Winches

[Al Housman]

I've been thinking about fitting one for a while to the Doka.(I've managed to get myself in the proverbial sh recently,it being really wet up here!!)Any words of wisdom concerning choice and fitting?There seem to be some strong ones on Ebay for relatively little money-any thoughts?

[syncropete]

I have been using one of the £250 chinese winches off ebay, and found it really good. It gets a lot of use and has lifted and pulled some incredible weight. It even came with a wireless remote, but thats a bit scary as it does not stop when you release the button. I fitted it by cutting the lower front panel just above the bumper to allow the winch to sit right back, just in front of rad. It is bolted to a rectangular plate, which also has a bracket for the fair lead. This plate is then bolted right through the front cross member in four places, with square plates underneath to spread the load.
Hope this is of some help
Pete.
Ps. This is the one I bought
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ELECTRIC-WINCH-RO ... dZViewItem

[PC52]

I've the same as Pete, definately need an in cab isolator. Works a treat for me. Hid the relays and solenoids behind and below front o/s light and the operating plug into the grill. Have got a detachable mount aswell.
Trouble is at just under 50kg they do pull the front down

[Al Housman]

Thanks Petes!
Yes,they're the ones I'd considered and from what you say they seem up to the job.
Cheers.Al

[syncroand101]

Do you carry one of these?


[img:450:338]http://www.informulation.on.ca/A55770/c ... el%20b.jpg[/img]

[Russel]

A winch isnt something that u will use a lot espesialy attached to the front ove ure vehicle. Sand ladders(wafle boards)and a spade are very effective recovery tools.

[Ye Olde Syncrospares]

think about where to get spare parts for yer chinese winch that came from germany when it breaks,its better for everyone including your front springs to replace the steel cable with synthetic rope and a hawse fairlead not a roller,and remember a winch is for winching and a hoist is for hoisting dont use em for both,itll hurt,cj.

[lloyd]

CJ's right on. Synthetic rope is 1/10 the weight, super flexible, no stretch (so won't whip out if it breaks) and won't rust. If you get it from a marine supplier it's much cheaper then from 4x4/winch suppliers.

I've had several winchs; hydrolic, pto and electric. Prefer a 6000 lb Warn winch on a removable mount and mounts on both ends of rig (found I winched back out of places as often as going forward). Kept in inside when not in use. Carried anchor equipment for when there was nothing to hook line to, 3 snatch blocks, straps and 200' of extra line. Using snatch block doubles pulling power, so is much easier on winch, but halves speed. Wheeling was in rock, sand, snow and some mud.

[Russel]

If u do fitt one dont go smaller tha 9000lb.I have warn 9000 on 2 of my syncros and i find them just suficient for the weight of a syncro(camper) boged in mud.
I very much agree with using plasma(synthetic) rope for safty and weight.Unfortunatly i have cable on bothe.
But it is an expensive toy not used very often.

[peasant]

Do you carry one of these?

nope ..this instead:

[img:380:304]http://www.udig.de/cosmoshop/pix/a/n/G1 ... 633635.gif[/img]

[Al Housman]

I guess that there are sensible alternatives to a winch (or supplements even) and I do tend to carry a digging thingy.I had an embarassing incident recently when a winch would have saved my red face instead of having to get a nice man from the RAC to drag me out (No,it really was that tricky!!)
Thanks for the response.I'll think on.......

[lloyd]

a 6000 lb vehicle needs at least 9000 lb of pulling capacity in a winch.

Reasons for using 6000 lb winch was winch weight and cost. 6000 lb winch with a snatch block at anchor and winch line coming back to vehicle is 12000 lb pulling power. That's 33% more then a 9000 lb winch on straight pull. Most pulls are only a few feet of hard pull, so even with vehicle moving 1/2 the speed of winch it's fast enough. I found fast winch speed could be dangerous at times too. Fast winch speed is really nice when re-spooling after you use winch.. get done fast and get going again. Extra line and snatch block allow for more pulling power without loosing range to anchor points. Just remember extra line needs to be twice as strong as winch line if you ever use snatch block.

Just my thoughts. I understand the rational of 9000 or even 12000 lb winches. Any time you are doing long steady pulls, you want your winch to have lots of extra power rating over vehicle weight. A 9000 lb winch pulling 9000 lbs will overheat very rapidly because that's the maximum they will pull. For long steady pull use a pto winch or hydraulic winch... if hydraulic have a fluid cooling too. Some say pto and hydraulic are not good because you have to have engine running. .. Well, if you us an electric for very long you need your engine running too. They use battery power like a starter battery does. How long can you crank your engine before your battery starts to go down? Not very long. Bigger the winch is, the bigger the cables, the bigger battery capacity and the bigger the alternator needed... and the heavier they all become.

[Syncro G]

Just reminded me, I don't have a spade for the van, should get one. Got one of them ex army folding ones in the landy. Not the worlds strongest spades but its cheap and small enough to leave in the vehicle all the time and so you wont forget it. Got me out of the snow fine last winter when I buried the axles in a drift.

Not rich enough to buy a winch at the moment but I've always fancyed a Tirfor as my first choice. Being mobile you can always set them up to pull in the apropreate direction and the bigger ones are very strong. Okay, they are a bit slow and tedeous, but its better than staying stuck (which includes having a serviceable winch on the wrong end for that ocasion). If you've got another vehicle then useing that and a rope would probubly be your first bet anyway. If your in a group and all vehicles have a front winch then that is a useful way to do quick recoverys, asuming you don't do something silly like get all stuck at once - I think this is the area where front winches excel.

Another form of winch thats even more phisical effort but can get you out of trouble if you don't have anything else is a Hi-lift jack with some winching chains. With a spare sheer pin, some wafflebords and a spade this basic kit will get out out eventully. Don't think the chain sets are that expencive and you probubly have the jack already.

I think a very large number of recreational off road vehicles have a front mounted winch for little more than styleing. The owners will probubly tell you how/why they need them but its often simply not true. They are usally the same people who tell you "If you don't get stuck your not trying hard enough". What crap! Getting stuck is really easy, driving where others can't, now thats the skill! I've also seen these sorts of people turn the their front winches when they don't need to, probubly because they've spent money on them and feal the need to play; the result is often needless damage to the vehicle and terain. If your winch is a tedeous pain in the a*** to use you might think first before useing it, and so only use it when you need it.

[mud]

Vehicles with winches get stuck quicker

[v-lux]

But they do look cool