Winch Questions

[96xjeeper]

I have a couple questions. 1: what is the smallest winch you would reccomend for ax XJ? 2: I am looking at the following, Ramsey REP8000, Mile Marker 8000E, Mile Marker 9000E, and warn 8000. All are in the 375-500 $ range, what would be reccomended? What are differences? I am thinking hard between the Ramsey 8000 and the Mile Marker 9000, only about a $80 diference in price, but 1000# rating, would it be wiser to go with the 9000 instead of any of the 8000 perviously mentioned. My XJ has 4" lift, 31x10.50 BFG At's and soon a full assortmant of skid protection, as well as a winch bumper if that all makes a difference. Thanks for the help in adveance

 

[Bender]

Since a winch is generally your last hope in many cases when you are really stuck or something very bad happens in my opinion it's not worth it to skimp out. Get a good quality unit... and if you are looking used be sure everything works very well.

Research around and compare their specs yourself as you can easily find hundreds of people that will love each winch you listed.

Compare things like Motor type.. series wound is better than permanent magnet.

Motor power.. the more the better.

Length of cable... the longer the better.

Type of fairlead... roller is better than haws. A new roller fairlead is about $65.

# of solenoids.. I know warn uses four and some ramsey and superwinch units only use two. I'm not sure on the Milemarker but the more solenoids the winch has the less chance of burning one up.

Compare line speeds under load and unloaded.


One thing though... for an XJ you don't want anything under an 8000lb winch and it's probably a good idea to get the best you can afford...i.e. generally the more expensive units are better unlesss there is a sale of some sort.

 

[Rev Den]

Winches....oh boy......next thing ya know it'll be religion, politics, and auto vs stick...

Dont go under 8000 Lbs. Everything else is debatable.

Rev

 

[dmillion]

I have a 6,000 lbs. winch for my XJ and I think it's the perfect size. The usual recommendation for winch size is total vehicle weight times 1.5. By that calculation a 6,000 lbs. winch is more than enough for a stock XJ and, in fact, I have pulled my XJ out of all kinds of "stuck" with mine.

If you need more power then get a pulley block and now you can pull 12,000 lbs. I have also done that on a couple of occassions when another, larger vehicle was stuck and needed some help.

As far as I can tell, a bigger winch just adds more weight and expense in exchange for one, single benefit--every now and then you can pull yourself out a little tiny bit faster.

 

[Rev Den]

OK...so even the 8K is debatable.

Rev

 

[ChuckD]

Check out some of the lesser priced winches only have a 1 or 2 year warenty. The more expensive have a lifetime.

 

[96xjeeper]

Well ok guys thanks.........and lets see......God is great (religion) I voted for Bush (politics) and I prefer an automatic , I'm lazy, that about covers it, I will compare specs, but i am leaning toward the E9000 from Mile Marker.

 

[Rev Den]

Just to toss gasoline on the fire.......thought about hydro....I have had one for 3 years.


Rev

 

[Mike in NJ]

Yeah, this is another one of "those" topics . . .
anyway, just thought I'd jump in as well.

Be careful of the "a pull of 1.5 times the weight of the vehicle" recommendations. That's a good calculation, IF it's on flat, hard ground. And how many times will you be stuck in that kind of a situation?

Add some multipliers to that if you're on an angle, or if the ground is soft, or if your pull is going to be off center. Sound more familiar? There's plenty of geometry and physics associated with stucks, just ask any commercial tow driver to show you their calculation card. A word of caution as well - yes, using a snatch block will "double" your effective pull - but it will also exceed the listed breaking strength of most 5/16 - 3/8 steel cable (approx. 9000 to 11000 lbs!). Not that the line will always fail at those limits, but that's all that it is rated for.

IMHO a 6000# winch is mostly good for ideal situations, 8000# is probably OK for many situations, 9500# would be better. They make bigger winches for light trucks (e.g. #12000), but now you're starting to exceed the carrying capacity of the steel line ( a little fact that none of the major manufacturers talk a lot about).

