Winch derrrrrrr ?

[Pete5844 as was]

Hi all.Ok this may seem like a daft question but please help me,what size winch do I need for a 1986 v8 range rover,ie 6000/8000/9000/12000lbs.I don't want to get up the north face of everest just out of the mud(so I can get back in again) :lol: Never had a winch so don't know where to start(never had the cash to get one before) and if I don't get one soon the winch cash will turn in to new sofa cash (and that would be bad)so this needs to be sorted.Cheers Pete

[Range Rover Blues]

As a rule of thumb you want a winch that will pull twice the weight of your truck so you are looking at a 8/9000lb ie 4 to 4.5 tonnes or thereabouts.

Giving that the performance falls off as the rope winds onto the drum plus electric winches exagerate their real-world performance a little it's not worth skimping.

Only get a 12000lb if you wallet/springs/battery can take it, you'll find they are the next size up from 9000lb units.

[suggs]

if your after a winch to pull you out now and again then a superwinch ep9 is a good choice and value for money at about £430, if your going to be doing serious competion winching save up the extra pennys and get a Warn such as a 8274..

i have a superwinch myself..

[Richie_EB4]

After all that said.........if you have the money go hydraulic........very expensive but run all day long..........a little slower then electric but IMHO dont have the usual problems of extra heat and more weight of batterys etc.

JMO

[suggs]

with hydraulic does the engine need to be running, i was thinking if so your stuffed if you cut out in water etc..

H

[thermidorthelobster]

Yes it does.  There's endless debate on electric vs hydraulic, which can be summarised as follows:

Electric
- work if the engine's off (but only as long as the battery holds out)
- quick
- relatively cheap

Hydraulic
- the Hydraulic camp argue that they're much more dependable in the long term, but opinions differ on this
- less prone to day-to-day failures such as solenoid problems
- less strain on vehicle (ie battery, alternator etc)

Have a look at http://www.winchtest.com/, but bear in mind it's published by Milemarker, who specialise in hydraulic winches so are a little biased.  (They also sell electric ones now...)

It's one of those areas which stimulates a lot of heated argument.

[thermidorthelobster]

By the way, personally I favour a Tirfor:

- lightweight
- cheap, if you get one second hand
- operates independently of engine, battery, or anything else - in fact you don't really need the vehicle at all
- helps build upper body strength in the operator...
- ...but it's orders of magnitude slower than either electric or hydraulic winches!

In 6 months of travelling overland in West Africa, Iceland and elsewhere, plus plenty of green laning in UK, I've used the Tirfor exactly once, so a winch would have just been an expensive toy really.  It does exactly what I need it to do with no hassle.

[suggs]

to be honest ive only used mine once and that was to pull a mate 110 out at Bures, but a winch does look good on a nice bumper :lol:

[Richie_EB4]

Yeah.........i have to admit.........mine has been used about half a dozen times off road but its main use is for the 24hr recovery that i do.....thats why i went hydraulic.......but am glad i did.

[Xtremeteam]

milemarker TypeR winch


Nuffsaid  :shock: