Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives Need advice on a winch

My '97 Chev 1500 gets used for hunting, boat towing and hauling so it isn't a high mileage vehicle. I also am not a serious off roader but am thinking an electric winch would be handy. I can't recall getting stuck where the high life jack didn't work to get me out but a winch would have been handier. The biggest use will be pulling firewood logs out of the brush on my rural property. I intend to mount a front hitch receiver and mount the winch there so it is easily removable. The front hitch receiver supposedly is rated to withstand a 9000# winch but I was thinking something in the 5000# range would suffice. What size do you think would be best?

In my humble opinion, always buy more winch than you think you need. Even if you intend to use for firewood etc, there will come a time when you will need it to extract yourself from a situation, or help someone else out of a bind. Rule of thumb is to have a winch rated for twice the weight of your vehicle. Having a snatch block will double it's straight line pulling capacity too. Trust me, having a winch, whether it's sufficient or not, will guarantee the need for it sooner or later. Don't ask me how I know these things.

And a 5000 won't get you out of even moderate mud in a full size truck.....

buy once/cry once...........Summit Racing.........free ship/no tax........

buy more than you need.........

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/smt-97510/overview/

I had a front receiver hitch on a 96 GMC. I bought a Warn 6000# winch with a receiver mount. It was pathetic in trying to pull the truck out of a serious stuck in mud. Even double lined it would not do it. I bought a 10,000# unit and it worked very well.

Here is a link to what size winch is needed for a particular size truck and it also covers how much pulling power is lost as the winch cable is wound up.

http://www.fourwheeler.com/how-to/129-0502-4x4-winching-guide-winch-selection/


I would go with at least 8000# and 10000# would be better for all around use.

Using a winch for logs sounds good, But it is very slow. Much faster to use a good cable and snatch blocks to steer it while pulling them out with the truck. I have an 8,000lb warn on a receiver mount with heavy jumper cables and a quick disconnect. Long side runs to rear hitch, short side too front. Then I can use it on any rig with a 2" receiver. Also the 8K winch is about all I want to move around. Young strong guy might go with a bigger winch. Using the block straight back to truck makes a double in pull power.

Ask Safariman

If you're in mud or have a wheel up against a rock or log, it'll take a lot more winch than you think to get it out. You'll be pulling against a solid object, not a rolling load.

these guys are right, buy bigger than you think you'll need and you'll only be upset about it once. Buy too small and you'll be upset about it every time you use it.

I believe I have a 9500 from superwinch, it's been good.

Also have a vintage bellevue winch (predecessor to warn) which is rated @ 8000 I believe but I think it would outpull the newer 9500 I have.

I have a [bleep] winch. It went to hell on me and I called CS for days, weeks, could not get anyone to answer. So much for warranty.

Smhittybuilt

You need to go heavier than 5000 pounds. 8000 minimum prefer even 10 000. Warn or bust

I have a Warne 9000 lb one on my 98. Dodge. It is mounted on a front receiver hitch and I also have the back receiver hitch wired so it can also be use back there to go back wards.
Heaviest thing I winched was a big JD round baler that was buried in the mud to the frame.It took two of our trucks to do it,but we got it done.The biggest problem was the truck being pulled towards the baler as I had nothing to chain the rear end to.
Had the same problem with a big pine tree, getting it to fall in the right direction .It took the tractor and the winch to get that done.
I once winched my truck and a 20 ft goose neck up a small grade on slick mud using a snatch block and double the cable.
It.s been on the truck since99 and has never let me down,but I don't use it much.

I'd never go below a 8000 pound one mounted on a pickup

Hi, I'm a firm believer in worm gear winches if going electric. They are a little slow but bulletproof.

I have the 12k lb version of this one, it does pretty much anything I throw at it - https://superwinch.global/products/superwinch-husky-series

Love it or hate it: the Harbor Freight winches have a decent reputation particularly for the price. I have a 9k HF winch on my wife's FJ. So far, we've used it once...to haul a golf cart out of a ditch.