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Winches and horsepower

MyDaughters20JL

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Because the chances of actually needing a winch are pretty slim, I’ve decided I’d like to go inexpensive when it comes to winches. I originally was thinking of the Badland Apex winch, but the 12,000 pound quadratec which seems to be a goodbye as well. My concern is that the Badland winch is rated at 6 hp and the quadratec is only rated at 4.9. Is the horsepower difference really that big of a deal When it all gets gear down anyway?

And as long as were on the subject, has anybody got any real life experience with the quadratec line of winches?
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No I don’t think the horsepower matters that much. It’s the torque of the motors that really matter anyway and they do not give us those numbers. Besides, as you said, the almost 300:1 gear reduction in today’s winches should be plenty.

no experience with the quadratic winches but the Apex was much better made than I expected for the price when I installed it two weeks ago.
Jeep Wrangler JL Winches and horsepower BFCCD9CC-5DA4-46CE-8E36-628592081EA2
 

danielbyrum

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No I don’t think the horsepower matters that much. It’s the torque of the motors that really matter anyway and they do not give us those numbers. Besides, as you said, the almost 300:1 gear reduction in today’s winches should be plenty.

no experience with the quadratic winches but the Apex was much better made than I expected for the price when I installed it two weeks ago.
Jeep Wrangler JL Winches and horsepower BFCCD9CC-5DA4-46CE-8E36-628592081EA2
Do you mind sharing what mounting plate you used?
 

Some Random Guy

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Isn’t HP a function of torque and speed? So a higher HP motor will reel in faster?
But I think torque is all that really matters. Maybe power draw will correlate to HP.
 

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DavidArmen

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Isn’t HP a function of torque and speed? So a higher HP motor will reel in faster?
But I think torque is all that really matters. Maybe power draw will correlate to HP.
HP is more a function of torque and the revolutions per minute of the motor/engine, though in reality it’s more complicated than that.
An easy way to see it is by this equation:
HP = Torque x rpm/5252,
where HP is horsepower, Torque is pound-feet, rpm is how fast the engine is spinning, and 5252 is a constant.

So yes in order to speed up the winch without lowering the 300:1 gear ratio, the electric motor inside the winch would need to have more HP while retaining its original torque value, which basically means it needs to spin fastr
 
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roaniecowpony

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Old thread and maybe some old misconceptions.

With a winch, we are primarily concerned with how much force it will generate to pull the rope/cable. The makers conveniently give us a number i.e. 10,000 lbs, 12,000 lbs, etc.. This is a result of the torque of the motor output (a force at a standardized radius lbs/in, lbs/ft, N/m, etc.), mulitplied by the gear reduction (gear reduction is a torque multiplier) and altered by the line spool radius. But all we need is in the winch load rating....almost.

If you're talking winches, eventually the term "line speed" will come up. When you combine the winch rating with line speed, you are talking about how much work can be done in a given time. That is the definition of horsepower.

So, if we have two winches rated at 10,000 lbs, they will both pull as hard as one another. But, if one has more horsepower, it will pull that same force with a higher line speed. If you have a 4 horsepower 10,000 lb winch and an 8 horsepower 10,000 lb winch, the 8 horsepower winch will pull 10,000 lbs twice as fast.

A winch rating and motor torque are both force measurements that don't consider movement.

When you want to know how much time it will take a winch to pull 10,000 lbs of force XX feet, you are posing a question of horsepower.
 
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J0E

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In my opinion, when selecting a winch horsepower and torque don't matter. Maximum pulling load, line length/material, and amperage are of much greater concern.
Amp * K = HP, 1 HP = 745.7 watts. Given a 12 V nominal voltage source, it's a simple conversion.

Max pull is just a starting point. The ZEON 12 PLATINUM WINCH at $2,500 has many advantages over cheaper winches. The following chart is for the ZEON 12 PLATINUM WINCH

Jeep Wrangler JL Winches and horsepower 1670649612705


Old thread and maybe some old misconceptions.

With a winch, we are primarily concerned with how much force it will generate to pull the rope/cable. The makers conveniently give us a number i.e. 10,000 lbs, 12,000 lbs, etc.. This is a result of the torque of the motor output (a force at a standardized radius lbs/in, lbs/ft, N/m, etc.), mulitplied by the gear reduction (gear reduction is a torque multiplier) and altered by the line spool radius. But all we need is in the winch load rating....almost.

If you're talking winches, eventually the term "line speed" will come up. When you combine the winch rating with line speed, you are talking about how much work can be done in a given time. That is the definition of horsepower.

So, if we have two winches rated at 10,000 lbs, they will both pull as hard as one another. But, if one has more horsepower, it will pull that same force with a higher line speed. If you have a 4 horsepower 10,000 lb winch and an 8 horsepower 10,000 lb winch, the 8 horsepower winch will pull 10,000 lbs twice as fast.

A winch rating and motor torque are both force measurements that don't consider movement.

When you want to know how much time it will take a winch to pull 10,000 lbs of force XX feet, you are posing a question of horsepower.
What he said.
 

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In my opinion, when selecting a winch horsepower and torque don't matter. Maximum pulling load, line length/material, and amperage are of much greater concern.
I would add 'duty cycle'.
 

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J0E

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I would add 'duty cycle'.
Good point, but even the top of the line ZEON 12 PLATINUM WINCH is rated at intermediate duty cycle. Tech support is very responsive, but they won't budge from their published intermediate duty cycle. I plan on measuring amp draw and use a snatch ring or snatch block to keep amps under 260 (my alternator puts out 240) for long pulls.
 

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And as long as were on the subject, has anybody got any real life experience with the quadratec line of winches?
Why, yes. Yes, I do. I wanted to be prepared as I go out alone a lot. I got the Quadratec 10K winch with synthetic line. In a year I have used it twice. Once to tension the line and once to check to see if it still worked.

I will say, however, that when I was tensioning the line the first time it was strong enough to pull my Jeep through wet ground with the parking brake set, leaving 4-6" grooves behind it. It's a long story.
 

J0E

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HP doesn't correlate to pulling power as you can see with the Smittybilt XRC GEN2 Winch line. All 3 have the same 6.6 HP motor but differ in gear ratio. I emailed them because they seem to have the 15.5 & 17.5 gear ratio's swapped. Even swapping, the numbers don't add up:

Jeep Wrangler JL Winches and horsepower 1670699382966


Looks like they have copy/paste errors all over the site on gear ratio.
 

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Why, yes. Yes, I do. I wanted to be prepared as I go out alone a lot. I got the Quadratec 10K winch with synthetic line. In a year I have used it twice. Once to tension the line and once to check to see if it still worked.

I will say, however, that when I was tensioning the line the first time it was strong enough to pull my Jeep through wet ground with the parking brake set, leaving 4-6" grooves behind it. It's a long story.
so what you are saying is you are satisfied with that winch? thanks
 

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I had the Apex Badlands on my previous gladiator and my first time as a volunteer recovery, pulled a power ram back up and over a ledge. No issues and used it many times.
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