rarely need a winch and will mostly be fishing others out of ditches. We're never stuck as far as axle deep. Usually just stuck in slick goo that offers no traction to any kind of tire. If you need real performance the look towards the premium winches.
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I'd consider the weight of the winch as well when deciding. If a M12000 weighs about the same as a 16.5, then get the bigger 16.5. If you only need a VR8000, why not get the VR10000 as it's about the same size and weight.
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I wouldn't sweat online reviews too much. Winches are just glorified starter motors, relays, and a planetary drives. Everything needs greased and cleaned on a yearly basis. And winches are extremely simple to repair. Any review that shuns a winch model or brand because of a simple relay or motor brush fault should be ignored. Simple fixes and maintenance faults shouldn't be blamed on a winch. If the reviewer can't regularly maintain a winch, then he really shouldn't be offroad at all. It ain't rocket science. So don't write off a brand because there's a ton of failure press online (Ex. Superwinch Relays causing the winch to do nothing)You need spare relays unless you can manually operate the relay (contactor style relay) and motors should be cleaned yearly.
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Most popular winches for field work in Ohio:
Jeep/Suv: M8000, Xd9000, Xd9000i, Superwinch Epi9000
Fullsize: M12000, Xd9000, Xd9000i
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I judge a winch on it's motor performance, amp draw, speed, and what fails. They all fail. But, Is it simple corrosion of the electronics that's easy to fix? Is it just a stupid relay? Or did the motor get cooked or the planetary gear explode? The latter is a problem because that's not field serviceable.

Warn has my local market locked down.

 

[daddyusmaximus]

I had a Warn 16.5 on my 08 Superduty. View attachment 190541The truck was 8700 pounds all loaded up with 1800 pounds of trailer, Never had a problem pulling it up hills and out of bad situations. Only thing I didn't like was the fact you cannot run synthetic line on it. Warn would never give an answer about that. Other than that the winch performed perfectly,,,descent line speed.

I'd love the 16.5. No Synthetic line sucks, I'm heavy already too. With my camper shell and storage, I'm over 9K. Wonder if it would fit on a Road Armor or Aluminess bumper. My Ranch hand doesn't have a way to fit a winch. What kind of bumper is that in your photo? Looks nice and clean, but I don't see tow points, just the winch. I kinda want to stay with big bars to protect the front end. Lots of trees on the trails in the midwest.