Tirfor or Rossendale Safelift?

[The Pirate]

I'm after some advise please as to which hand winch I should go for.

I've made contact with a guy selling these via ebay and I've been offered a used Rossendale or a Tirfor 1.6 tonne model for £80 plus the cable.

Anyone know which is the best option as the guy I've been talking to says that the Rossendale is the better machine?

I've also been offered a new Rossendale 1.6 tonne for £100.

Any comments please?

[Range Rover Blues]

Buy a Hi-Lift and the winching kit plus some 10mm chain, all you ever need really.

[MuddyMike]

Buy a Hi-Lift and the winching kit plus some 10mm chain, all you ever need really.

Have you never owned a Turfer? I have a high lift with hook back chains and the only time I had to use it as a winch I kicked myself for not putting the Turfer in the truck. Hi-lifts are a good multi purpous tool but you realy can't beat a Tirfor for a long straight pull in any direction. Its quick and easy to set up, relativly safe, and less hard work. Still a good workout mind.

Mike

[winchman]

Tirfor
5.1 Factor of safety
Parts available all over the world
Trusted design
You can bury them in the garden and just dig them up when you need them, fab tool

[thermidorthelobster]

Buy a Hi-Lift and the winching kit plus some 10mm chain, all you ever need really.

Not sure I'd agree.  All you ever need if you're planning on winching 2 feet at a time, but for safe, reliable hand winching over almost any distance, I'll stick with me Tirfor thanks!

[Range Rover Blues]

Yes thanks I own a Tirfor, many, many years ago My mother worked for the company.  Much as I like it it cannot cope with mud the way the hi-lift does, it's heavy and cumbersome, the wire is a PITA to carry about and all too easily damaged.

Given that I carry a Hi-Lift  anyway, the £50 to convert it into a winch is a no-brainer, I can winch for 6 metres without having to re-rig but given that I only tend to need about 1 metre of help before I can get going again this is never a problem.

Each to their own and all that, but I wouldn't rush out and BUY another Tirfor when the hi-lift kit is just as good and half the cost, half the weight, half the boot space (just thought, maybe that's not such a problem to you guys).

As an aside, have any of you ever tried using a Kinetic in conjunction with a hand-winch?

I saw this demonstrated once as a aid to recovery, if using a hand winch then as soon as the vehicle gets any grip the hand winch goes slack and is no longer any assistance, so by storing energy in the KERR you have an assisted pull of about a metre, depending on how much you load the KERR.

[thermidorthelobster]

the wire is a PITA to carry about and all too easily damaged.

My wire is coiled up inside an old Mini tyre and is easily stored and carried.

Given that I carry a Hi-Lift  anyway, the £50 to convert it into a winch is a no-brainer, I can winch for 6 metres without having to re-rig but given that I only tend to need about 1 metre of help before I can get going again this is never a problem.

In that case you're not talking about what I thought you were talking about!  Just had a quick scan around the Net (not too hard as on a slow connection) but can't see how it works.  I'm only familiar with the clunky way of winching where you can only go the length of the rack at once, then you have to release the tension and risk it all sliding back where it started.  Pray elaborate, this sounds useful.

[Range Rover Blues]

Right, the proper Hi-Lift kit has 2 short chains, one goes to the foot of the jack where the base plate normaly goes and the other goes to the saddle, each one has a chain hook on the end.  You then get a length of (totally over the top) 10mm chain, this is what limits the length you can pull uninterupted, and the 2 chain hooks 'climb' the 10mm chain from one end to the other.  If you use a series of 2/3m stops end-to-end you can then secure the vehilce, remove the winchg chain and re-rig without sliding backwards and start winching again, should you need to.  Like all recovery, the effectiveness reely on how much thought/preparation you put in.

There are pictures on my galery
http://members.mud-club.com/profiles/Range%20Rover%20Blues/gallery/Greenlane%20Recce%20June%2005/0/672414-1121034980./SXQncyB0aW1lIHRvIGRvIHRoaW5ncyB0aGUgaGFyZCB3YXk=

Although that's Turtle doing the hard work

[Range Rover Blues]

BTW, I read in a copy of the GLA magazine (just after I joined) and article on using the Hi-Lift with a rope and something called Prusic Loops.  I've come across these before becasue a lot of my mates are serious climbers but it's bassiclay a self-tensioning loop around the recovery rope that allows you to slide the rope through and start winching again.  Though not as safe and using chain hooks on chain it is lighter and cheaper.  ANyone remember the article?

[clbarclay]

The used 2 Prussic Loops and a Hi-Lift in LROs article on recovery techincs (June 2006)

Just keep sliding the loops along a recovery rope as you winch, so potentially you could winch for as long a rope as you have to hand without need for serious rerigging. You could even winch along several recvory ropes joined together or even a kenetic.