Winches...Hydraulic or Electric?

[DHayden]

Hydraulic or electric? Planetary gear or worm gear? My experience in other area's are that planataries are the way to go for strength and durability. I'm looking at getting a 12k or 15k winch and am leaning toward the Hydraulic. Wincher's I need your input and experiences please TIA.

 

[tpruitt]

i have a warn 15000 and love it. i have never had a minutes worth or trouble with it either



trey

 

[y-knot]

I have had my WARN electric winch for 15 years and it still works great, It has been mounted of 4 different trucks, and outlasted everyone of them. I have never really abused it, but it has been used quiet a bit, and usually for the aid of others. Truthfully, I have never used it to free my self, not once. I have used it to pull scores of people out of ditches in winter conditions, Yank out shrub, straighten out a bumper(it was a ford, so don't loose any sleep over it), ect. Now It is relegated to the back of my truck, up in the bed, were it pulls an occasional atv in or out. I recently purchased the MileMarker 1200lb electric winch. It is just as rugged as the Warn, and I am sure it will perform as well also. I never had an Hyd winch, they would seem to have advantages in certain situations. And disadvantages also, like anything it's a compromise. I liked the electric ones for there versatility, they can be moved from front to back, in the bed, or borrowed out to a friend. It's all in what you want and need.

 

[DHayden]

Tpruitt

Is it electric or hydraulic? Planatary or worm? Thanks

 

[cap-n-cray]

I have always thought a combination of both winches would be the trick set up. A hydraulic winch with a 12V electric hydraulic pump. You could use the winch with the power steering pump with the engine running. Switch to the hydraulic pump when the engine is not running. I have a electric winch and always worry about using it with the engine off. Draining the batteries or if the engine would not start and you needed to get out of a situation.



Don't know if it would work. I have head that the hydraulic fluid would heat up too much.



Cary

 

[Mtngoat]

I've used Warn for alomost 20 years and never went belly up on my. . Hydraulics are good too, but if the engine quits, your done. Electric can still pull you out of a river when the engine dies

Been there!!!



Robin

 

[John_M]

Winch Gearing

Most of the Warn electric winches designed for installation on the front bumper of a pickup or SUV have a 3 stage planatary gear drive. Check out the specs here: http://products.warn.com/warn.nsf/w...y&src=/warn.nsf/pages/TruckProducts.Main.html

 

[JBlock]

Hydraulic for under water

During my assignment in Austrailia, I noticed that the Toyota trooper carriers used by the tour guides in the Rain RForests and Outback were all mechanical. I asked why, and the answer was with a desicl engine and hydraulic/mechanical there is not problem using the winch in while it under water. It something to thing about.



JB

 

[Mtngoat]

Your right, JB. . There are plusses and minuses for both, its just a matter of what you are going to do with it and personal preferences for what you want.



RObin

 

[dresslered]

Warn M15000 which is electric and uses 3-Stage Planetary gears.

 

[jkern]

ramsey RE12000 here

had it for four years now, never abused it, but have pulled more than the rated capacity with it for a short time and let it cool for a while and had no trouble... for what it is worth in the indrustrial world worm drive winches are generally considered stronger and harder to break than planetary types. never had a warn so i can't say about it, but my elec ramsey has never let me down!!



jeremy

 

[TBrennan]

Re: Hydraulic for under water

Originally posted by JBlock

During my assignment in Austrailia, I noticed that the Toyota trooper carriers used by the tour guides in the Rain RForests and Outback were all mechanical. I asked why, and the answer was with a desicl engine and hydraulic/mechanical there is not problem using the winch in while it under water. It something to thing about.



JB

Of course any of the newer diesels have electronic controls which would short out and not let you run under water.



I have always thought the hydraulics are much better for any serious use as the electrics heat up pretty quickly. I like the idea of an electricaly driven auxillary pump to power it or even a PTO driven hydraulic pump.

 

[y-knot]

The bad side of using hyd's is they put alot of wear on the power steering pump, and they add more lines and make a cramped engine compartment even more so. Of coarse the engine needs to be running in order to work the winch, which may or may not be a problem. You have to worry about leaks, the winch contaminating the steering (it wears to), and you will most likely need a high idle kit. These are not meant to be negative, just things that need to be thought of.

 

[DHayden]

That's some of the things I had thought of Y-Knot. I thought they also came with a power steering booster which I am in need of anyway. My steering at idle is horrible. More hoses comes with the territory I suppose, thanks for your input. Keep it coming I would like a little more info hopefully from users of the hydraulic winches. I am no way set on one type and want to make an informed decision.

 

[y-knot]

Well let us know what you are going to get to stuff in that new bumper?

 

[Rotty]

do a serach on winches first. This is a well hashed subject. You must define how you will use it, then deside between electric or hydraulic.

I have the milemarker 10k 2 speed hyd. zero problems.

Yes you have to have the engine running, but I can run mine all day long without stopping.

I ended up using mine for land clearing instead of pulling myself or others out trouble.

The price is about the same between electric/hyd. when all is said and done.

Good luck... .

 

[BV]

Electric vs Hydraulic Winch

I would look at this way. If your just going to do the self recovery or help the buddy out of a hole thing which is short pulls, then electric might fit your bill. They are easier to find, hook up and maintain. If you want a winch to work all day and pull long and hard then I don't think you will beat a mechanical (shaft driven off the pto) or hydraulic (ps or pto pump) winch.



What Rotty said - Do the search and find more information then you care to read.



And there is my $. 031 worth.

 

[y-knot]

I agree with you on that. I know I will only use my winch once in a blue moon. I want to get one for my, safe being. In case I have to do a self recovery, we have some pretty good snows, and I like the comfort factor. We also travel to the smoky mountains in the winter, and if not just for my safety, maybe for someone else . If this was a working truck, the hyd winch would be a no brainer.

 

[DHayden]

Thanks for all the help. I will probly go with a 12k or 15k electric depending on the best deal I can find.



Y-Knot it's nice to know I can put just about anything I want in the new bumper Oo. thanks again for the leg work.

 

[dresslered]

When I placed my order for the Buckstop, I found the best price on the Warn M15000 over at 4buy4.com (free shipping too). He is an authorized Warn mail order house, and I got a little nervous when my online receipt came from a home theater house, but everything worked out perfectly. I also noticed that he raised the price within an hour after my order was placed.