Winch Opinions...Please

Ataraxia

Ataraxia

Well-known member
Oct 16, 2006
176
0
Ontario
Hi all, lookn' for some opinions for a "cheaper" winch. I realize that alot of you have posted great info and real world experiences about your brand name (higher quality product) winches and setups, and thats great stuff. But, there are a LOT of people that have cheaper generic winches like "Champion Winches" and all the other asian made products. Obviously these people don't brag about their cheap winch, so finding good info is kinda rare. I know that there are some great products out there like WARN, SUPERWINCH, MILEMARKER, and unfortunately these are just way out of my price range but I still need a winch, so...

I want to hear from people that own these cheapo winches and to tell me how they hold up, what to expect and what (generic) winch is good enough to haul my big ass D2 out of a mud hole. I'm not going to be using this all the time, and hopefully it will be rare if I do. I'm in the process of building a front bumper that will be quite low profile so the winch must be able to fit within a smaller space, and I will need to be able to relocate the solenoids.

Heres the thing, I'm hoping to trade my D1 SD roof rack for a used "quality" winch, or sell it for enough cash to purchase a new Cheapo winch. I know a few of you would rather a used good winch instead of a cheapo winch. I have been looking around and for example ebay and local stores are flooded with all kinds of sketchy crap.

There is a local guy here that is selling 12K winches for a good price around 500 US. He is a Rover guy, his name is Duncan, some of you may know him. Anyways, here is his web page that shows this 12K winch with all kinds of specs and info. Be honest and tell me what you think!?!?!? (especially if you own this particular one)

http://www.freewebs.com/titanwinches/home.htm

Thanks in advance!
(flame suit ON)
 
WillTN

WillTN

Well-known member
Oct 14, 2004
1,858
0
Franklin, TN
www.tnrovers.com
Check out the Warn Tabor 12K. Its under $600 and at least its a good name brand winch, even if it is their bargain low end winch. Its bound to be better the like a Champion or some other no name cheap winch...

Fivespddisco on here had the best price on it a while back...
 
antichrist

antichrist

Well-known member
Sep 7, 2004
8,208
0
68
Atlanta, GA
I have a little used Ramsey Platinum 9000 I'll trade for your roof rack. Just don't know how we'd make the trade since I'm in Georgia. I hear shipping across the border can be quite costly.
 
Ataraxia

Ataraxia

Well-known member
Oct 16, 2006
176
0
Ontario
antichrist said:
I have a little used Ramsey Platinum 9000 I'll trade for your roof rack. Just don't know how we'd make the trade since I'm in Georgia. I hear shipping across the border can be quite costly.
Click to expand...
That sounds tempting. Sounds like a nice unit. but after some reading, seems like a 12k winch is better suited for a tubby ass DII. Lots of ppl think the 9k just won't cut it... Just last week while wheeling, a friend used his 9k on his jeep to pull himself out of a minor "stuck" and the winch seemed like it would be WAY happier if it was pulling out something lighter. Jeeps aren't THAT heavy either. Anyways, the shipping price for the SD rack would probably break the deal for us.

I've got a few messages already from ppl already saying I should contact Fivespddisco. I'll see what kinda deals he has. He's just over the border by me.

Thanks WillTN, Antichrist.

So, anyone have any good 411 on budget winches?? The Tabor units I guess are lower end stuff sold under the warn label, but I'm pretty sure they are asian made, and in the same "quality" ball park as generics, Like the Titan Winch I posted a link to. Am I wrong?

lol, I once knew a guy named Tabor. He had a massive mono-brow
 
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antichrist

antichrist

Well-known member
Sep 7, 2004
8,208
0
68
Atlanta, GA
If a 9000 lb winch was struggling with a Jeep it wasn't wired correctly. Many people think you can just slap on a winch and you're good to go. Most winches I see come with too small electrical cables which causes voltage drop and lowers the winch power while also overheating it. You also need a good battery and good alternator. One of the most overlooked factors in reducing winch capacity is number of layers of cable on the drum. With a 100' cable only run out about 30' your winch capacity is reduced by more than 1/2. That's why, if it works with your environment, a shorter cable is better (usng extensions for those times you need more reach) and/or using a snatch block to get more cable off the drum.
If set up properly, 9000 is plenty for a Discovery in most situations.
 
