Let's talk winches folks

[wibornz]

Actually the adversity was on the poor folks running the moderate trail. I was on the hard trail and other than having a literal river of ice cold rainwater running down my butt crack while helping an amputee replace the alternator on his Scout I had a a great time. By 6 PM I was changed into warm dry clothes drinking beers and having dinner.

water down the butt crack no, helping a friend on the trail. Heck yeah.

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[Grimmjpr]

I like the fact that the winch is dam near hidden and not siting on top of the bumper in front of everything that requires air flow.

Thanks, I think it came out nice. I am also glad that it doesn't block the grill at all. It was also nice I didn't need any risers/spacers to get the winch to clear the bumper. Also the Grimm plate it rated to 14k loads, many are rated to 12k.....

 

[AcesandEights]

The last time I used my winch, I had the winch line out as far as it should go, leaving the enough rope around the spool, and two 30 ft straps put together and a tree saver to get to the nearest tree to pull me up a hill in deep snow at night. a snatch block is not always an option.

Okay, I have read all the post on this thread.

Frankly I am disappointed. I was hoping this would be like the changing your Differential fluid fluid thread. There was not enough name calling, arguing or trolling as I expected.

Might have to link this thread over to Facebook and bring some 12 year olds onto this thread to liven it up a bit.

Ok, Captain Obvious. If you don't have enough cable to use a snatch block, you won't, but I already said that is a reason for not using a snatch block.

 

[wibornz]

Ok, Captain Obvious. If you don't have enough cable to use a snatch block, you won't, but I already said that is a reason for not using a snatch block.

To be obvious would be to say that if you have a 12,000 pound winch, you may not need a snatch block like you would with an 8,000 pound winch.

 

[AcesandEights]

To be obvious would be to say that if you have a 12,000 pound winch, you may not need a snatch block like you would with an 8,000 pound winch.

I thought you were being facetious with your previous posts, so I was trying to carry that along. My post was supposed to be funny, as I thought your post was. It appears I'm not Captain Obvious either.

 

[alksion]

Your rig is really setup nice Josiah !! You and I are really lucky to live where we do. All kinds of sweet off roading close by. This time of the year will be good for you to take your family to Mojave National Preserve for a weekend of fun!!


You have the perfect rig for it. And what's nice it won't get torn up like taking it in the rock piles of Big Bear or Lucerne.

Thanks I’m going out Cold Water Canyon Yellow Post sites tomorrow morning to camp for the weekend with the wife. The road up will be a great test with the new trailer. Excited!

 

[TallDude]

Ok. So I’m torn between the Smittybilt X20 Gen 2 10k vs 12k…my Jeep has a GVW of around 6k. Then add me, passenger and some gear…what’s best?! 10k winch (at the limit of the 1.5x weight of everything rule of thumb) or the 12k in case there’s a situation with suction that may warrant the extra oomph! Price difference is like $150 between the two.

 

[J0E]

Whatever you do, do not get a steel cable winch. When a steel cable snaps, they're likely to kill people. Putting a blanket over the line does absolutely nothing to dampen the forces at play here.

Spend the extra money and get the synthetic lines. Synthetic can snap too, but the chances of injury are significantly reduced.

That's what Diezel of Kingdom Krawl fame told me. Diezel is an expert building and crawler.

 

[wibornz]

I thought you were being facetious with your previous posts, so I was trying to carry that along. My post was supposed to be funny, as I thought your post was. It appears I'm not Captain Obvious either.

So we both fucked it up. Good thing we can both be silly. Just know that I am am never serious. It is all in good fun for me.

 

[wibornz]

Ok. So I’m torn between the Smittybilt X20 Gen 2 10k vs 12k…my Jeep has a GVW of around 6k. Then add me, passenger and some gear…what’s best?! 10k winch (at the limit of the 1.5x weight of everything rule of thumb) or the 12k in case there’s a situation with suction that may warrant the extra oomph! Price difference is like $150 between the two.

