i did a search and found this page but all the links are dead. I have the XD9000i model and HS9000i myself
CK5
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Advice on best winch for a grand or less
- Thread starter 70jimmy
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Its been said before, but no one listens. In this thread alone, at least three times, hydraulic is a better option. Why do you think you tow driver friend who uses a winch for a living says hydraulic? I would also go with the used and rebuilt option...you're less likely to have issues than with a new unit in my opinion. The US military, countless tow drivers, Dodge, most farmers/ranchers and miners will all tell you hydraulic. Guys with Jeeps and loud stereos are running electric winches.
They all fail, the cheap ones more than the warns and mile markers, so that argument I will stay out of. I personally have a Warn series 12 industrial and two mile markers, had no issues with any of them. You can get a good winch for under a thousand, easily. Realize that most aren't used but once or twice, I'll bet a third of them have never even stretched out the cable, which is why I say buy used and have someone go through it. .
They all fail, the cheap ones more than the warns and mile markers, so that argument I will stay out of. I personally have a Warn series 12 industrial and two mile markers, had no issues with any of them. You can get a good winch for under a thousand, easily. Realize that most aren't used but once or twice, I'll bet a third of them have never even stretched out the cable, which is why I say buy used and have someone go through it. .
I've never done a full rebuild, but I've had to tear a couple apart to replace broken drum supports. They are pretty easy to tear apart and reassemble. For the solenoid packs, I would replace them with a contactor. Every time I've messed with solenoid packs, at least 1 gets broken.
In regards to rebuilding the Warn, I would call them directly and ask about it. I know a couple people that have bought older Warn winches and contacted the company and were able to spend a lot of time talking to a good tech person and they sometimes shipped them free parts....great customer service.
For the size of the winch I have ran a Ramsey 9000 on my 1-ton 40" tire rig for years and never had an issue on a just a single line pull. I carry a snatch block in the tool box for doubling the power but have never needed it....though i will say I don't go mudding in deep holes where max winch power may be needed.
On electric versus hydraulic debate it really depends on the application. Hydraulics are great for wreckers and work but that is a different category than self recovery. In self recovery, or being stuck off-road, the total pull is generally a lot short and you can't always rely on the vehicle running...hydraulic obviously doesn't work if the engine is not running. At least half of the winch use I have seen is after a vehicle rolls over, or is leaning on it's side enough where you don't have the engine running. I have also seen vehicles get stuck in water holes/creeks where the engine has died and they use the winch to get back on shore.
For the size of the winch I have ran a Ramsey 9000 on my 1-ton 40" tire rig for years and never had an issue on a just a single line pull. I carry a snatch block in the tool box for doubling the power but have never needed it....though i will say I don't go mudding in deep holes where max winch power may be needed.
On electric versus hydraulic debate it really depends on the application. Hydraulics are great for wreckers and work but that is a different category than self recovery. In self recovery, or being stuck off-road, the total pull is generally a lot short and you can't always rely on the vehicle running...hydraulic obviously doesn't work if the engine is not running. At least half of the winch use I have seen is after a vehicle rolls over, or is leaning on it's side enough where you don't have the engine running. I have also seen vehicles get stuck in water holes/creeks where the engine has died and they use the winch to get back on shore.
I said the above in this thread over 3 years ago, and it still holds true. The above mentioned Harbor Freight 12k winches my dad and brother have are still operating flawlessly to this day, and both have been put through the ringer used all the time. In fact, those winches have been swapped to multiple other vehicles (sitting on the front of the rig instead of the back now) and they're still working. I now have two HF 12k's on two different rigs and have had fantastic experiences with them and used them quite a bit. My Engo 10k winch on my K5 is still working flawlessly too (had it for over 8 years now), but can't beat the price after coupons on the HF 12k.
To each their own, some people just can't get outta there head that Warn is the best. And I've always said that Warn makes a nice winch, I've never denied that, but I refuse to pay the price tag on those things. Then the argument of the 8274 comes up, and again it's a great winch (my oldest brother has one that he's had to rebuild about 4 times since he's owned it over 15 years), but after factoring in the cost of how much he paid for it and how many times he's had to rebuild it, he could have bought 5 HF 12k winches, haha.
All I know is my family (which includes me, my dad, and two brothers) we have 5 HF 12k winches between us, all have had fantastic experience with the Badlands 12k winch and that's spanning close to 8 years of abuse on some of them. So anyone reading this can take that with a grain of salt
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Thanks for the info and @fourwheelerjeff I'll post more in my build when I get into it.
