What's new
CK5
Register an account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members.

HYDRAULIC OR ELECTRIC WINCH???

T

TB2Blazer

1/2 ton status
Joined
Apr 6, 2002
Posts
166
Reaction score
0
Location
Cleveland, GA.
I am going to be buying a Mile Marker 12,000lb winch soon and just wanted some input as to which to get a Hydraulic or an Electric winch. I'm going to be using it for serious use to drag around my 85 K5 with 40's and eventually 60's so it has to be stout.
 
The simple answer is neither for you. If you're going to run 60" tractor tires, no normal winch will work for you. You need a PTO winch.

For the rest of us, Electric is the common choice. It works when the engine is off and it's not anywhere near as slow as using your power steering pump to operate a winch.
 
[ QUOTE ]
If you're going to run 60" tractor tires, no normal winch will work for you.

[/ QUOTE ]

/forums/images/graemlins/ignore.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
I plan on using MM12,000 electric for one reason, You almost always have DC juice when stuck or dead in water, But HYDRAULIC is no use if your engine dies and won't run. HYDRAULIC has more steady power for pulling, but I still feel electric is better!
Bill
 
[ QUOTE ]
Dana 60's not 60" tires.

[/ QUOTE ]

You said you're on 40s now and eventually 60s. /forums/images/graemlins/rotfl.gif

The electric is a better choice IMO.
 
Yeah I'm on 40's now and eventually I will be running DANA 60's my fault I thought I put a d in front of the 60's. /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif
 
The electric should be fine. I run a 8000 pound Warn and have never really felt that I needed a larger one.
 
Howdy neighbor, I live in Cumming right now but have lived in Clermont for 15 yrs. Going to be living in Cleveland soon though, bought some land on Long Mountain.

Wave me down one day if you see me, I drive a camoed Blazer on 39.5s.

As for you winch question, any winch is better than no winch at all. Had a Ramsey 8k on my CJ5 and only over heated it once,,, used it a pretty good bit.

I decided to give Milemarker a try this time pretty much because of price. Same price nearly as the Ramsey with a bigger motor and 3/8ths line instead of 5/16th.

BTW, everyone dogged me out on buying the Ramsey but as I said, worked well for over 3yrs. I'm already getting dogged on the Milemarker but it has been put to use twice with no problems. If it last and works as well as the Ramsey,,, I'll be happy since I'm not a professional rock crawler.
 
I was seriously considering the hydraulic winch, but talking to a friend, I decided the electric would be best. He brought up the fact that if I was upside down or on my side, it wouldn't work. I would hate to be on the trail, put my rig on it's side, and have a nice hydraulic winch that won't flip me back over.
 
Electric is better, less hassle (leaky hydraulic lines etc.) Ramsey Platinum 9500 does a great job for right at a grand. /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif
 
Its more of a preference issue than anything else. Sure if you are upside down the hydro won't run -- but who have you ever seen recover themselves from a roll with their own winch? And unless you have two batteries, being able to work with the engine off isn't going to last very long at all for the electric crowd. Hydraulics are great for long pulls in many situations. I have an electric but I wouldnt hesitate to get a hydraulic next time. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
Its more of a preference issue than anything else. Sure if you are upside down the hydro won't run -- but who have you ever seen recover themselves from a roll with their own winch? And unless you have two batteries, being able to work with the engine off isn't going to last very long at all for the electric crowd. Hydraulics are great for long pulls in many situations. I have an electric but I wouldnt hesitate to get a hydraulic next time. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

From my experience it's pretty common to use the winch on the rolled vehicle to pull itself back over, or at least assist in pulling the vehicle out of the off-camber position. I have also seen them used quite a bit on hills where the engine would not re-start.

The average winch pull is probably only 5-10 feet which should be no problem for even a single healthy battery.

For general off-road trail use, I think the electric is a better choice.
 
Well since I am a big fan of hydraulics and use them a lot at work I'm gonna say that you could shell out a few extra bucks and make a hydraulic work just as well as an electric. First get a PTO setup from a junkyard (I have seen em there dirt cheap) and run an actual hydraulic pump off that. This will give you a strong fast pull for the normal times when the engine can run. For the times when it can't run, I would have an aux electric hydraulic pump plumbed in to the line should you need the winch when the motor is not running. I also think it would pull less juice than running an electric winch. Granted this setup could run an extra $400-$500 if you don't have the parts lying around like me. But it will give you the best of both worlds.
 
Hey neighbor so you are moving from cumming to cleveland? Thats funny because I did the same thing I used to live off of hwy 20 near ducktown. My family and I live on long mountain if you are driving down 115 headed to the cleveland square I'm about 5 miles out from the square look to the right for a big red and white house on the hill and thats us. When are u going to officially be in cleveland? I'll keep my eye out for your blazer and flag you down so if you see a maniac waving in a lowered laser red mustang gt with a ram air hood and front bumper thats me. As soon as I get my rig running again we will have to go wheeling. /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
If it were me, i would go with a hydraulic setup, it has a higher duty cycle vs an electric.

[/ QUOTE ]

Honestly, why does that matter? You're only going to pull yourself out from being stuck and continue to wheel. I don't know about you, but I don't want to spend 3 hours on a winch line. I'm winching myself out and heading down the trail!
 
Electric= Self recovery type work(clean thurobread horse)
Hydrolic = towing daily type work(messy work horse)

For the off roader electric all the way /forums/images/graemlins/usaflag.gif
 
If you like to play in the mud I would go Hydraulic. I have been out on some long recoveries and I have almost never seen any recoveries that went very fast and had to let the electric winches cool down and batteries recharge before they could continue to pull. If they had a hydraulic, sure they are slower but they do pull continuous. Just my 2 cents.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Hey neighbor so you are moving from cumming to cleveland? Thats funny because I did the same thing I used to live off of hwy 20 near ducktown. My family and I live on long mountain if you are driving down 115 headed to the cleveland square I'm about 5 miles out from the square look to the right for a big red and white house on the hill and thats us. When are u going to officially be in cleveland? I'll keep my eye out for your blazer and flag you down so if you see a maniac waving in a lowered laser red mustang gt with a ram air hood and front bumper thats me. As soon as I get my rig running again we will have to go wheeling. /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm looking at maybe 2-3yrs before moving to Cleveland. The land I bought is on the Hwy.129 side of the mountain. If you are on 129 just north of Jacky Jones Ford, my land is right on the middle of the ridge. We would only be about 1-2 miles apart as the crow flies {I think}.

I live about 3-5 miles from the Ga. 400 Outlet Malls right now. It's only about 10 minutes to Dawson Forest, it used to have a couple of decent trails but they have closed them up. Do you know of any good spots close by {other than Beasly Knob}.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest Posts

Top Bottom