I had the Smittyblit X20 12k on my Jeep. I broke the control box and decide to replace it with a Warn. I gave the Smittyblit to one of my buds who used the control box off his other Smittyblit X20 10k winch. We were off roading over the weekend in Kentucky and he used the Smittyblit to do 7 long pulls as we dragged a Trail Hawk down a trail that was not Trali Hawk friendly.

 

[TallDude]

I went with the 12k X20 Excited for my first winch!

 

[wibornz]

I went with the 12k X20 Excited for my first winch!

It worked great for me also. The I did have a problem with the remote winching. It would eat batteries or just not work. My bud has had zero issues with it on his Jeep.

I would buy one again. Replacing it with a Warn has been a big drag so far. I can not comment on the Warn winch yet as it is still in the box. The warn would not fit in my current bumper. So I had to order a new bumper. I ordered the bumper in July and it is still not here yet even though I was told middle of Sept to the end of Sept for a delivery time. So I gave my Smittyblit to a bud thinking hey next week the new bumper will be in.

 

[Krondor]

I liked my 10k X20 and it was a third of the price. Great little winch.

The current Warn Zeon 10s is out and I'm rattle can spraying it because it started corroding already. It pulls like a beast though. Impressive function if not form.

 

[OllieChristopher]

I'm not sure of the quality of Warn winches these days? But I can tell you in the 90's they were some of the most expensive and worst winches ever in an industrial application. Never had one that lasted more than a year or so before dying and needing the motor to be rebuilt.

I used to do multiple daily pulls of large (over 8K lbs) skid mounted generators up a tilt trailer. We used Warn 12K winches exclusively for a time and had to rewind the toasted motors at least once or twice per year.

We then switched over to Ramsey and did nothing more than change solenoids. Much cheaper and easier to maintain. Granted the solenoids went out but were cheap and readily available at any local auto parts.

I find it odd that hardly anyone uses Ramsey in consumer applications. They at least have as many the variations when compared to Warn. Ramsey is hands down one of the most reliable makers of winches for industrial applications.

I think Warn has cornered the consumer market and has a website that is easy to navigate. Their marketing strategy is second to none!!

Warn also is pushing synthetic instead of cable. Out here in the West synthetic does not stand a chance in the rocks without taking great care. I do understand for an inexperienced person that it's safer than cable. And also those looking for a weight savings.

Even when looking at the weight savings I would not consider rope when compared to cable for reliability, durability, and strength. At some point I might think about synthetic but for me it's cable. It's what I'm used to using over the years....

 

[Zandcwhite]

I'm not sure of the quality of Warn winches these days? But I can tell you in the 90's they were some of the most expensive and worst winches ever in an industrial application. Never had one that lasted more than a year or so before dying and needing the motor to be rebuilt.

I used to do multiple daily pulls of large (over 8K lbs) skid mounted generators up a tilt trailer. We used Warn 12K winches exclusively for a time and had to rewind the toasted motors at least once or twice per year.

We then switched over to Ramsey and did nothing more than change solenoids. Much cheaper and easier to maintain. Granted the solenoids went out but were cheap and readily available at any local auto parts.

I find it odd that hardly anyone uses Ramsey in consumer applications. They at least have as many the variations when compared to Warn. Ramsey is hands down one of the most reliable makers of winches for industrial applications.

I think Warn has cornered the consumer market and has a website that is easy to navigate. Their marketing strategy is second to none!!

Warn also is pushing synthetic instead of cable. Out here in the West synthetic does not stand a chance in the rocks without taking great care. I do understand for an inexperienced person that it's safer than cable. And also those looking for a weight savings.

Even when looking at the weight savings I would not consider rope when compared to cable for reliability, durability, and strength. At some point I might think about synthetic but for me it's cable. It's what I'm used to using over the years....

It doesn't take much care to keep the synthetic safe in the rocks. Typically if you can't set up the pull so that the line isn't rubbing on anything, it will only be rubbing in one spot. Slide the protective sleeve to that location, as soon as you tension the line the sleeve is held in place by the obstruction and the line slides through it like butter. A little more care than steel, but not much. We rarely need the winch, so for weight savings alone I won't run steel. That's a huge chunk of weight to haul around every day and use maybe twice a year.

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