hydrolic (sp) winch

[JIM S.]

Any of you guys have hydrolic winches on your rigs? how do you have it set up? what is the best company?... . any info would be helpful. Thanks.

Jim

 

[osmith]

Milemarker

I just finished putting a winch on my rig, but wound up going with the electric warn 9k. I took a good look at the hydrolic winches as well but for my uses, the electric seemed the better choice.



What I noticed while I searching around is that the milemarker hydrolic winch seemed to have the most recommendations and looked as though it's probably the best on the market right now for light duty ie <12000 lbs



Good luck. .

 

[BarryG]

I would agree with osmith. Generally the electrics are better option for most unless you are going to be doing a lot of winching or for long periods. But for the people who have it for safety or for the occasional need to get unstuck electric is the way to go. But if you need the hydraulic, Mile Marker gets my vote.

 

[hammersley]

Milemarker the way to go

I'm going to be getting a Denver Off Road bumper and a 12,000 milemarker in June - (still asving the sheckles). It's a simple reason for me, I have seen them work and man are they great. No heat buildup, and don't let anybody tell you they are to much for the Power Stering - that isn't an issue, as you don't steer anyway. In no time your rig is heading the direction you want to go steering has nothing to do with it. . unless you're tryiing to apply power as well - a sure way to screw things up Big Time!

 

[dan_gilson]

Electric are recovery winches. They are not designed for continuous use. Hydraulics are. Electric winches typically have a duty cycle of around 10%. Use an electric to pull the entire spool under load and you need to let it cool off for a while (possibly up to an hour).



Hydraulics are more expensive and may not be as easy to use (e. g. you don't normally have a remote control such that you can stand away from that cable). If you have a 4x4 you have typically 3 PTO points to attach a pump. 1 on the transmission and 2 on the transfer case, 1 on each side.

 

[BV]

More information

I agree with the others - Electric is good for short pulls and Hydraulic



Sorry to pick on you Dan but for PTO options it's 2 on the manual transmission and 1 on the transfer case (only on heavy duty case) if you have 4x4. I don't know what (if anything) can hooked up to the auto transmission.



Ramsey makes a commerical duty hydraulic that a lot of tow truck operators use around here on their roll backs. Other winch companies are Rawson-Koenig, SuperWinch, Warn and some real big ones at DP Winch.



Another option is run straight from the PTO to a mechanical winch. For some good PTO information check out PTO Specialties.

 

[Speedo]

Hydraulic winches

The problem with using a PTO driven pump is that

you end up with the same problems that you have

with a PTO winch. If you run the pump directly

off the engine you can use the winch the same way

you would use an electric winch with the single

exception that you still need to have the engine

running. You can run an electric winch without the

engine running but realistically you need to have

the engine running if you are going to winch for

any length of time.

 

[dan_gilson]

Sorry for getting the transmission and transfer case backwards.



I disagree that the PTO direct drive and PTO Hydraulic share all the same problems. The hydraulic does have a couple of advantages: You can run other things from the hydraulic such as a snow blade/blower, dump bed or even a 2nd winch.



A hydraulic tends to be more forgiving. You can get a pump with a over pressure release. A PTO direct drive does not have this. If you overload you normally break something. Typically the cable 1st then the PTO, trans, ...



I don't know about the rest of you but a cable break under load is not a fun thing. It can easily go through the windshield and take you head clean off.



There are several different pump sizes you could use with hydraulic and you can also vary the size of your tank depending on the duty cycle. You will want a larger tank for a larger duty cycle to all your fluid to cool and de-foam.

 

[emarsh]

I have a milemarker 12k hydralic winch on my bronco with a wireless remote control. I absolutely love it. Our government is updating the humvee with milemarker winches. Winches are like motor oil, every one has an opinion. You asked who had one, got lots of other replies as well. I have one, don't care if anyone else either likes them or wants one, I would not trade my hydralic winch for TWO electric winches. Yes I also have an electric on my car hauling trailer, works better for this purpose, only winching 20-25 feet. Just my opinion, I own one of each.

Let the argueing begin!

 

[ZEEEW]

A Ramsey will fit in my Prozap bumper, I have it narrowed down to the Ramsey or a Milemarker. I would like to hear more comments about how the Milemarker works with the power steering, as this will help decide which one I get. I figure the Ramsey would be noticeably faster with a hyd pump off the PTO, but probably not really necessary unless I use it alot, and probly not really any more reliable than the Milemarker. I have also talked to a Milemarker distributor and was told you can run one off a separate pump if you are inclined, you can go up to twice the power steering flow rate I think, as long as pressure is kept below 2,000 PSI? Not sure here, but this would increase line speed.

I think there is a member here that has a separate hyd pump, hopefully he will chime in.

 

[Speedo]

Problems with hydraulic and PTO winches.

If you use a winch to get yourself out of a good

stuck it is most effective to use just enough

power at the wheels to keep them from spinning but

still enough to help the winch. If you use either

a PTO driven hydraulic or a PTO winch you either

have to use the winch with the transmission or T/C in

neutral or you have to turn the tires faster than

the vehicle is moving... . big ruts. If you use an

engine driven hydraulic pump you can still put

power to the wheels at a speed independent of the

winch speed.

 

[JIM S.]

OK guys, thanks for all the replys... . I was in a hurry when I typed the first post. A friend of mine just bought a 2002 4x4 HO (6-speed) and he has no access to the internet and wanted me to ask for him. he does not really like the idea of useing the powersteering pump (he is afraid of warrenty issues) and needs somthing capeable of continuios duty so electric is out... . so that is the deal.

Jim

 

[Rotty]

I am with emarsh, I have the 10,500 mile marker 2 speed. I use it more for logging and property clearing than getting me unstuck. It has a 100% duty cycle and I have used it for 3 years now off my ps pump with no problems. You can also runn it off a PTO hydraulic pump if you so desire. I also looked into the northern tool catalog and they have addon hydraulic pomps that are belt driven (dual vbely and serperntine). I did all of the research and if you look at the industry of HD winches, They are almost always hydraulic, ie. logging, HD towtrucks, etc.

The 12k winch was not avaiable when i got my 10. 5k, otherwise i would have gotten the 12k 2 speed. Yes you have to have the engine running, but how long do you think the electric winch is going to last without the engine running to charge the battery??? Then you end up with 2 problems instead of one. Dead battery and stuck. The electric motor is approximately 2 hp or greater. If will draw from 200-400 amps. Besides, I don't have to worry overheating of the motor. Oo. You will also have to upgrade your electrical system to take full advantage of the electric winch. Lets have a good discusson on this subject..... :-{}

 

[osmith]

Yep, I agree with Rotty as well, for his purposes the hydrolic was the way to go.



For me though. . it was electric. Each has it's place and you really have to examine what your going to be using it for before you purchase one. Bottom line if your going with electric go warn or ramsey, if your going hydrolic go milemarker for sure.



Good luck...