Pete799

I am looking for a winch and I do not want to spend a whole lot of money. I am wondering if anybody has seen any good winch deals or sales going on right now. I have seen some really cheap prices for winches on some older threads but am having trouble finding any really good sales. Also if they are not currently having a sale what some good websites are. I have seen northridges name come up a few times. Are there others? Thanks in advance for your help.

JMP8562

HEY I HAVE BEEN LOOKING ALSO THIS SITE HAS GOOD DEALS WORTH A LOOK http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=310012797689&ssPageNam e=ADME:X:AAQ:MOTORS:1123

MC22958

If you want a winch because of the trail riding you do... then you want a good and dependable winch. It may be worth spending a little more. I just got a new warn Powerplant on Ebay for a good price. Some of the vendors here offer very good deals.

TiredIronGRB

Don't buy a cheap (China Junk) winch, save your money until you can get a Warn or Ramsey.

samc

Opinions are like a$$holes; we've all got one. For everybody who'll tell you how bad the Harbor Freight/Smitty Built/MileMarker Chinese-made winches are, you'll find somebody who has one and is fine with it, although they're less likely to boast about it. You can spend as low as $300 on an 8000 lb Chicago Electric from Harbor Freight or the equivalent from Champion (and the HF one is solidly built, not junk at all), or well over $1000 on a Warn. The Warn is more nicely finished, more carefully built and inspected, and worth the money if you have it, and need it badly enough. The $300 winch will certainly pull you out of the ditch just as well, but without the bragging rights; and it might wear out a bit sooner.

I've had both at various times. If money were no object, I'd get the Warn. If I needed it on a regular basis, I'd get the Warn. Neither one of these being the case, I have the Harbor Freight, and I'm just fine with it.

BigJerm

samc said it perfectly. I knew i wouldnt winch much so I went with the PE8000 by Mile Marker. After i had 3 solenoids fry MM sent me a new SI9500 free of charge and i have used the heck out of this thing with no issues. Plenty of the guys i ride with have the PE8000 with no issues and some of the winches are old and have seen their use and abuse. THe other popular winch is the Superwinch. I mean $600 for a 9500 lbs winch and you get a snatch block!

TEEJ

A lot of the details are not obvious...like is it a permanant magnet (Cheap/less durable - but uses fewer amps), or a series wound motor (More expensive/durable - uses a few more amps)....

What kind of brakes?

Warrenty?

Water resistance?

Line speed with no load and WITH load. Slow winches can KILL your battery before they get you /your bud, out of the muck, etc.

Line length? Some have really short lines.

Load Capacity at various wrap depths? - Some lose power quickly, some stay strong throughout the pull range, etc.

No one winch is right for every one....there's always a cost/benefit ratio.

I use my winch ALOT....and in places where I need reliability, water resistance, reach, speed and power. I got a Warn 9.5xp with 125' of synthetic line. It kicks ass, is very fast under load, doesn't lose much as much power as as others do as it takes in line, is sealed, has never over heated, and hasn't killed a battery yet either...as the recoveries are so fast, the drain time is short.



I had this guy hooked up BEFORE he started out across a water hole...so I could yank him back if he got into trouble:








Dragging him backwards in time to avoid too much damage when his cold air intake (Open element filter...) sucked in bog water and his engine died....made a huge difference. Actually, so did hooking him up before hand....so he didn't have to get out and try to catch/attach a tow hook, etc.

Pete799

I have done some research and all of the reviews i have read about mm hydraulic winches are amazing on reliability. I am also looking at tmax/summitraceing winch. I remeber seeing the tmax on sale for 300 but dont remember where. Thanks for the opinions your information is also useful. I would love to get a warn but simply cannot afford it. I just need something for every so often. I travel into the backcountry to camp often and have never gotten stuck by myself yet. When I offroad seariously I am always with somebody else.

TEEJ

Check out the T-max 10k version...it compares performance wise with some very good winches, and is on sale for a song from time to time...its very fast, and not just for a cheap winch...it can keep up with a 9.5xp from Warn for example....it does lose more power under load as the line comes in etc...but it starts at 10K lb instead of 9.5K lb capacity...so the 9.5 K warn IS pulling harder than the 10K T_Max, the differences are not enough to sweat over....considering you can get two T-max for the warn's price.

I HAVE the warn, and I love it, and I would NOT buy the T_Max for myself, as I need the reliability, etc (I'm that freind with the winch that the other guy's assume will get them out at 3 am on sunday, etc... )

If you ARE the "other guy", then the T-max 10K is a really nice deal.




A few points on the MM Hydraulic units -

The power steering pump is what powers it....the faster the flow in gallons/minute, the faster your line speed, the more pressure in psi, the harder it pulls. If you do NOT have a full sized GM type steering pump, YOUR winch will be weaker than rated, and slower than rated, and they are SSSSLLLLLOOOOOWWWWW winches to start with.

If you are doing a water crossing, and your engine dies....your steering pump is also dead....with an electric winch you can (And I have) pull yourself out with a dead engine, as long as your battery has enough juice left (Mine did).

Other than the above, and the PITA it is to install the plumbing to your steering pump, etc....they are pretty reliable, if your steering pump can handle the heat build up.
If not, they suffer from the same limitations as the electric pumps eventually, succumbing to the heat generated by the winching activity. On the plus side, they are a lot easier on your battery.



My 'Ol Yeller top is about 7 yrs old now, and is still OK, but a stock battery can be drained to death by an electric winch pretty easily....especially a slow one, that uses a lot of amp hrs at a slow line speed for a long pull. For example, Some slow winches might be reduced to 3 feet per minute under load (But pull 40 fpm with zero load, etc)...and if you have a bud stranded in muck 100' a way, at 3' a minute, that's 33 minutes to haul him out!

If the winch is using 300 amps per minute, times 33 minutes, that's a a lot of juice....more than you are able to replace during the event....your alternator is only putting out about 120 amps hot/160 cold.

Pete799

Thanks TEEJ for the info. I have herd good things about tmax. I hope they go on sale again. Do you or anybody else have experience with mm hydros. will i need to get a new beafier powerstearing pump? I figure if i have to buy an optimum battery to run an electric winch it would cost about the same as a new pump. I have herd they are slow but reliability wise are they worth the wait. They are cheaper then most winches and since i don't think i will be using it a hole lot will it be better/easier maintance wise?