lets talk winches

OK, so we know that a winch on the front looks the mutts nutts, but there's only one or two people out there making winch bumpers etc as they seem to be overlooked by the mainstream suppliers

now as much as I want/need a winch, shelling out a few hundred plus makes me wonder if I'm going too over the top, as my only off roading is a private farm track leading to my woods, and the wood itself, which can get a bit muddy in places, and as yet, I've never been stuck in either the freelander or the vitara,but there's always a first time, and if need be, I do have a large heavy duty hand winch stored at the woods, so I could use that if need be, just a little slow.

so looking on you tube there's quite a few (american) clips on attaching winches to brackets that are then fixed onto the tow bar ball, these seem a good idea to me, not as good looking as a front mounted one, but will do what it says on the tin (or will it?)

surely for just pulling you backwards out of a muddy section, it would suffice???

your views welcome

The US use a 2" square receiver to carry winches and tow hitches.

No reason it would not work - You would need to run heavy duty power lines to the rear of the car and have some kind of quick-release plug to connect the winch up. However you would have to carry the winch and bracket around with you all the time and they are not light....bit of a faff, really.

A few years back my neighbour asked me to weld up a mounting plate for him with a standard trailer hitch on it. He fitted a hand winch on to this and used it to winch his boat up and down slipways, meaning he could leave the car at the top where it was safe and winch the boat trailer down into the water.


I am vaguely considering fitting a winch to the front of mine - not so much for offroad recovery but I do a lot of tree work and when felling them, I often use the car as an anchor point for a hand winch, so a permanently mounted electric one would save some effort. Its pretty low on my list of priorities though.

does anyone know the rolling weight of a freelander?

essexpestcontrol said:

does anyone know the rolling weight of a freelander?

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Not a lot on flat ground. The actual vehicle weight is around 1500Kg's
Recovery from mud, things are very different. If you are bogged down to the underbelly then you will need considerable force to move it.
The standard Freelander tow rings are rated at 4.25 ton iirc so that's the kind of tow capacity to aim for.

My car was on a weighbridge at a scrap yard a few weeks ago

Just me in it, 1/4 tank of diesel, nowt else in the car, it was 1800kg, well about 6kg off anyway. The weighbridge was accurate to about 0.5kg or something apparently.

I make 2" receiver hitches for the Freelander if you want something for the back

SES88 said:

I make 2" receiver hitches for the Freelander if you want something for the back

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pictures?

Land Rover Freelander Aluminium Exhaust Guard Off Road Protection 1.8 TD4 V6 DI | eBay

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Land-Rove...arts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item3cdd31aaf0

Land Rover Freelander Recovery Receiver Hitch - CLASS III/3 ATTACHMENT FITMENT | eBay

Better price for forum folk though

The fitting on the picture that Jan posted isn't included, thats just a standard fitting you can buy from most places

SES88 said:

My car was on a weighbridge at a scrap yard a few weeks ago

Just me in it, 1/4 tank of diesel, nowt else in the car, it was 1800kg well about 6kg off anyway. The weighbridge was accurate to about 0.5kg or something apparently.

I make 2" receiver hitches for the Freelander if you want something for the back

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That doesn't sound rite, I can't see how a Freelander is only 200kgs less than a disco.

Nodge68 said:

That doesn't sound rite, I can't see how a Freelander is only 200kgs less than a disco.

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I was surprised too, saw the reading before and after I removed the scrap metal, was just over 1900kg when full.

Bear in mind I weigh nearly 100kg, so the car is probably nearer to 1650kg ish

SES88 said:

I was surprised too, saw the reading before and after I removed the scrap metal, was just over 1900kg when full.

Bear in mind I weigh nearly 100kg, so the car is probably nearer to 1650kg ish

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The V6 is listed as 1650 Kg's. The KV6 engine weighs in at 150 Kg's the auto box is almost another 100kg. I guess a TD4 manual could well be 1550 + Driver. Makes you think don't it?
My I know my ZS180 (same KV6 engine) weighed a paltry 1220Kgs.

SES88 said:

The fitting on the picture that Jan posted isn't included, thats just a standard fitting you can buy from most places

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I already have a tow bar fitted, which is what this is isn't it?
the ones Ive seen on you tube either have a plate the fits over the ball, or a proper hitch that snaps onto the ball
as below

RUOTE4X4 -BAK RAK SYSTEM - YouTube

check it out at around 4.53

Same but diffrent, I have a receiver hitch on my 90 as I use it for towing but mostly off road and need the clearance, its a good bit of kit I have drop plate for towing and a eye for recovery and I can get a winch mount if I wanted, I have a warned xd9000 mounted on a winch tray welded between the chassis legs and out the the x member so I won't be needing the winch mount.

If you look at it that its a tow bar, recovery point and winch mount its very universal

I paid £100 for mine second had with the attachments

Tow bar and receiver hitch are 2 very different thing as Warrior says. The receiver hitch accepts various class 3 (50mm sq.) fittings, the towbar is just a tow bar, its designed largely the same because there aren't many ways to design one. But mine sit up nice and high and don't hang down low like some bars do.

how does this compare in what it would cost to fit a winch to the front of the freelander,


bags, tow-ball mounted luggage, boxes, luggage, clam-shell bag, carrier, holiday luggage,waterproof bag

4000lb wouldn't be enough to pull a car that weighs the same when its stuck, the same pulling weight as the weight of the car won't move it very far, especially if its stuck in mud or the like

I have also been thinking about this. Since I've already fitted a towbar I'm going to just weld a plate up as already been said.