electric vs hand winch

[jspark]

I have decided that its time i get a winch as im getting stuck more and more and i dont always go 4wding with others.

My big question is; are electric winches eg tigerz worth the money and durable and reliable?
My mate has an old turfer that he bought like 20 years ago and he still uses it all the time, said he has gone through 2 electric winches and never again will he buy one.
What are the biggest benefits over hand winches?

[Tasar]

get a warn one - heaps less effort
turfers are great for short winches or impossible angles

I should of said - get both or be in a convoy that has one of each

[Fat Chili]

Get yourself bogged or just for the experience borrow your mates tirfor, park on a hill 15 metres or more away from your anchor point, run out 15 metres of cable to your Jeep, set up the tirfor and winch your Jeep to the anchor point.....See fun isn't it?

Now do it 3 - 4 more times in a row changing the scenarios - try it up some boulders, through thick mud etc. (May take a couple of hours) - now you will wish you bought a decent electric winch ;-) - spend the extra, they're good insurance.

and just to add a little to the mix; get your misses or kids to sit their whinging about how long you are taking and how they now hate four wheeling....hehehe

That's why I ditched my tirfor years ago.

[BennyWA]

Yeah, watched Roothy on a dvd a while ago having a crack at hand winching- screw that!! Good for emergencies but not regularly!!

[Gi Frog]

Hi All,
What others said about the electric winches all good, expect when you have to[/B]winch backwards or sideways when your jeep is under water or mud above the bonnet and you forgot to charge the second battery.
Cheers
Gi frog

P.S Vote 1 hand winch

[jspark]

I just dont have much money to spend really being a uni student. Dont have time to worry about, and im fit so think hand winch it is. can always connect snatch strap for extra length if im more than 15m from a tree.

[MR EXTREME JEEP]

Sounds like your mind is made up. A cheap electric winch isnt worth shit. So if its hand winch or cheap electric ... go with the hand winch. I saw one in the for sale section not so long ago. Have a squiz there. I have used a hand winch to winch backwards and it was seriously hard work. I wouldnt do that again. Id rather pass the cable under the Jeep with all the associated risks than do that again. Also they are heavy as to cart around. Reel of steel wire and the actual winch take up far too much space in the Tj where real estate is very valuable. Wiching sideways???? I have never hads the need to do that, and frankly if I am that stuck I really should have someone else with me. Never alone.
Enjoy the excersize. :wink:

[Hunno]

I just dont have much money to spend really being a uni student. Dont have time to worry about, and im fit so think hand winch it is. can always connect snatch strap for extra length if im more than 15m from a tree.
the money you have saved buying a hand winch I would spend a little bit & also buy a winch extension strap & not use the snatch. Save your self a lot of extra winching & in the long run money replacing snatch straps as they are designed to recoil instantly & recover not to be stretched out for long periods of time which can & does f'm.

[lovemewrangler]

I'd rather rub my balls on a cheese graterthsn use a hand winch..

Cheap winches like tigerz11 ironman etc, will be ok for what you do. Warns a great, but unless you have lots of money and your going to be doing some serious comp style winching, you won't see much benefit over a Chinese winch. Mine has had a flogging and is still going 3 years later untouched. I could still buy another 3 for the price of a warn. The major benefit of a warn is they can be rebuilt fir maintaince and upgrades.

[carvesdodo]

And winch or not .....

You still need to know how to use a shovel and jack ...... Just in case that tree is a leeeeetle bit too far away .... :rolleyes:

[bruggz351]

And winch or not .....

