Winches for the poor and the cheap

[Grug556]

Like the title says, whats your thoughts on hand winchs? Any good brands to look at? What sort of rating is best? I have a limited and am not ready to chop up the front end yet, but would like something basic for recovery. Whats everybody using here? Any recommendations would be awesome. Thanks! :girl::bolt:

 

[bjohnston115]

Harbor Freight.

 

[jthoms1]

I have a Smittybilt 9500....no issues...great customer service and paid like $250 on Amazon.

 

[LJ75 Driver]

Tractor supply...

 

[Jetboy]

I personally don't think hand winches are worth owning for most people. A good one costs as much as an electric winch and usually has less power and less range. For tasks other than vehicle recovery they're great. I have a couple for utility use.

The biggest downside of electric winches on a budget is that it's expensive to attach them. There are a number of options though. You already have a hitch - so a hitch mount winch is one good option. It's not like you're getting stuck a lot - so pulling out from the back isn't always ideal, but it probably would work most of the time for most situations. There are also some "winch in a box" models for around $300 that have straps that attach to your tow points. Like this https://www.amazon.com/Superwinch-1...qid=1498231705&sr=8-2&keywords=Portable_Winch

The cheapest option would probably be a harbor freight 5k winch with a snatch block mounted on a receiver hitch and a set of 4ga jumper cables hard wired to the winch for power.

I'm surprised we don't see Dewalt or ?? 20v portable winches. The batteries are getting so good now that they could work very well for at least one pull. If the max load is 200 amps at 12v (which is rarely maxed out), a 20v 6ah battery would last for 3 minutes of pulling or roughly 30 feet on a typical 9500lb winch. But since it's almost never going to reach max load, you could probably get more like 1-2 full 80 foot pulls out of a battery. For 99% of us that would get us unstuck and on our way.

 

[mcarey86]

I'm pretty cheap about certain things, but I feel like a winch is one of the few things you probably shouldn't cheap out on.

If you're using it, you're likely in a position where either your truck is about to get destroyed, or your well-being is at risk.

Why save a few hundred dollars, when you're looking at wrecking 40K and/or your health is at risk?

 

[Titanpat57]

Chances are all the plastic hanging down will make it rough for any winching...hand or otherwise

 

[jrandom]

Like the title says, whats your thoughts on hand winchs? Any good brands to look at? What sort of rating is best? I have a limited and am not ready to chop up the front end yet, but would like something basic for recovery. Whats everybody using here? Any recommendations would be awesome. Thanks! :girl::bolt:

A "good" (and safe) hand winch is going to cost you as much as a mount and midline electric winch, without the proximal danger of actuating the hand winch handle. They are slow and ofter require multiple resets as the line is often short.

Can't say what a lot of other people use, I never see anyone using anything.

I have used quite a few lift-rated come-a-longs while I was working with rigging decades ago, I wouldn't want to have to tug a 5500 lb truck out with one.

I have an electric, have always had electric winches on my trucks, I have always bought midline winches from Ramsey and Superwinch and prefer the durability and wear of wire rope. They honestly don't get used that often so I see no point in buying a $1500+ Warn, yet they are high enough quality that I know it will work when I need it.

 

[Grug556]

Ok thanks guys. So is hidden winch mount the only real option then for a front mounted on a limited?

 

[Brookey_813]

Deadman Off-Road Recovery Anchor

I paid in on a Kickstarter Early bird for $150 for a Deadman Off-road Recovery Achor. It looked like a great product so I figured why not try it out. I have not gotten it yet, it ships out some time this month. Check it out: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/deadmanoffroad/deadman-the-worlds-most-versatile-off-road-recover

 

[Cymon]

I paid in on a Kickstarter Early bird for $150 for a Deadman Off-road Recovery Achor. It looked like a great product so I figured why not try it out. I have not gotten it yet, it ships out some time this month. Check it out: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/deadmanoffroad/deadman-the-worlds-most-versatile-off-road-recover

I read about this on Expedition Portal. Looks pretty cool, and multiple uses.

https://expeditionportal.com/gear-scout-deadman-off-road-anchor/

 

[nevada]

I personally don't think hand winches are worth owning for most people. A good one costs as much as an electric winch and usually has less power and less range. For tasks other than vehicle recovery they're great. I have a couple for utility use.

The biggest downside of electric winches on a budget is that it's expensive to attach them. There are a number of options though. You already have a hitch - so a hitch mount winch is one good option. It's not like you're getting stuck a lot - so pulling out from the back isn't always ideal, but it probably would work most of the time for most situations. There are also some "winch in a box" models for around $300 that have straps that attach to your tow points. Like this https://www.amazon.com/Superwinch-1...qid=1498231705&sr=8-2&keywords=Portable_Winch

The cheapest option would probably be a harbor freight 5k winch with a snatch block mounted on a receiver hitch and a set of 4ga jumper cables hard wired to the winch for power.

I'm surprised we don't see Dewalt or ?? 20v portable winches. The batteries are getting so good now that they could work very well for at least one pull. If the max load is 200 amps at 12v (which is rarely maxed out), a 20v 6ah battery would last for 3 minutes of pulling or roughly 30 feet on a typical 9500lb winch. But since it's almost never going to reach max load, you could probably get more like 1-2 full 80 foot pulls out of a battery. For 99% of us that would get us unstuck and on our way.

that isn't a bad idea. current battery technology is amazing.

but, im with the rest of these guys, a standard vehicle mounted winch is probably a better idea.

also, once you have it on there, you'll be surprised how often you find a use for it.

 

[scanny]

Like the title says, whats your thoughts on hand winchs? Any good brands to look at? What sort of rating is best? I have a limited and am not ready to chop up the front end yet, but would like something basic for recovery. Whats everybody using here? Any recommendations would be awesome. Thanks! :girl::bolt:

You could get 3-4 ton cable puller (come-along winch), like Wyeth-Scott or Maasdam. They are not too expensive and can get your truck unstuck in most of the cases. Just keep in mind that cable puller is usually a very last resort because moving your truck for 6 inches would probably take an hour of work. Still better than spend 2 days waiting for help or walk 20 miles to the nearest road: )
I carry sometimes 3-ton Maasdam with me for peace of mind, but never had to use it yet except for initial testing.