winch advice

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Animal88

Animal88

Active Member
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St Ives
I have a D1 200tdi and I'm looking for a budget winch with 13000lb pull. I have found the winch-it winches on ebay but there are 3 or 4 at the same price and I'm getting confused as to which would b best suited for me.
they have one that they claim is best for off-roaders, the only thing I can see that is different to the rest is that the no load line speed is 35ft/min compared to 22.5ft/min. I can't see that as an advantage as the winch will surely have to work harder due to the gearing that allows that higher line speed? If I put a few links here can you guys take a look and let me know which you think is better please?

Winch-it Zed http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RECOVERY-...ff-road-4x4-/251774823967?hash=item3a9ef2ee1f

Winch-it X (high line speed) http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/13000lb-R...ec-X-Series-/261481799201?hash=item3ce1879e21

Winch-it Y http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/13000lb-E...It-Y-Series-/250983944482?hash=item3a6fcf1122
 
My opinion only, I ain't used these winches .. Nowadays, if you use synthetic rope, you're better NOT having a winch with 'in drum' braking, 'cos the drum heats up and can potentially melt the rope. In practice (I have a Warn like this) it doesn't amount to much unless you want to use the winch to lower off, using the brakes a lot or regularly run a heavy duty cycle.

Having said that I don't see an 'in motor' brake being much better .. 'cos first upgrade after synthetic rope is either a better spec Bowmotor or Allbright solenoid, so it would then depend on exactly how the motor brake works and if it would transfer to another motor.

If you're buying it as is, ie using the wire rope, and keeping it bog standard then I'd suggest the X is best for off-roading. When you've sat waiting for a Husky (or similar) to wind in a lot of rope you'll realise a higher retrieval speed is good. Motors and solenoids these days are better than even just a few years ago and so long as the battery system you use can stand it, it shouldn't be a problem ... but then again, I've never used any of these particular winches .. ;)
 
Another good idea mate, would be talk to somebody like the winch shop, they sell different winches so I'm sure there advise isn't biased, I've dealt with them a few times and have always put me right, it's very important to get something fit for purpose, and in my opinion get one which will give more than you need,
Good luck
 
Thanks for the advice guys. Grezzer, this is why I'm looking at 13000lb winches as my truck weighs 2.5 ton with noone in it. So 5 people weighing 100kg each will see it hit 3 ton so a winch that can pull nearly 6 ton is the minimum I want to go for. At least then its capable for at least up to 5 people and my truck. And it being stick in mud etc.
 
Paul D said:
My opinion only, I ain't used these winches .. Nowadays, if you use synthetic rope, you're better NOT having a winch with 'in drum' braking, 'cos the drum heats up and can potentially melt the rope. In practice (I have a Warn like this) it doesn't amount to much unless you want to use the winch to lower off, using the brakes a lot or regularly run a heavy duty cycle.

Having said that I don't see an 'in motor' brake being much better .. 'cos first upgrade after synthetic rope is either a better spec Bowmotor or Allbright solenoid, so it would then depend on exactly how the motor brake works and if it would transfer to another motor.

If you're buying it as is, ie using the wire rope, and keeping it bog standard then I'd suggest the X is best for off-roading. When you've sat waiting for a Husky (or similar) to wind in a lot of rope you'll realise a higher retrieval speed is good. Motors and solenoids these days are better than even just a few years ago and so long as the battery system you use can stand it, it shouldn't be a problem ... but then again, I've never used any of these particular winches .. ;)
Click to expand...
All I'm concerned about with a higher speed is that the gearing is higher so surely the motor will be stressed when pulling the weight unlike if its got a lower speed and so more torque. Basically the difference between high and low range with our landys
 
Your circumstances are not so dissimilar to what mine were except i was towing a 2.5 ton laded trailer, which if I got stuck couldn't take off to just pull out the motor.
this is the reason i said best seek professional advice, no disrespect to any guys on here offering advice but the professionals will back up their advice if it all goes tits up. I had to consider the winch number, and the mounting, great to have strong enough winch but if its going to pull the front end off your in deeper oops.
for general off roading its a rule of fun you'll know what could be your biggest hurdle,
I'm sure the answer is simple when all the possibilities are chucked in a box and sorted out. I ended up going for a top end bumper and winch and had the mounting points reinforced then welded to avoid bolts/nuts stripping, and then some good chocks and an anchor. I get up some real crap farmers rutty fields and had to resort to the winch around half a dozen times, but not once have i had a problem, use a quality synthetic rope also.
 
