winches, wenches and witches

[Mad-Dog]

I have been kicking this around for a while and thinking that since a winch is designed to be used with a split sheave (2:1) pulley and MOST pulls only run far enough to clear a log or pull the wheels out of a hole......would it be more cost effective to buy a winch that is rated for the weight of the vehicle and use the pulley every time you had to undo yourself from the goo.
I know it sounds crazy to me too since it be so much easier to have a winch that is rated for 2x the vehicle weight and run only 1 cable to a tree......

 

[ntsqd]

I see it as sort of parallel to the big engine - small engine debate. Both will do the work, but the big engine isn't working as hard as the small engine is.

 

[LongIslander26]

But...

You may not always have a big enough tree, or if one is too far away, the motor on a smaller winch will get hot quicker and drain your battery reserve faster.