Winch questions

[Jones]

Hello to all,

Have been looking into a winch for my Ramcharger and am curious about the hydraulic units. I know they siphon power off of the powersteering pump and like PTO winches, don't work when the engine isn't running. Plus side: easy to set-up and seem to be good for long pulls without smoking the winch motor.

All our bigger rigs at work have them but Mile-Marker has a small unit that I could install and not stand my rig on its nose from the weight. Wondering if anyone has had any experience with these things?

Thanks, Jones.

 

[SS]

I have 2 friends that have Milemarker winches on Jeeps. One has the older single speed set up with a hydraulic fluid cooler. The other has the 2 speed set up with a dedicated P/S pump and high pressure gauge. They both had the same concerns you do and they have put a lot of effort into making them perform at their best. (One of them is actually considering switching to the grand-daddy of all winches, the Warn 8274. ) The customer service at Milemarker has been absolutely top-notch for both of them.



Their biggest complaint is the speed of the winch. They do have advantages - low profile, reliability, 100% duty cycle, large cable, etc. I suggest you call Milemarker directly and ask to speak to someone about technical specs. You may get a bit of a sales pitch, but should get some good info as well. Make sure you get a 2 speed and consider a dedicated pump and a cooler.

 

[MUDDY]

if you go for the milemarker. use a dedicated pump and a cooler. a friend had the milemarker on his ford and the powersteering pump didnt last long. in fact the pump went out at a very bad time. it froze up on him way back in the hills, on a bad trail in the snow. what a nightmare that was.



other than the problem with the powersteering pump, the winch worked well. you could run it a lot longer than the electric winches without a long cooldown period. with my warn, i let it have more cooldown time, than pulling time.

 

[CUMAPART]

I never liked the idea of the hyd. winches. Half the times when you need to use the winch you are usually inoperable. I went with the old reliable Warn 8274 on my FJ. You take this winch and a strong battery (Optima) and you'll never have a problem. It's also fast. Just my . 02

 

[emarsh]

I have the milemarker hydralic 12000# unit on my early bronco with a saginal conversion pump that also is my power steering pump (all ford power steering pumps SUCK!) System works well, you can winch forever, never gets hot. They are replacing all the electric winches on the Hummers, that should tell you something.

I have a Ramsey electric on my car trailer and it works fine for that, it really depends on how you think you will need one (a winch), mine fits in the reciever and I will have my ram configured with hoses at soon as I get one.

hydralic vs. elecrtic is like ford vs chevy vs dodge.

Like one astute member pointed out, forget brand loyalty and go with the best product!

 

[Rotty]

I have the milemarker 10k 2 speed unit that runs off the PS on my 99 ram. I can't say enough good about it. It even got me out of trouble twice this weekend on my property in OR. Yes, you have to have the engine running, but how long do you thing the electric will run with out the altenator charging you battery. If you engine battery goes dead. You dead anyways. The hydraulic winch will NOT over heat at max load all day long. Yes it does affect the steering only when the winch is running, But you are only moving at cable speed anyways, not going down the hiway. The 2 speed version is great, low will pull you out of any situation and hi is great for winding it back up. There is also a free spool and lock.

It all come down to personal choice and what you are comfortable with.

Cost is about comporable when all is said and done.

Good luck.

 

[BV]

Hydraulic Winch

If I was going to hook up the Mile Marker I would sure look into adding a seperate pump.

When the money is there, I will be adding a pump off the PTO to run a commercial grade hydraulic winch from DP, Ramsey, Rawson-Koenig or Superwinch to name a few.

 

[emarsh]

commercial grade? What, do you think the government is using on the Hummers for the US Army?

 

[Loren]

I have a Mile Marker 2-speed winch that I use on my Ford farm tractor, primarily for winching logs. It uses tractor hydraulics and controls.



I don't have any experience with any other winches except for a tiny electric one on a 4-wheeler. I'm happy with the Mile Marker and intend to use it on the Dodge. It is currently mounted on a receiver hitch unit for use with a hitch receiver on the tractor. The truck has a hitch receiver at each end.



The Mile Marker will spool in cable faster than I like when it's shifted into high gear. In low gear, it will pull the tractor (9,000 lbs) along the ground. I can vary the speed somewhat in either gear by running the engine (hence the hydraulic pump) at various speeds.



I also don't want to use the power steering pump. I don't like the idea of contaminating the power steering fluid with the tractor hydraulic fluid and vice versa. I intend to install a PTO pump and associated plumbing before I use the winch with the truck. I very rarely go off-road with my truck, but it would come in handy for pulling others out of the ditch.



I like the idea of not using my batteries, as well as the fact that I can run the Mile Marker all day long. If I run the PTO off the transfer case, as currently planned, I should be able to vary the pump output by selecting various gears, and by running the engine at various speeds. If you choose this method, plan it well, since you can overspeed your PTO pump if you choose the wrong PTO ratios. Also, you don't want to run that pump in reverse. These considerations may cause you to decide to run the PTO from the transmission (if you have that option), but then you can't use gears to change the PTO speed.



The reasons that the winch is not in the truck now is because the PTO unit is expensive, as is the wireless remote control from Mile Marker. Also my time is limited, so even if I had the money right now, I couldn't put it all together yet.



It's one of the truck projects that is still on the To-Do list. It's lower in priority than the boost and EGT gauges, the timing/fuel box, the replacement shocks, and all of the normal, required maintenance.



Loren