lrmike

lrmike

Well-known member
Oct 5, 2004
173
0
Williamsburg, VA
www.roav.org
Tom is right, I've run a Warn M8000 on my last 2 rovers, a '67 88" and a '94 D1, and have never been in a situation where it would not do the job with proper use and rigging. The greatest pulling power, and therefore the rating, is developed with the first layer of rope or cable on the drum, the compression of the cable and change in diameter reduces the power exponentially as you spool in. Invest in a quality tree strap, rated shackles and a quality snatch block to complete your investment.
I can't stress enough using only rated equipment and learning how to use it - you're just tempting damage to your truck and yourself by going cheap here!

Check WinchDepot also. Not sure about shipping north, though.
 
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C

Canaima Rover

Guest
Hi, i agree about the proper use of the winch, that's very important, almost all the Rovers i know with winch have 9k from different makers, here in europe u can find the T-max, they work very well and the price is good, also some chiness like goldenwinch that are cheaper, some times ppl buy Warn and they'r paying the "brand" i'm not saying anything bad about them but the price it's high, don't u think about call any brackers on ur city and ask if they have some winch? i don't know if that is legal on ur country.

Anyway good luck! :)
 
C

Canaima Rover

Guest
A friend of mine that lives in washington bought an superwinch X9 on amazon for a really good price, take a look.

cheers!
 
rmuller

rmuller

Well-known member
Apr 28, 2004
4,452
1
Northern NJ
www.njlr.org
My friend has a Gorilla brand 10,000lb winch (they are on Ebay often)... it has worked more reliably then most of the Warn/Superwinch's ive seen over the past 3 years or so. Costs under $400.
 
FIVESPDDISCO

FIVESPDDISCO

2
Apr 29, 2004
6,776
2
Clarence center
www.lucky8LLc.com
WillTN said:
Check out the Warn Tabor 12K. Its under $600 and at least its a good name brand winch, even if it is their bargain low end winch. Its bound to be better the like a Champion or some other no name cheap winch...

Fivespddisco on here had the best price on it a while back...
Click to expand...


Thanks Will!

I PM ed you. I think we can work something out with a winch and that rack.
 
craig

craig

Well-known member
Oct 1, 2004
1,747
0
Edmonds, WA
overlandnavigator.com
Pierce makes worm drive winches for wreckers. They are "name brand" in the wrecking industry, just not in the wheeling community. I have 3 friends that have their 12,000lb worm drive winch and it is every bit as good as my Ramsey RE12000. Call Britt at Roemer Offroad and he will get you fixed up with a good price (It's his side business so he doesn't have the usual overhead).

The Pierce is actually has a better clutch mechanism than the Ramsey. If I were to do it all over again I'd get a Pierce instead of my $1200 Ramsey rebuilt winch.

One thing you never said is which bumper this is going to go into and whether or not you have any fabrication skills. You might want to figure out what winches your bumper will hold before deciding on which one to get.

Craig
 
JahRasta

JahRasta

Well-known member
Jul 7, 2007
238
0
Cary, NC.
www.jeremybatts.com
craig said:
Pierce makes worm drive winches for wreckers. They are "name brand" in the wrecking industry, just not in the wheeling community.

Craig
Click to expand...

Yeah, I've known about these for a long while....like you said they are name brand within the wreckers service, but not so much anywhere else....that being said...they ain't exactly cheap either in comparison to what name have been thrown around so far. Look to be good winches though..... worm gears are sloow.
 
Roving Beetle

Roving Beetle

Well-known member
Nov 11, 2007
4,823
0
Mount Desert Island, Maine
www.desertboat.com
I have a Milemarker 12K pounder and it looks EXACTLY like the Titan.... I think they all come out of the same factory - including the lower end Warn units.

Any of them will be just fine if set-up and used right (like everyone else said.) I decided to go with the 12V Milemarker as it was half the cost of the 9K top end ones...... figured the cheap 12K would be somewhere near as powerful as a GOOD 9K so at half the cost - why not.

Not the best logic, but hey a $ is a $ and sometimes it comes down to that.

I have a cheapie 6K that has been on my car hauler trailer for many years and is abused beyond thoughts. It has never ever let me down and pulls hard.
 
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