Choice of entry level winch...

[Harold 4x4]

I'm in the process of (trying) sourcing a Disco 1 winch bumper from the UK and new winch: plus snatch blocks and tree strops etc.

I'll be using it primarily to extract trees from the forest - probably using it only two or three times a year.

Does anyone have any negative/horror stories of the T-Max 9000 or the CTA12000?.. or any other 'cheapo' winch?

What is the maximum length that anyone has pulled with their winch?
Is there a recommended safety limit on wire rope length use (ie. is linking up with another 50m length or wire inadvisable?)

All tips/advice welcome

 

[Paul D]

Main problem with 'cheap' winches isn't length of wire 'cos you can make it as long as you like, so long as you only use the capacity of the drum and re-make the pull, it's the duty cycle for pulling long lengths. If you're only likely to need it running for, say, a couple of hours, even only a couple of times a year, a hydraulic or pto winch would be far better, but they aren't cheap!

Cheap winches are for occasional, emergency, pulls, in my opinion and whilst I have no direct experience of them, I do know that people mostly wish they'd bought a 'better' winch right off ..

 

[Harold 4x4]

Yes, cost, if I could warrant the expense I'd buy a tractor and a pto...

I understand the maximum wire on drum comment, and plan to 'link up' as much cable as I need to extract the trees, probably a maximum of 150 meters with various snatch blocks etc. The downside is the time it takes to winch a 1500 kg tree-trunk 150meters - I guess I could strain the motor unless I take regular pauses...

 

[Paul D]

Yeah, and think on that the numbers 9500, 12000 are rolling weights a lot of the time .. find out how the winch manufacturer calculates the weight of pull .. if it's a rolling weight, well, a Landy could probably pull a Jumbo Jet .. but if it's a 1500lb dead weight tree it's a whole different ball game!

 

[gazdav]

I have a Cta 1200 the only problems with it was the solenoid changed it for a albright one, the other problem was the brake started to slip. The Spair parts to fix it came from the winch shop that advertises in the anything goes section. had it for a year and it has been used a fair bit it is a good bit of kit. But it is my stop gap untill I save the money for a new 8274.

 

[300tdistu]

I'm in the process of (trying) sourcing a Disco 1 winch bumper from the UK and new winch: plus snatch blocks and tree strops etc.

I'll be using it primarily to extract trees from the forest - probably using it only two or three times a year.

Does anyone have any negative/horror stories of the T-Max 9000 or the CTA12000?.. or any other 'cheapo' winch?

What is the maximum length that anyone has pulled with their winch?
Is there a recommended safety limit on wire rope length use (ie. is linking up with another 50m length or wire inadvisable?)

All tips/advice welcome

for a disco id get a 12000 lbs

 

[wiltshire landyman]

for summit being used twice a year...and i cant believe im saying this but buy a tirfor

 

[Mr Noisy]

agreed with WL there basically. tirfor much more universal, fabulous for laning.

i have a LP10000 superwinch, bought when i was naive and now i know its ****e. should have spent my 318 quid on a used warn of any description. 8274 is 600 quid minimum by the time its fitted and working.

must admit the goodwinch models circa £700 new and the champion HS models circa £450 new are looking like decent contenders for regular light use, but the £300-£350 bracket is simply not worth entering into, mine lasted 6 months before i needed to open it up and weld the internals that had worn themselves away.

buy a used M8000 or 9.5xp if you can afford, theyre very quick and looking at the figures will pull a disco at decent speeds at most loads. some loads require a snatch block but then lets be honest do you really think that a chinese 12000 will pull 12000 all day long?

 

[Paul D]

Whilst I'd agree with you both for vehicle recovery, you're both missing the point .. he isn't looking for recovery, but to remove trees .. and by the sounds of it might need to winch them over 100 yards or more .. I wouldn't suggest a Tirfor for that at all

 

[wiltshire landyman]

agreed with WL there basically. tirfor much more universal, fabulous for laning.

i have a LP10000 superwinch, bought when i was naive and now i know its ****e. should have spent my 318 quid on a used warn of any description. 8274 is 600 quid minimum by the time its fitted and working.

must admit the goodwinch models circa £700 new and the champion HS models circa £450 new are looking like decent contenders for regular light use, but the £300-£350 bracket is simply not worth entering into, mine lasted 6 months before i needed to open it up and weld the internals that had worn themselves away.unless your a jammy git like me and win an 8274 on a bumper for £360

buy a used M8000 or 9.5xp if you can afford, theyre very quick and looking at the figures will pull a disco at decent speeds at most loads. some loads require a snatch block but then lets be honest do you really think that a chinese 12000 will pull 12000 all day long?

the goodwinch i just sold to my m8 was very reliable not massively fast a good hard steady pull

 

[wiltshire landyman]

Whilst I'd agree with you both for vehicle recovery, you're both missing the point .. he isn't looking for recovery, but to remove trees .. and by the sounds of it might need to winch them over 100 yards or more .. I wouldn't suggest a Tirfor for that at all

seemed to work for the forestry commission

 

[Paul D]

For felling yes, I doubt they use 'em to remove trees though. They could do, but I wouldn't fancy using one all day with a dead-weight on the end!

 

[wiltshire landyman]

For felling yes, I doubt they use 'em to remove trees though. They could do, but I wouldn't fancy using one all day with a dead-weight on the end!

true but the op is talking about 2 maybe 3 times a year

 

[Mr Noisy]

yeah i kinda had a re-read and realsised that id missed the point that he is moving logs not the vehicle.

an electric winch would be much nicer for this. if it literally doing 2 or 3 pulls a year a cheapo must do the job. but then why do that if you can buy a warn that is 15 years old and still as good as the day it came out the factory.

i just stripped a 1986 M6000 down and the quality is not even on the same page as the ****e superwinch that i have on my car!

and yes WL you evidently are the jammiest of gits for that sly £360 manoeuvre...

 

[Mr Noisy]

of course why cant he just throw a choker round the log and drag it with the vehicle?

im still swayed towards tirfor...

 

[fanatic]

of course why cant he just throw a choker round the log and drag it with the vehicle?

im still swayed towards tirfor...

Tirfor are slower than electric winch, but a decent handle and two people as we recovered Johnny pajaero from his little adventure

 

[Paul D]

of course why cant he just throw a choker round the log and drag it with the vehicle?

im still swayed towards tirfor...

'swot i thought too ..

I used to use a Tirfor regularly in anger when I worked down t'pit .. they are not easy to work with all day, even if only a couple of times a year .. Don't get me wrong, they're wonderful kit and make a good recovery winch where you need to move heavy stuff a short distance. Just not 'right' in this application.

Mind, neither is a cheap electric winch really, duty cycles anorl ...

 

[300tdistu]

Paul the rear winch that pulled you all weekend the other week was a £260 winch 3 years ago,
I payed £260 for the rear and £290 for the front winch, both have been worked hard over the years, never been stripped or cleaned and still going strong,

Yes iv just got a warn 8274 for the front, but that's cos I wanted better so I could try winch challenge events

 

[Mr Noisy]

Maybe you were lucky stu cos both my superwinch and another cheapo I just stripped down have both obliterated their brake assembly, and are showing far greater commutator wear than this 1986 warn...

 

[Paul D]

Paul the rear winch that pulled you all weekend the other week was a £260 winch 3 years ago,
I payed £260 for the rear and £290 for the front winch, both have been worked hard over the years, never been stripped or cleaned and still going strong,

Yes iv just got a warn 8274 for the front, but that's cos I wanted better so I could try winch challenge events

Cool ..