It's all about trade-offs - weight, capacity, cost. Everyone has to decide for themselves. I know a guy who swears by his ATV winch in "all kinds of situations". For me though, the #8000 seems OK.

Mike in NJ atriot:

 

[Rev Den]

If you double the line with a block you are splitting the load between the 2 runs, in essence halving it. If you pull a 10K load with a block you have 5K on each line.

Rev

 

[Mike in NJ]

Thanks Rev - I always get that part screwed up. The heavier load though is at the block itself and its attachment to the anchor, of course those are generally rated much higher.

Still a tradeoff though, more line out is less wraps on the drum, and less pulling power at the winch itself. (Does everyone know that the winch capacity (i.e. 8000, 9500) is only on the first layer?)


This is SUCH a fun topic!

Mike in NJ atriot:

 

[Georgia Mike]

DO NOT buy the Ramsey REP 8000 or the early Milemarker E8000. The are the same winch and are as slow as molasses on a cold winter's day(think no-load 15 feet per minute-slow here!)! If I'm not mistaken,the new E8000 is a Warn 8000 re-badged. It would be nice to be able to actually see the winch before you bought it to see what you are actually buying,but never the less,you can't go wrong with a Warn! Just get the 8000# Warn and you'll be happy with it,IMHO.

P.S.-Actually,the fewer wraps there are on the drum,the more pulling power you have *think little-bitty tires VS. big tall tires*

 

[Beezil]

sorry D, I hafta disagree with the 6000# winch.......

I'd say no less than 8000 lbs.....

6000 lbs is simply too light for what most of us end up doing....

if its works for you, excellent, glad to hear it, but I wouldn't suggest 6000 lb winches....

 

[4ward]

There's a reason that you see Warn on the front of the more seasoned wheelers. Nuff said????

Sean

 

[xxxj-va]

Rev

 

[Flowers]

Compare horsepower, line speeds, etc.

Apples to apples, the warn will win............ hands down. The Warn 8000 will be sufficient for your machine. If it's in the budget think about the HS9500i.

Hope this helps

Flowers

 

[Mike in NJ]

Georgia Mike - thanks for pointing out yet another dyslexic response from me - I did mean to say that the winch loses pulling capacity as the drum wraps increase! The FIRST layer has the rated pulling power, not the TOP layer.

And thanks to Beezil for not slapping a SPOBI alert on me!!!

Bad day - tried to jump on this thread just before I headed out for the day and managed to screw up practically every piece of advice I so pretentiously babbled from (supposed) memory.

Forget everything I said (except that I don't think a 6000# model is all that useful - 8000 or more is the ticket!)

I think I'll just crawl back under the rock now........

Mike in NJ atriot:

 

[Goatman]

They will all work. Some will work better based on strength and line speed. Some will last longer than others. You do get exactly what you pay for in winches. If you only get stuck and use the winch very infrequently, the Ramsey 8000 will get the job done. If you like quality products with good performance, just get the Warn. The price has come way down recently on the 8000lb Warn, it's a good buy.


The 6000 may work OK depending on what's being done with it, but it's hard to recommend. If you got one for next to nothing, use it.

An 8000 lb winch will work very well on an XJ, a 9000lb just gives a little better performance.

A Warn HS9500 is the only thing that Warn makes that I would never recommend.....unloaded line speed is so fast that you can hardly keep it from getting loose wraps on the drum, the drum keeps turning a couple rounds after the switch is released.

Hydraulics? What's the point? They work real well if you're pulling someone else, but if you need to pull yourself.......

 

[TOZOVR]

http://www.bb4wa.com/articles/Accessories-winch.htm

 

[Beezil]

goatload,

how could you NOT recommend an 8274?

agree with hydro.....pulls like crazy.....unless you are trying to steer and winch at the same time!