Winch question / poll

[TomGolden]

Hi all,



My recent hunting trip to New Mexico and getting stuck in mud and snow a few times has prompted me to get serious about getting a good, beefy front bumper and winch.



I am fairly certain I will go with the same Denver Off Road front bumber that Bill Swails has on the EarthRoamer.



My question here is, what size winch do you think would be better: a 15,000 or 12,000 pound winch?



My truck "empty" (with tool box and 1/2 tank of fuel) weighs 7300, and with me and a decent amount of camping gear on board is likely closing in on the 8800 pound max vehicle weight.



I generally tend to be a believer in overkill where things like this go - I carry a 6 ton hydraulic jack in the toolbox for tire changing. But I got to thinking, would a 15K winch be too strong, and risk pulling my front end off the truck or something similar if I were to get serious stuck, or am I just being overly paranoid



Thanks guys,

Tom

 

[M Barnett]

When I installed a warn on my truck, warn said to take your vehicle weight and divide by two then add to vehicle weight, this gives you the rating. So I got a 9,000 winch. Don't forget a snatchblock doubles your power.

M Barnett

 

[Ted Constantine]

Tom



I went for the 12k warn in my DOR bumper. I chose it over the 15k because of its higher line speed. They are basically the same winch with a different gear ratio. Plus the 15k has a shorter thicker cable



Barnett is right about the primer size for a vehicle being 11/2 times the weight but that puts you at 13200 pounds for the 2500.



Ted



Edit- Just a thought but read the winch section on Bill's web site. He says that he is overloading the 12k in some situations on a straight pull but his truck is also 2k plus over what your would ever be if you are playing it smart. if you are going some where you might really bury the truck you will problably not have it way overloaded. Also the major issue with maxing out one of these big winches is finding an anchor point that can safely handle 12-15k of force and is in the right spot. I don't know where you use your truck but out here is bigsky country there are not many trees that big.

 

[DHatfield]

I was always told to make it easier on the winch it should be sized at 1-1/2 times your loaded vehicle wait. The winch on my Jeep is 2-1/4 times its weight. I don't think you will have to worry about ripping anything off your truck just make sure that the bumper and the winch mounting plate are scured to the truck very well. As someone else mention you can also use snatch blocks if the 12K was to small, but then you need twice as much cable and it spools in twice as slow as well.

 

[Sregorb]

12k and DOR

I second Ted's post. I have the 12k in the DOR bumper and it's great.

Now to just go use it... ... .



Brian

 

[Hummin Cummins]

What he said

I agree with DHatfield on this one. I was always told 1 1/2 times the vehicle weight was good for a winch. Remember, the cable will most likely fail before the winch stalls (not that i've had this happen or anything )



Chris

 

[John]

Look at it this way, if you go with a 9k rated winch it will work pretty well in all but the absolute worst of situations whereas, the 12k or 15k winch will extract you from the absolute "worst stuck" situation. Of course, with the larger winches comes a higher weight penalty... right where you don't want it, attached to the very front of the truck! However, a point in favor of the larger winches -vs- a 9k rated winch; check out the amperage draw on the smaller 9k winch at an 8k or so, pull. Amperage draw is WAY up there! The bigger winch will draw less juice for the same rated pull (i. e. mechanical advantage).



I used to have the Warn 12k winch on a previous 4x I owned... awesome winch! Even though this was more than an adequate winch, I would have purchased the larger 15k bad boy had it been offered then. BTW, my Warn 12k winch was purchased to replace a terrible decision I had to self rectify... in a weak moment I succumbed to a "killer" deal on a Ramsey 8k winch (REP-8000... planetary drive) along with my suggestive friend! Although I had always purchased Warn winches previously (and subsequently too), I opted to "go for the deal"... the deal was a friend and I both purchased the same bumper and winches and we both saved hundreds... or did we?



What a joke! The Ramsey REP-8000 POS crapped out on both of us JUST after the one year warranty expired! (notice, x 2 = both of us). Although I wouldn't touch their planetary gear drive winches with a ten foot pole, their worm drive winches work extremely well! I have many friends who own them without one reported failure. That said, I'm a Warn customer for life! They have treated me very well through all the years I have purchased products from them (over 22 years now). In fact, I can't think of a single item I have purchased from them that I haven't been 100% satisfied with.



By contrast, my dealings with Ramsey were terrible in comparison! Even though they admitted to having a design flaw with the first REP-8000 winches, they were extremely hard to get to do "the right thing. " Needless to say, I went back to Warn, and too heck with Ramsey and their garbage product and garbage customer service. As I have stated many times here on this BB, nothing will drive me away from a vendor quicker than poor customer service!



My latest purchase was the smallest winch I have purchased from Warn... one of their 2500 lb. winches for my Polaris 6x6.



hmmm, I wonder if I can fit that bad boy 15k winch on that Polaris?



... along with the 20 or so Optima's I'll need!

:--)

 

[dan_gilson]

I do not have a winch on the front but on the rear. When I get stuck, I am generally not interested in getting through but getting back out. Warn suggested that you uprate by 50%. I figured with gear I would be way over 6000# which would be a 9000# winch so I up'ed to a 12000# winch.



I had the truck on a 20o+ slope and partner forgot to let off on the brake pedal. The winch got a little slow but slid the truck along.

 

[Whitmore]

Winching 101

I have spent more time on back roads than on paved ones and this is a voice of experience on which winc to have.

If you go off road on occasion and take little risk but want a winch for stuck reliefe sucuriety measures than get an electric rated for 1. 5 times the vehicle weight just lik everyone says.



If you are a serious off roader and know you will use it alot on vehicles , trees, things like that than you have 2 options



A) a pto rrive winch is a powerhouse and worth its weight in gold, it will pull forever(no dead battery) and will be very dependable, however they are the most dangerous to operate and do require some skill and knowledge , but so do all winches.



B) hydrolic winches, pto driven preferably but also avail in other drive methods, the pto /hyd combo is the best IMHO they are the toughest, most dependable, safest and easiest to operate, they will pull their guts out for you and although will cost a bit more I think they will cost less in the end

IE: no dead batteries, no stall out or powerout, no electric motor failure







The big thing about all winching is to be safe, they can be so dangerous, think ahead and dont take chances!!!!!



just my $. 02... ... ..... Kevin

 

[Rotty]

I have the mile marker 10,500 2 sp. hyd. winch. It is plumbed, using the power steering. What a life saver. It will get me out of any situation that I can put my self into. I would recommend it to anyone. It just works, rain or shine. It doesn't overheat, kill batteries. PERIOD! Yes, you have to have the engine running, but how long do you think your battery will last on an electric winch when the engine is not running. I use my for clearing my property of logs and brush. I use it for 8-10 hours at a shot. I just let the engine idle. The winch does the rest.

Most of all, follow safety procedures!!!! When you load up a winch with 8K-10k of pulling, and something lets go, it is like a steel spring and stuff goes flying! Like chains, hooks, branches, etc... . No, windshields, tail gaits, etc doesn't do a very good jog of stopping metal objects flying through the air at a millions miles and hour!

Pick a winch that is about 1. 5 times your weight. Also pich a good stong bumper for mounting it to. Your winch is only as good as the WEAKEST link! Keep all equipment in good condition, including the cable, if it is frayed, replace it. I was lucky to lean from and old logger and using chains and cables.

Remember, murphy has a twin brother and (brown)stuff happens.

Sorry for the long post.