Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Truck winches

PM’d

The bummer about hydraulic or PTO winches is the rig has to run. Sometimes that's why you need the winch.

I've used Warn and Ramsey. I see lots of Ramsey on towtrucks, but two of mine are older USA Warn that I've rebuilt due to wear.

This.....

They supposed be included in the next big sale on April 8th.

I run X-Bull...

13k is more than enough for a Taco.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/X-BULL-E...c-Rope-SUV-Jeep-Truck-4WD-Blue/386842740

I don't buy Chinese anything if they're are other options but the Badlands Apex 12,000 winch has a good reputation for being dependable. My understanding of the early failures of the Badlands was with the original model before the Apex, which apparently they made some changes.

Note that Matts Offroad Recovery staff have those Badland Apex on their recovery vehicles and I am sure they use and abuse them more than most.

My son just put the Badlands Apex 12,000# on his TJ Jeep although he just got it for Christmas and has not tested it well yet.

All of that said, and like some others mentioned, if that Warn is the older 8000 (M8000) series I would just have the motor rewound or the gears replaced if available. Doing that would avoid a lot of work that changing winches/brands would entail.

12K pound Warn has been on my rigs for well over 30 years. When I get a new one the winch comes off the old and goes onto the new. Still pulls good so I will continue to use it.

Had a SuperWinch on my F150’s for 20+ years

My Power Wagon came with a 12-K , that’s how they’re made , plates underneath, 456 rear end, lockers and disconnect sway bars, all my ATV and UTV have winches, several times only way to get un stuck.

Another good winch that is in direct competition performance wise with Warn is a Sherpa.
https://sherpa4x4.com/collections/winches

Well, I really didn't want to take the bumper off, so I came up with a solution of how to get the winch out w/o having to remove the bumper.

.I removed one bar light and cut a hole in the top of the bumper for a new trap door. I'll reinforce the bumper and weld tabs back on the piece I cut out so it can be bolted back together.
I lifted the winch out after unbolting the wires and took it apart. Motor fried. Need to do some welding, cleanup, regreasing the planetary gears, replace a bearing and the cable, and replace the motor for about $240. I can increase capacity with snatch blocks so I'll just run this one for now. It's all wired for it and I have four new solenoids on standby so I might as well just use it.

New trap door








Planetaries need a good cleaning.




This 4.5 hp motor seems to have been used on more than one Warn winch model. That leads me to believe the gear sets are where you get the greater weight rating. I'm going to call and talk to Warn about that tomorrow. I want to upgrade anything I can.

Is Consuela buying the parts, Brother Roy?

Good walk through and pics. I wonder if it would pay to install larger wires to the motor . Just like jumper cables, the big ones carry more juice.

The difference between my Warn 12k Zeon and the next “smaller” model is the gearset. Same motor and housing.

I've had winches all Warn on my trucks since 1980....they have got me out of some nasty messes plus a number of other people....never will owen a truck with out one....

One could always rig up an auxiliary hydraulic package but the expense vs. the times you'd need it probably wouldn't weigh out. But the one time you did need it....

That's what I'm seeing. Thanks for the verification.

Check out this guys getup. He compares a bunch of winches and quantifies their performance. What I like is he talks fast and covers all the ground very quickly. Sorry I can't link it.

Youtube Best Winch? Is BADLAND Better Than WARN, Smittybuilt ...

I’m not familiar with the hydraulic winches. If life expectancy better? How about the draw on the battery vs an electric winch. Does a dedicated small pump draw less?


Seriously interested. And ballz, that’s a cool setup on your yota.