I didn't mean to bring up the debate of which is better. I got the warn for a price I couldn't pass up even if it is used
I saw the thread title and who started it. I was wondering how his brand new winch I installed could be bad already. Then I saw the date. Don't confuse an old man like that.
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Winch is still great. Haven't pulled a vehicle with it yet but pulled a lot of other stuff, trees, dumpster...
This statement makes me laugh, you need to get out more. I'm not saying hydraulic winches are bad but you say this as if electric is only used by posers when, in reality, probably 90% of all recreational wheelers that have winches use electric.
A hydraulic winch sounds cool until I start thinking about the vehicle need to be running. Probably 95% of the time I use the winch, the truck is running. However, I would hate to loose that 5% capability because that is likely to a super critical issue. I run 2 batteries partly so that I have some reserve to run the winch if the engine is inoperable. There's not anything I know that you could do for emergency operation of a hydraulic winch.
I've been into off-road/trailriding for over 20 years and have been president of a 4x4 club with 50+ members. I have personally seen exactly 1 trail rig with a hydraulic winch......and have seen that same rig in at least two situations where they needed a winch but the engine wasn't running so it was useless. Again, hydraulic winches definitely have their place but that is high duty cycle applications (long or repeated pulls) like a wrecker. The other thing about hydro winches is that they are generally much more complicated to set up. Unless you have a dedicated hydro pump you generally run them off the p/s pump, which isn't really designed to handle the loads and will burn up if you use it too much. Really easy to hook up a 12V electric winch, and a normal size car battery has plenty of reserve to pull the vehicle the typical 5-10' required to get it unstuck.
wasted wages
1 ton status
There was a guy in Florida that had an auxiliary P/S pump rigged up to a chainsaw motor in the bed of his mud truck... had some ball valves and check valves rigged up in the lines so he could run the winch without the engine running.
Another guy had a 12V electric over hydraulic pump mounted in the same manner...
Thought that was a little redundant,, but to each their own... they worked !
Those 12V truck dump bed lifts work OK for a hydraulic winch as long as your not pulling 50+ feet of cable in repeatedly..
I've seen guys rig up a old Ford starter motor to a P/S or hydraulic pump for intermittent use too..also seen a few powered by old pressure washer engines or horizontal shaft engines too..
I've seen guys rig up a old Ford starter motor to a P/S or hydraulic pump for intermittent use too..also seen a few powered by old pressure washer engines or horizontal shaft engines too..
Hydraulic is great for tow truck, they already have a PTO and pump for the actuating cylinders, so is easy to use for a winch or two. Just add a valve and some more hose.
Most trans driven PTO mfg discourage driving the trans while PTO is engaged. So you wouldn't be able to drive and winch out of a hole at the same time.
Gonna go out on limb and say the hydraulic winch system will weight more, definitely more complicated and has more maintenance.
Most trans driven PTO mfg discourage driving the trans while PTO is engaged. So you wouldn't be able to drive and winch out of a hole at the same time.
Gonna go out on limb and say the hydraulic winch system will weight more, definitely more complicated and has more maintenance.
I know this is an old thread.
I will not run a shittybilt winch, I had one on a Cherokee, first time I needed it, it quit half way through a pull in snow and I got no support at all (this was probably 10 years ago). I know people who have them and never had an issue, but I have a bad taste in my mouth for their winches. I do own a smittybilt roof top tent, and while it is not the same quality as my old CVT, it had an attractive price tag and it works.
right now I have my second (first one was sold with a rig) tuff stuff 12,500 with synthetic rope, I paid $500-600 for it and have had zero issues.
I also have an X-Bull 13,000 with synthetic rope that I paid $350-400 new, admittedly I have not really used this winch yet, I took it off my TJ and am going to put it on my beeter XJ.
I will not run a shittybilt winch, I had one on a Cherokee, first time I needed it, it quit half way through a pull in snow and I got no support at all (this was probably 10 years ago). I know people who have them and never had an issue, but I have a bad taste in my mouth for their winches. I do own a smittybilt roof top tent, and while it is not the same quality as my old CVT, it had an attractive price tag and it works.
right now I have my second (first one was sold with a rig) tuff stuff 12,500 with synthetic rope, I paid $500-600 for it and have had zero issues.
I also have an X-Bull 13,000 with synthetic rope that I paid $350-400 new, admittedly I have not really used this winch yet, I took it off my TJ and am going to put it on my beeter XJ.
