Truck winches

[powerstroke444e]

I have used my warn m8274 for endless years, yes its heavy, but fast and very powerful. It's been rebuilt a time or two but has a receiver mount and jumper cable set up I made works great. And have several doubler blocks to help on real heavy items. Will see if I can find a photo of it in use, pulled a 60' lift sunk in mud once with use of trees for anchors, no room to get anything else close to problem.

 

[Hay Dude]

It sounds obvious I know, but in order to get yourself unstuck, the other end of that winch cable has to go somewhere. You've got to figure out both "ends" of that scenario. If you're stuck in a field (lets say), winch cable in hand, what are you connecting to that can withstand that much force being pulled against it? I can see you needing to pull out your truck with a fully loaded hay trailer from a muddy field. That part makes total sense. So yeah, a 20K winch would be useful for that purpose.

But where does the other end of the cable go?

Lol. I'm being a bit obvious (and slightly sarcastic, sorry). But I've been there on many a recovery, and it's usually not very simple. A 20K pull winch has enough grunt to "disassemble" things that it shouldn't be tied to.

Reminds me of a funny story, one year hunting up in N. AZ. We had a storm front coming in with heavy rain predicted, so I was packing up my 5th wheel to bring it out of the woods. My buddy had his brand new shiny winch on his Jeep Wrangler and boasted that I shouldn't worry about getting stuck back here, as if I did, he and his winch would pull me out. I looked at him and said all his Jeep would be useful for was to give me a ride to town in it to use the phone.

OK well the bumper is rated for 18,500lb pull so 20K is pretty close. I have been stuck a dozen times where traction is only 50 feet away, so getting my dumptruck close would be an example of an anchor point. Also pulling out my other equipment.

I’m not fooling around here. We are in mud and bad situations weekly.

 

[LittleBill21]

Look at an item call Pull Pal, its a self burying winch point.

 

[CliffordK]

I had a BADLAND ZXR 12,000 lb winch that decided to give up the ghost while loading a van. I had to complete the task with a come-a-long. I still need to get it apart to see what broke. Perhaps a brake?
I had an unused BADLAND APEX 12,000 lb at home which I'm now using. The synthetic rope is interesting, but still seems to work.
I built a custom 1 1/2" receiver for my trailer, and the winch is removable which is a nice feature, but it is awfully heavy to lug around. Hmmm..
The Sherpa Stallion 25K is listed at 68lb (rope)/104lb (wire). Not too bad. The Prowinch 20K is listed at 136 lbs (or is that shipping weight?) A bit to lug around.
I haven't convinced myself that I need a 20K winch, but I would like some of the extra capacity so one doesn't pull it up to the max all the time.
As far as amps for the Prowinch.
12V x 450A = 5.4 KW = about 7.2 HP (rated at about 6.6 HP).
If you have a large 5+ HP motor, it will suck down the amps. Only way around that is with very low gearing.
Many winches will have a duty cycle, and won't be rated for full power continuous. Nonetheless, your winching will likely vary with power. So, you might hit 20K pulling your load out of the mud, or up the ramps, but most of it will be pulling at much less, unless you're pulling several hundred feet up a 45° slope.
I've seen two speed Ramsey winches, but that doesn't seem to be common.

https://www.amazon.com/20000-lbs-Electric-Waterproof-Winch/dp/B07C31QPWG

Odd, there are two very different winches in the photos in that ad.

The basic winch looks similar, other than the integrated fairlead and wire cover. I do like the second a little better. It would certainly be worthwhile to verify what will be in the box.

They seem to list both 12V, and 24V. The 24V would be nice, but would need a little different battery and charging arrangement.

Hmmm, comparing the Stallion to the Prowinch 20K,
The Prowinch 20K uses 9/16" wire rope (14mm, 85 ft).

The Stallion uses 100ft (30m) of 0.472" (12mm).

Interesting different cable choices. A little longer lighter cable might be nice, but perhaps they're for different purposes.

So far I can do several winch pulls without draining my battery. So, a high amp load may not be a difference unless one really has some intense winching to do, and if one has a front bumper mounted winch, then one can easily recharge, or idle the vehicle as one's pulling.

 

[Chewwy]

Have you considered a winch driven directly by the pto. A pto driven winch works well for prolonged heavy duty winching.

Your engine has plenty of power, even when idling. There are no alternators, voltage regulators, electric motors, or cabling to overheat and the gearbox and throttle can be used to give a wide range of winching speeds.

 

[Hay Dude]

Have you considered a winch driven directly by the pto. A pto driven winch works well for prolonged heavy duty winching.

Your engine has plenty of power, even when idling. There are no alternators, voltage regulators, electric motors, or cabling to overheat and the gearbox and throttle can be used to give a wide range of winching speeds.

I would love one, but I bet it would be $5,000 or more.
I have a PTO that I would really like to use, too.

 

[CliffordK]

I like my trailer winch to be removable. I put 2 steel loops on the back side of my winch mount, and have used it almost as much off of the trailer as on the trailer. If one winched something up onto the trailer, then how does one expect to get it off?
Last week I got my tractor unstuck (tree was close enough to tie the winch to), as well as pulling a pickup through the muddy almost flat section of my property where I was having major issues with it side-slipping.

 

[CliffordK]

I would love one, but I bet it would be $5,000 or more.
I have a PTO that I would really like to use, too.

There may be some good used ones. Army surplus? CAT winches?
Some of the more obscure winches are cheaper than the equivalent electric winches just because the buyer's market is much smaller.

 

[Hay Dude]

I need one that will fit in my Ranchhand bumper spot

 

[Sawyer Rob]

For that price, it must be made in china.

SR