Winch size

Looking for some advice please.

What size of winch would you guys recommend is fitted to a Ford Ranger (just over 2t empty and never fully loaded)?

The winch will be used for occasional self recovery.

i've got a superwinch EPI9 (9000 kg) on my 110 defender station wagon, which copes well with the usually off-road recovery situations when at off-roading event/pay and play sites etc, I normally employ the use of a suitable snatch block if i am concearned the pull may be too much,but works quite well on single line pulls
I do know somebody who runs a 110 sw with a warn x6(6000kg),but personally i would go for the bigger one

now lets open the electric/hydraulic/pto powered winch debate




kevin

My humble opinion:

9000 or 9500lb - Lighter, faster, cheaper

a 9500 of a decent make, correctly used and with the help of a snatch block (if needed) can do miracles for vehicles up to 3tons (and maybe a bit more).

For a Ford Ranger I will not look further.

I think I am sold on electric, don't think PTO would be an option on a Ranger and think hydraulic would be too expensive.

At the moment I am thinking Superwinch Talon 9.5 SR with synthetic for the safety benefits but open to suggestions.

hi ijp

Superwinch sells very good winches. A few friends of mine own and use Superwinch winches and they perform very well.
Talon are top level winches from super winch. Tiger Shark cost a lot less and are almost as good. Its really up to you the amount of money you want to spend and the use you are going to give to the winch.
Either way you will be well served.

Personally I’m not a fan of synthetic rope. Both for the price (of the good ones – Plasma and Dyneema) and for the extra work you need to have cleaning and grooming after the use.
I use 6*19+1 9mm wire rope which is unbelievably flexible (for wire rope standards of course) and has a brake rate of 4880kg. A 9000lb winch will never brake this cable.
No maintenance required and extremely cheep

Regards

I hadn't been thinking much about maintenance of the synthetic rope. I have never used synthetic but have used wire rope winches and at the moment use my tirfor for recovery and pulling out tree stumps and I don't like handling the wire or battling to role it up.

The other advantage is I can buy a Talon for about £500 with wire rope or £650 with synthetic. From a quick look around it would cost me a lot more than £150 to upgrade in the future. It is more than I would like to spend but would prefer to get it right first time.

Hi IJP
In regards of handling nothing is better than synthetic rope.
Wire rope will always be made of steel wires  

It’s cold and hard and not flexible if you use the wire rope that comes by default.

Synthetic rope has more to it than what meets the eye.
As I said I only trust dyneema and Plasma ropes with paper written certification.
Until proven otherwise I don’t trust the rest.

Google search Synthetic rope articles to be better informed and talk to folks that have and use Synthetic rope for more than 2 years  

Them make up your mind. 

Thanks for the advice. I am not in any hurry to buy so will continue to research.

Is there anyone out there using synthetic who wouldn't go back to wire?

I've got wire as its cheap and for the occasion i use it i cant see the point in having the expensive rope rotting away on the front of the truck all the time. Use winch blanket and make sure you use safe winching practices and ensure bystanders are out of the way. Wire was standard until someone caught a tow rope in a winch and thought "hello, theres an idea". All heavy cranes use wire rope which is good enough for me, although its not quite as bling as synthetic rope.

I love my T-Max winch. Can't beat the warranty on it. Probably the only winch on the market that warrants against damage caused by water ingress. Check this site. It's an Aussie site but I don't see that there would be too much difference. Buy a winch that is rated to pull twice the weight of your rig. Also use double line pulls wherever possible. This will ensure a long life for your winch.

http://www.4x4earth.com.au/forum/general-4x4-discussion/25959-winch-warrantys-who-support-when-walk.html

I am personally not a fan of synthetic rope as I don't use my winch often enough to justify replacing the rope every 2 years. This is the time recommended by the manufacturer. Wire rope has no use by date and just needs to be checked from time to time and replaced if damaged.

Not a great lover of electric winches as they have too many problems, battery size, wiring, solenoids, and varying rates of pulling power depending on how many laps of rope are on the drum.

Much prefer hydraulic, constant pull, no batteries to go flat, no wiring or solenoids to go wrong, and much more powerful.

Look at hydraulic with an objective view as many can now be tapped into the vehicles power steering pump and they come as waterproof as standard.

The major disadvantage of hydraulic or PTO wiches is that if you have no motor you have no winch. If you drown your rig during a river crossing an electric winch will still get you out.

The same could be said of electric, you have no alternator or engine you have no batteries.

The batteries in your rig should last long enough for a quick winch. They don't stop working as soon as the motor stops.

True, but with electric you rely on the batteries, your alternator, and your engine; for reliability the hydraulic winch is much more reliable as it only relies upon the engine, pump, hoses and you can carry spare hoses.

Hydraulic winches are much more reliable in use as the biggest failure in electric winches is the motor and this is particularly true with newbies who buy a winch and assume it will get them out of anything with no regard to the decreasing pull with increasing laps on the drum, if you burn out a motor you're screwed, overload a hydraulic and the motor just stops.

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree. I can't even remember the last time I saw a hydraulic or PTO winch on a 4x4 here in Australia. I think that all of the problems you mentioned are pretty minor and easily avoided. You more than likely think the same about my points. I think the original poster is getting a lot more information than he thought he would. I hope he takes all of it onboard before he makes a decision.

No, we don't have to disagree, we have opinions and from my perspective, a lot of experience of both winch systems, from your perspective I couldn't comment.

Electric winches are cheap and its the reason they became popular and they are also relatively cheap to make and this leaves a good profit margin, and ultimately it comes down to profit.

I like the idea of hydraulic but having looked at the options can't justify the expense when the winch won't be used very often. So still think I will be sticking with electric but have changed my mind about synthetic rope. If I set it up correctly and work with it sensibly I can live with the disadvantages of electric.

The advice and debate has been very useful.

Assassin wrote:

No, we don't have to disagree, we have opinions and from my perspective, a lot of experience of both winch systems, from your perspective I couldn't comment.

Electric winches are cheap and its the reason they became popular and they are also relatively cheap to make and this leaves a good profit margin, and ultimately it comes down to profit.

I actually have quite extensive experience with electric winches and hydraulic winches. I have been working on hydraulics for many years. That's how I earn a living. Electric winches are cheaper but that doesn't make them any less suited for the purpose of 4wd'ing. Both systems have their downfalls.