Winch Recommendations

[fulleraviation]

Well, my girlfriend caught me looking at winches last night! Now I need help with my relationship and recommendations for my Max IV for a winch.

I have looked at many different devices that would help me if I ever get stuck: Warn, Superwinch, Ratchet devices, portable units, Harbor Freight cheapooos, etc. All I can say is HELP!

It would be nice to keep the weight down, have versality of using it to pull from the front or back, not break the bank, and ease of installation.

Asking for the impossible?

I am currently using my machine in North Florida, so terrian is fairly level. The Max sees alot of mud and water.

Thanks,
Rutledge

[liflod]

I've had very good luck with the 3000lb from Harbor Freight. It is not as nice as the Warn, but I can buy 5 or 6 cheapos vs the Warn. The HF comes with a roller fairlead and the relays. Its slower than the Warn, but it has pulled me out of the mud without a problem. The cable seems to fray pretty easy, but once it gets real bad, I'll replace it with better quality. make sure you buy the mounting bracket which is sold separately.

[evil8x8]

My MileMarker winch was fairly cheap and works good for me.
Cole

[Roger S]

Harbor Freight had a winch with remote for $70. Buy a winch for the front, then a good come along with a snatch block, and then extra cable or rope. I got stuck once, alone, and had to go home for extra cable and straps. Had about 200 feet out to the nearest tree. The come along for the rear or side pull.

That's what's nice about riding in groups, always a winch near by.

[micmac]

Lance,

I'm going to get the Harbor freight cheepo for Xmas. What mounting plate does it not come with?

Also any ideas for the mount that attaches to the vehicle? RI factory one or cheaper / better ones out there.

Mike

[liflod]

They sell a mounting plate for it that has the holes for the roller fairlead to mount to it. It is a little bit larger than the winch. You can't make the mount for what it costs to buy that piece.

I made a tube bumper for my machine and used it to mount the front of the winch and used a piece of angle on the body seam to mount the rear. I'll try to get some pictures of it to post tonight or tomorrow. I'm very happy with the results.

[micmac]

Lance,

Take a look does this come with the plate? It looks like it might.

Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices

Mike

[GREASEMONKEY]

If you are going with a high end unit like a warn, or milemarker try
winchdepot.com

[liflod]

It looks like it comes with the plate. The one I bought did not . Here is a link to the plate I purchased.



Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices

[liflod]

Here's the winch I bought.

Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices

[mightymaxIV]

Winch Recommendations

Yesterday I was out trail riding and looking for some swampy muddy areas to test the 26" vampires I just put on the front my MaxIV. I saw a little swamp creek off to my right with about 12 to 18" of water and several logs or fallen trees laid across the creek. Perfect I though this should give me some idea of what these tires will do. Now mind you I have been through swamp, water,ponds,mud,fallen trees, and the most awful conditions you can imagine with my Max. It's been my experience that if you have a least 12" of water with soft mud below that it is almost impossible to get my Max stuck! This little creek didn't even look like a suitable test, but I figured I would give it a try! I had moved about 50' down the creek when I hit my first log. I felt the vimpires grab and start to pull me up and over the log. No sweat I thought. As soon as i looked back I realized I was in very soft mud soon my Max was sunk pass the tires on the left and about halfway up my tires on the right. My tub was resting on unbelieveably soft mud. No sweat, plenty of trees, I'll winch myself out. After hooking to 3 different trees and getting into mud that was now touching my roll bar on the left and getting really close to coming into the tub, I was chrunning away with all six tires foward and using my 2500 pound factory installed warn winch for all it was worth. More then once the winch was so over loaded the it stopped completely. Finally with a combination of six wheel drive and an over heated winch which was to hot to touch I got out of that mess. Heres the moral. I am now looking for a 4000 pound winch and I want the best most reliable unit I can get. Every time I put my nose in the water my winch takes a dip. Heres what I am saying, you never know how bad it's going to get and there is nothing like a winch failure when you are out in the swamp by yourself, and your not even sure you can walk through the mud to get out. I think you should buy a winch that can pull three times the weight of your machine. If you are going to be in the woods alone you probably ought to buy the best money can buy!.

[fulleraviation]

Harbor Freight Winch

Hey Guy's,

I bought 2 of the camo colored $69 winches from Harbor Freight today! Doesn't look bad.

It does come with a plate, but with my Max IV would still need a bed mount and backup plate, which I ordered from Richard at Route 6x6. First time I contacted him. He was a wealth of information and seems like a great guy!

I will let you guys know how it works!

The other 3000lb winch is quite a bit bigger and heavier. The one I bought weighs 18.9 lbs.

Rutledge

[fulleraviation]

4000lb?

MightymaxIV,

doesnt the factory mount pull the 6x6 by the plastic shell??

I would be worried about putting a 4000lb winch on that mount. I would sure feel better with a frame mounted unit. Any thoughts?

[fulleraviation]

Thanks for sharring Tomass. I personally feel that most of the time a light duty winch will pull our machines out. That is why I went with the cheapo first. I can also understand the situation that MightyMaxIV was in. Im glad it wasn't me.

This site is great, and I am gald to be apart of it! I certainly appreciate everyone's experiences.

Thanks again,
Rutledge

[Beeman]

If you go with what Roger said with the extra gear and a snatch block you shouldn't have any problems. If you had a 3000 winch you'd get ~6000 pounds of force with a snatch block, which should be plently. For myself, I'd probably mount another hook somewhere for the winch cable to hook to though (other than the winch area).

Also to note... some people don't realise that the full rating for the winch is at the last rung on the spool... the more rungs of cable you have on the spool, the less the effective torque of the winch. An example of this is a 9500 pound winch on it's last rung will only have a force of 4000-5000 pounds. For the strongest force, get that winch cable out as long as you can (but keep some turns on.. lets say 3 or 4 so that all the force isn't on the set screw holding the cable in), that or use a snatch block.