You still need to know how to use a shovel and jack ...... Just in case that tree is a leeeeetle bit too far away .... :rolleyes:


LOL.... Damn, that's a lot of extension straps:0=

[bonza]

both have there advantages but you appreciate an electric winch when you have to winch your way up a steep billy goat type track, say about a couple of hundred meters

warn definetly the way to go

[Jeddo]

I just dont have much money to spend really being a uni student. Dont have time to worry about, and im fit so think hand winch it is. can always connect snatch strap for extra length if im more than 15m from a tree.

i'm a uni student who decided to fork out $2000 for a warn winch.
i had continuous arguments with myself over elec winch vs hand winch, just like you. but once you spend hours in the dark and rain hand winching, i don't think you'll ever realise the true pitfalls of not woning an electric winch.

i know how hard it is to give that money away to something, especially when part time jobs suck balls, you have textbooks to pay for, and parties to rage at.

there aren't too many opportunities you'll get yourself into where you can't winch forward. with a bit of imagination, longer rope and winch blocks, you can get yourself out of 95% of situations you'll get yourself into. the remaining 5% you'd probs be so fcuked a handwinch would be useless anyway.

all in all, experience and smarts will be far more beneficial than any winch. but a decent electric winch comes pretty close.

[Nikau]

I ran an electric winch for 12 years or so. Absolutely great. However, I wasn't into off-road competition and finally realised I really wasn't getting much use from it as I was almost always out with others who had winches or could snatch me out. When I got my JK I decided not to fit an electric winch and dusted off the Tirfor. I agree with all those who have pointed out the effort and time a hand winch takes to use (Fat Chili has it nailed!) but it suits me fine, my front springs aren't sagging and I'm not always carrying around 50kg or so of extra weight. Plus, the guys I go with generally appreciate that we have a relatively easy way to be winched backwards or sideways, if necessary!

[Sevone]

I had a hand winch about 7 years ago, its still on the side of a track called Deep Creek 1 (I think) near Walhalla.... I threw it away after it took me about 3 hours to winch my TJ approx 1.5m.

I now have a Warn.

[flexytj]

i would rather be fisted with a handful of broken glass than use a handwinch to recover my car .

as for all the brain surgeons that talk about winching sideways , backwards , upside down or what ever obviously you dont know how to use a couple of straps and a coupkle of snatch blocks .

who even winches sideways anyway i reckon that would cause damage to the car as for the flat battery comment i would get a jump off one of the other cars in the group .

[MR EXTREME JEEP]

You dont need a wiinch to go sideways.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmHLzNxHpdI

[Laz]

Hand winch is better than none.

Cheap Electric is better (as long as you have a backup hand winch)

Decent electric is $$$ but add amsteel (synth) rope and it's only about 25 Kg's (less than your hand winch with ONLY steel cable)

add a rear winch and your set :)

Be sensible about the period you use the winch for (say 10% duty cycle for long periods), and DO NOT winch out under power unless you MUST (Kills the brake)

better still get Hydraulic - Y? you ask - how about a 100% duty cycle!

Did i mention synthetic is bloody fantastic?

[NT-Boy]

i would rather be fisted with a handful of broken glass than use a handwinch to recover my car .


Spam man strikes again......lol......


You dont need a wiinch to go sideways.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmHLzNxHpdI


Nice supercharged XJ....But as you can see Xj's dont need WINCHES...;)

[bally12]

If u do desperatly need a hand winch u can use a hi lift as one.....

[carvesdodo]

If u do desperatly need a hand winch u can use a hi lift as one.....

geeeez bally ... you must be built like the HULK

:lol::lol:


but yes ... been there, done that ... very slow and needs lots of snatchblocks to reduce load for little fellas like me. ;)

[ausjeeper]

Bally makes the Hulk look like a nerd. :)

[m1r4ge]

Have a look around for a second hand Warn winch, picked mine up for $800 with everything to get it going. Take a set of hex keys along with you when you look at it, takes about 5 minutes to pull the gearbox off the side and inspect it to see how much rust/water/mud is inside it. Mine was A1 mint condition inside (I bought it without looking, then decided it would be a good idea...)

For the same price as a cheapo chinese one, I bought a xd9000 that will work for the next 20 years and not stop, and if it does, you can get replacement bits way cheaper than buying another winch.

[supemad_one]

Bally makes the Hulk look like a nerd. :)

Well he has had sometime away from the heeps to hulk up, so really bally should have no issues using the highlift jack.

But given its been so long he could just push, pull or lift the heep out ;)