Buy cheep it will fail when you need it most I have seen it so many times, speak to the electric winch shop they are the biggest winch suppliers around and sell every make going nearly and you will get an honest opinion,

Don't be tricked by the add,
 
See mine will mainly be for fun at yarwell where I have needed to be pulled through the odd rut so I can't see me being stuck to the point of getting close to the max load of a cheaper winch and it'll be covered for the majority of its life. It's more so I can self recover instead of always relying on others to come back down the lane etc
 
TBH for what your going to be using it for any of the winches will suffice when you got on about 5 guys and 2.5 ton I wasn't sure of the application, a budget winch standard or med to high speed will do what you require, what I would look at is a dual battery split charger system if it happens a lot,
Also if I was you I would get a bit of advice about winch operation, you can do all sorts to help with the weight of pull, always make sure your equipment is spot on snatches etc, there a bloody dangerous thing, I've see some horrific things go wrong, always looks so simple when someone with experience does it for you, I'm not trying to run you down I just don't want you to go in blind and cause yourself an injury
 
I have done a fair bit of research about use of winches for off road and recovery. And yes I'll agree they can be deadly when they go wrong. That's partly the reason I'm after the best I can afford instead of the first I see. Hence the 13000lb instead of labouring a 8000lb with a snatch block. I've read that ideally the right winch should be 1.5 times the pull of the weight of your vehicle I figure with nearly 2 times the pull I am less likely to load it to its limit so make it safer and last longer. I've put these 3 up as these are in my budget. I would love something like a warn 8274 etc but I'm on a tight budget so its far out of my price range.
 
8274 has an 8000lb capacity.
and I've had winch-it winches including a 12000lber, and ( and stand by for the hate) they both let me down when needed. buy a second hand quality make :-warn/goldfish/etc, not a cheap one, because after a couple of winters as a bumper ornament it will let you down.
buy cheap, buy twice

and finally the biggest piece of advice; learn to use it before you need it, winches like all recovery gear are not intuitive and in the wrong hands are bloody lethal
 
trax99 said:
8274 has an 8000lb capacity.
and I've had winch-it winches including a 12000lber, and ( and stand by for the hate) they both let me down when needed. buy a second hand quality make :-warn/goldfish/etc, not a cheap one, because after a couple of winters as a bumper ornament it will let you down.
buy cheap, buy twice

and finally the biggest piece of advice; learn to use it before you need it, winches like all recovery gear are not intuitive and in the wrong hands are bloody lethal
Click to expand...
Good advice, if I had 300 to spend I would buy a second hand goodwinch or warn,

Nothing is 100% reliable, more often than not it's the motor or the solenoid that fails normally due to been full of mud and water,
 
warrior said:
Nothing is 100% reliable, more often than not it's the motor or the solenoid that fails normally due to been full of mud and water,
Click to expand...

agreed, problem is that otherwise careful people ( those who will carefully go over their truck cleaning and fixing all the dings and damage after a trip) will develop a huge blind spot when it comes to a winch, whether this is caused by lack of understanding or assumption that they are maintenance free I dont know.
my point is; if you can fix your landy, you are perfectly able to fix a winch, they are not overly complex and will benefit from a bit of tlc.
 
I am in a similar situation to you, I looked at budget winches and drew up a short list.

In the end it came down to a New Superwinch Tigershark or a Used Husky. I went for a used Husky and have been rebuilding it in my thread:

https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/300tdi-project-disco.285494/#post-3550371

The only challenge I have faced is rusty bolts, which are clearly seen from the outside. If I was going to do another one I would make sure it is cleaner. The quality of engineering inside these things is a work of art, a real pleasure to work on. Mine is looking like being around £50-£100 in costs by the time I have replaced all the gaskets, seals, oil and wire rope.(this is plus the price of the winch, but these are around £150-300 on ebay. So if you got a good deal, you would be about the same price as the Chinese stuff.)

For that I have a wonderful bit of British engineering, that I now fully understand how it is assembled and works and I hope it will, with a little care, be very reliable and easy to use.

Not sure if that helps. :)
 
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