Which Winch Poll

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Which Winch Is The Best

  • Electrical Powered

    Votes: 27 55.1%
  • Hydraulic Powered

    Votes: 22 44.9%

  • Total voters
    49
pto, pto, pto... ah fec it aint my fight...but elecy pops in water an burns up batteries, hydraulics cost the earth an leak fer fun but otherwise are pretty good, pto will keep chuggin unless youve drowned yer motor. in that case if yer out on yer own yer a **** an you deserve it, if yer out wive yer buddies they recover you...ha...:p
 
Hiya Mate

I am a rescue technician and recovery trainer by trade and have 10 years experience in recovering vehicles from stupid places and watching idiots that don't have a clue trying to kill themselves. The choice of winch you want is primarily down to 3 factors.

1) cost. How much money do you want to spend? If you don't have a lot of money then you can get a cheap 12000lb rated electric winch off ebay for around £250-£300. A superwinch or warn winch and bumper kit will set you back about £600 from rebel 4x4. You can also get an ex utilities shaft driven superwinch off ebay complete with either drive dog or pto, bumper and drive shafts for about £250-£350.

2) Use. What do you want to use it for? If you are intending to use the winch all the time (competition type of use/frequency), want it to stop and start on the button without over run or want to use the full length of cable and reel it in in a non stop pull then stay away from electric unless its a Warn 8274 or you know your stuff with snatch blocks. If it is an occasional get you out the mud affair for when greenlaning electric is fine.

3) Competency. How competent are you at D.I.Y. and using a winch correctly? Hydraulic are the most reliable but if you buy a hydraulic winch can you fit it? and if it stops working, bursts a pipe or a spring goes inside the valve can you fix it? If you overload a shaft driven winch it is generally just a case of fitting a new cottle pin and carrying on. With electric winches its generally a case of new motor or solenoid.
Do you know how to properly use single, double and multiple line pulls to extract you from the deep stuff?

In short.
If you are a beginner with a winch then I would recommend that you get an electric winch to start with because you will hear the motor start to struggle before the cable snaps and so can stop and re-think the situation before the cable breaks and takes your head off. If you are a bit more advanced and want the control then I would go for shaft driven purely for control and multiple speed reasons (5 forward speeds and throttle control). If money is no object and you know how hydrualics work then hydraulic is the strongest.
 
If you are going to do frequent extensive winching then it has to be hydraulic with a pto pump or pto mechanical.
Speed is not the most important point with a winch, its line pull and reliability, and speed can be a negative, as things can happen too fast in critical situations.
If you have ever tried electical winching without an engine running then you will have found that it kills the battery as fast as trying to wind it out on the starter motor .
If its just short competion winching then 8274 gets my vote.
 
A hydrualic winch can also be run off an electric hydraulic pump from a van tail lift or old 12v spec lift breakdown truck meaning you can still use it when your engine isn't running so long as you have a decent battery setup.
 
A hydrualic winch can also be run off an electric hydraulic pump from a van tail lift or old 12v spec lift breakdown truck meaning you can still use it when your engine isn't running so long as you have a decent battery setup.

A friend used the electric/hydraulics of a transit tipper, and a twin battery setup to power it.
 
.here's a hand powered one but it is big
 

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why isnt a Trifor on the list, it doesnt need an engine, leccy or highbollocks to run - just manpower

ah sorry they ant bling enuf are there .....
 
Go go Rescue Rangers

why isnt a Trifor on the list, it doesnt need an engine, leccy or highbollocks to run - just manpower

ah sorry they ant bling enuf are there .....

Tirfors and ace - but they're fecking hard work and if yer gonna get all physical yer might as well walk rather than going in yer truck.:)
 
Winches are good and convenient to have but how often do you really need it?

I use this setup.

The Hi-lift winch system above have saved me the few times I really needed to pull myself out of a deep mud hole. Most of the time 2 waffle boards is enough to get out of trouble. It's more work, but somehow more rewarding too.
 
Go go Rescue Rangers



Tirfors and ace - but they're fecking hard work and if yer gonna get all physical yer might as well walk rather than going in yer truck.:)

ah bless you could allways wear gloves so yer soft hand dont get blistered
 
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