Winch recommendations

I've been thinking about getting a winch for quite awhile now, but I'm not really sure what would be the best one for me. There's about a million different winches to choose from. In all reality it won't get used that much. Most of my offroading is on the logging trails (in the mud) back in the woods. It's a royal p.i.t.a. when I get the Jeep stuck and have to walk all the way back to the barn to get the tractor to unstick myself. As a result of well, pretty much being lazy and not wanting to walk to get the tractor, I've kinda begun to limit my offroading so I know for a fact I won't get stuck. A winch would cure this. I know Warn is probably the best you can buy, but I can't shell out the $700-$900 for one of those. I've seen other off brands for $300 but they're probably junk. Is there something in the > $500 that will work for me? How big of a winch should I get? I really doubt I need something with a 12,000 lb pull... What all are you running? Stuff to look for/watch out for? Thanks in advance!

 

IIRC, your winch sould be rated to pull one and a half times the gross weight of your vehicle. I like to estimate a little on the high side to compensate for extra people, parts, tools, etc. I would also look for a winch with a low profile, esspecially since you have small block, as so it doesn't block to much air flow to your radiator. Superwinch makes a pretty good winch with a low profile for not much $$. I believe it's the "Patriot" series.

 

I have a Ramsey REP 8000. It's about 10 years old and works fine. I use mine very rarely, and probably wouldn't have on at except that it was a great deal. I have another Ramsey spur gear 8000 winch on the '65. Strong. I think on it the 8000 is a conservative rating.

If I had to buy one that wasn't going to be used that often, ( the way I use mine) I would buy another Ramsey for <500$. But thats me.

 

I also have a Ramsey Rep 8000. It works well enough for me. We don't have much mud here though. I use it more for moving downed trees off of the trail. Get a snatch block too. It will double your pulling power if necessary. It will also allow you to rig your line so you can pull in other directions, rather than just straight ahead.

 

Might also look into T-max winches and Warn now carries a line of "budget" winches that look to be nice and budget friendly. The Ramsey worm drive is a good unit but slow. I think of winches like brakes and a roll cage, a safety item that if I need it my life may depend on it. But that's also coming from the stand point of someone who's been in search and rescue etc. who depends on their winch to save lives. An 8,000 lb. rating would be fine for an Early CJ. An accessory kit is highly recommended. You normally get a snatch block, tree saver strap, a length of quality chain, gloves, clevises, etc and bag to keep it all in.
Nickmil.

 

Whatever winch you get, learn to use it safely! There are some seriously dangerous ways to go about it. As in, deadly. And easier to do than some folks may realize. Cables and rigging break, anchors come loose or fail, and then they become slingshot missles, aiming right at you.

 

Got my winch (REP 8000) from Ramsey's reman online store, was about $520 plus shipping.

 

Ive got the cheapy one from Harbour Freight. Its a 9k lbs model and I think I paid right at 400 for it with a 2 yr warranty and it came with a mounting plate also. That being said, it worked well this past summer (prob 20 pulls) and I used it to make some very long hard pulls and it did fine. But it is extremely slow. In the past I didnt think it mattered but it is kinda of annoying when you do have to do a long pull waiting for all the cable to be wound in. I will prob not buy another one like it again since I use it a good bit. If your not going to be useing it a lot I think the HF one would work just fine. But if your going to be using it a good bit I think a warn $$ or other big name brand is def. worth the extra cash.

 

There is always the pto winch too.

 

Ebay is a great place to buy winches. I bought a brand new Warn M12000 for $795. I am using a Warn 8000 (M8274 I think) which works out great even though it is very heavy. Personally, I wouldn't go any less than an 8000 lb rating. I also only stick with Warn.

 

I have a factory reman Ramsey 9500 pro on my CJ-7 and I love it.

We put one of the Harbor Freight 8K on my girlfriends XJ. It was cheap and it came with a mounting plate that I used as a base for a killer bumper. We also opted for the extended warrenty. I picked this winch after finding out it is the same winch as the Mile marker 8K electric with a differn't label on it. We used it to pull a 20' storage box out of a yard and onto a trailer with out a hitch. It's not fast but not too many winches are under load. The only thing I hate about it is the chrome cross bars have started to rust.

The magazines will hype about unloaded line speed and stuff like that. Sure if you use the winch often this may be of concern. However if your like me, a slow winch takes WAY less time then digging out by hand.

BTW the patriot series are made by Ramsey. Superwinch is good and of course so is Warn. The strongest winch you can get is a worm gear drive (such as monster Ramsey RE8000). However they are slow as heck. If you want to know who makes a really tough winch, take a look at a tow truck. The only winch brand I've seen on one is Ramsey. Of course these are usually hydraulic industrial duty quality that would be WAY over kill for a 3K lbs CJ.

 

I put a 9500# MileMarker on my '74 CJ5. And last weekend ended up unsticking a Pathfinder, a 72 Blazer 3 times, a 85 blazer once (had to use the snatch block a few times on that one, it was STUCK) an 06 F150 4 times, a 34 foot fifth wheel flatbed still attatched to the truck, and my own 02 F250 on the way out. Worked flawlessly, I love it. Snow was deep this year.

 

Bruce, are you talking about the Chicago Electric brand from HF? If so this would be a good buy, the 8000# winch is currently on sale for $299. I can deal w/ a slow line speed and there's products available to keep that chrome looking good.:v6:

 

If you decide to go harbor freight, this will get you an exta 20% off -

http://ww2.harborfreightusa.com/showpage_retail.taf?pageid=202&email=

 

There's a reason stuff from HF is cheap. No way would i buy a winch from them. By the time you go through 2 of those $299 winches, you could have had a well made product for the same $. Also, think about "when is this winch going to take a crap?" Probably when you need it most.

 

I've got the Ramsey REP 5000. It was a low cost deal from Harbor Freight or Northern Hydraulics. I only use it 4 or 5 times each summer but it has worked perfect every time.

Don't over look weight - you don't want any extra hanging off the front end of your rig.

If I had the $ I would go with a Ramsey Patriot 6000. This is a good quality unit with plenty of power and not too much weight. And, it's low profile so it doesn't block the radiator.

One more thing. I always take a beefy come-a-long on trial rides - for pulling backwards or sideways. Or if my winch craps out.

 

I carry a Hi-lift jack for the same reason.