Am I the only one to go with a manual winch?

[Industrialwrench]

I’ve had garbage luck with manual winches. Meaning they break in your hands. Ive had two crumble and leave me walking back out, never again…Good electric winch and a Hi-Lift is the way to go.

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[azwjowner]

I never wheel alone.

I also dont have much desert experience. Sand that is. I assume a winch isnt as useful there as it is on the mountains.

Sand would be an improvement because then you could bury an anchor and winch from that. Here in Arizona it's all hard rock underneath. Unless you're in a wash, you can't dig. The mountains in the desert region have no sturdy trees, so no winching. It's all traction, rock stacking, or other vehicles to get you out.

 

[Dyolfknip74]

I would probably use a HiLift as a winch first. That way I have 1 multi purpose tool vs a few. In saying that, HiLift winching can be a huge PIA, like any hand winching.

 

[Mikester86]

 

[GATORB8]

When I've needed the winch, I would have happily paid and had it weigh anything it took. On east coast muddy "mountains" you can get in a spot pretty easily that would be next to impossible to recover any other way. Beasley wet is a good example, you can get in a valley between two inclines that are slick clay.

While a hand winch is better than nothing, I've been in several situations where it's been tough enough to just hook up a tree strap, much less get a stable place to crank on a hand winch for 20+ feet.

 

[kurtfriedrich]

youtube using manual winch

With the long supplied cable, once you set it up you can winch quite a distance without resetting as you would with a high lift jack. The fact that you have to stand in the line of fire is a very good objection to a manual.

 

[roaniecowpony]

Winching sideways or backward is well within the capability of a front mounted winch. It's all in the rigging. I winched a truck sideways in the 70s, using an old steel cable winch, and not much else, on a muddy off camber two track where it was sliding off the mountain sideways.

 

[roaniecowpony]

I never wheel alone.

I also dont have much desert experience. Sand that is. I assume a winch isnt as useful there as it is on the mountains.

I'm near you. I have a lot of time in the desert. You could use a ground anchor for winching in the sand. But realistically running low tire pressures will keep you out of trouble most of the time. If you find a steep, sandy obstacle and get stuck, obviously your buddy is the first choice. But if nobody is with you, having some type of traction enhancer could be a lifesaver. The cheapest and lightest traction enhancer is a few pieces of old carpet. If your life depends on it, rip out the carpet in the jeep and use it. But if you're planning on a lot of socal desert exploring, get some plastic traction boards. Also, your 30ft flat tow strap is a good piece to have around for wrapping around the base of the largest creosote bush for an anchor. And my last choice would be to bury the spare with a strap hooked to it as an anchor. But it is a decent anchor in the sand.

 

[roaniecowpony]

Sand would be an improvement because then you could bury an anchor and winch from that. Here in Arizona it's all hard rock underneath. Unless you're in a wash, you can't dig. The mountains in the desert region have no sturdy trees, so no winching. It's all traction, rock stacking, or other vehicles to get you out.

I was riding horses with a bunch in eastern AZ and we were climbing a mountain that was nothing but broken rock. One of the guys said "when God made Arizona, he forgot to give it dirt"

 

[IdahoJOAT]

While I'm usually on board with the "if it can break, it will break" crowd, my first immediate thought was, "When that sucker lets go though..."

The other thought was seeing the price: $427 before tax?! for 6000#?!

This is 5500# with synthetic for $350.
This is 9000# with steel for $330.

Now of course there's other things needed like shackles, relays, etc. But for the safety of remote(not in line of fire) and ease of use, I gotta say that makes it hard to justify instead of electric.

I WILL say that for a secondary control, like off the side to keep from rolling or anchoring, I like this idea a lot.

 

[azwjowner]

While I'm usually on board with the "if it can break, it will break" crowd, my first immediate thought was, "When that sucker lets go though..."

The other thought was seeing the price: $427 before tax?! for 6000#?!

This is 5500# with synthetic for $350.
This is 9000# with steel for $330.

Now of course there's other things needed like shackles, relays, etc. But for the safety of remote(not in line of fire) and ease of use, I gotta say that makes it hard to justify instead of electric.

I WILL say that for a secondary control, like off the side to keep from rolling or anchoring, I like this idea a lot.

But with a comealong (I bought the Wyeth-Scott one), I saved on (1) the cost of a steel bumper ($900 for Mopar? $1200 for ARB?), (2) the greater cost of a winch with synthetic rope (maybe $100 more over my comealong), (3) spring upgrades to compensate for the extra 200 pounds of weight ($200?)

I also don't have to drive around forever with 200 pounds on the front of the Jeep (fuel economy), my comealong will last for the rest of my life, and I can use it for non-Jeep duties as well (rigging, hoisting, pulling trees, etc.).

I think it's way way cheaper. (Of course if you were going to put on a steel bumper and suspension upgrades anyway, some of this isn't savings to you.)

 

[mgroeger]

But with a comealong (I bought the Wyeth-Scott one), I saved on (1) the cost of a steel bumper ($900 for Mopar? $1200 for ARB?), (2) the greater cost of a winch with synthetic rope (maybe $100 more over my comealong), (3) spring upgrades to compensate for the extra 200 pounds of weight ($200?)

I also don't have to drive around forever with 200 pounds on the front of the Jeep (fuel economy), my comealong will last for the rest of my life, and I can use it for non-Jeep duties as well (rigging, hoisting, pulling trees, etc.).

I think it's way way cheaper. (Of course if you were going to put on a steel bumper and suspension upgrades anyway, some of this isn't savings to you.)

Please reply back here when you get yourself into your first SERIOUS jam and let us know how it went.

 

[azwjowner]

Please reply back here when you get yourself into your first SERIOUS jam and let us know how it went.

I expect I'll be too tired to lift my arms to type a reply at that time, from all the pulling. But I don't use the Jeep in the same way you do (from your picture). I'm generally not doing offroading challenges for their own sake. It's 100% a tool; I have a hobby that takes me to very remote places, down mining trails no one else has driven in 10 years, but I'm not actively trying to seek out difficult terrain. When the road gets that ridiculous, I park and start hiking because I'm likely only a few miles away.

My main problems are washouts, erosion, and sandy washes. Those can be solved with rock stacking, traction boards, shovel, etc. And there's nothing around to winch to anyway.

 

[cornercanyon]

The other thought was seeing the price: $427 before tax?! for 6000#?!

The 6,000# rating is for free weight vertical lifting; horizontal pulling rating over 13,000# A good solid hand winch is about 1/3 the cost of the electric ones with similar ratings and rope—

 

[IdahoJOAT]

The 6,000# rating is for free weight vertical lifting; horizontal pulling rating over 13,000# A good solid hand winch is about 1/3 the cost of the electric ones with similar ratings and rope—

I understand what you're saying, but I didn't see where that 6000# was for vertical pulling... it'd be a hoist at that point, not a winch. Also, I just looked at Quadratec's site and the actual rating is 5300#, not 6000#. I could've missed it.

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