Whats a good Battery for winching

[ECKSJAY]

Look at the Ford plants in the US vs argentina for instance. The Argentina plants produce top notch good quality cars (still a ford though) while the US plants are empty because the workers are all overpaid union crybabies.

 

[XJ_ranger]

I've been happy using my optima yellow for winching and driving...

I had a small electrical drain in my system that killed it a bunch of times, and after maybe 10 times of draining the battery completely (so the starter sylenoid didnt even click) and jumpstarting it and using it for a weekend, and putting it away again, it finally shorted a cell...

I bought another one, and installed a kill switch to fix the electrical problem, and now it just plain works...

 

[boomhauer]

I had one of the early red-tops from about 1996-2006, with occaissional winching in the last 5 years. Needless to say, I was very satisfied with the life I got out of that battery. I replaced it with a Blue-Top with the light grey (deep cycle) case. So far it's working fine. I think the threaded mounts on the top are a lot more appropriate for heavy loads than the side posts on the Yellow-Top. However, the last time I looked on the optima site, the only battery they will warranty in a whinch application is the Yellow-Top, and only if the winch is hooked to the top posts. Right now, in the XJ I am using the Deka Intimidator 9A34M dual-purpose AGM battery that Bass-Pro Shops sells.

http://www.eastpenn-deka.com/default.aspx?pageid=163

http://www.eastpenn-deka.com/assets/base/1143.pdf

It's doing very well so far also

I've had my Deka for 3 years, no problems, i run deka's in my boat as well.
Definitely would recommend.
Side terminals on the Deka put out the same power as the top posts, so i don't know about that comment mentioned previously about lower side capacity on the Optima's.:dunno: -B