How often do you really use your winch?

laurie-the-lorry

Adventurer
I guess it depends on where you wish to go, how far off the beaten track you want to travel, and how much peace of mind you need.

I Disagree with this statement Mike, Sorry:

A winch is a "nice-to-have". Without one, but with the right ropes, pulley blocks and levers, there's nothing you can't accomplish that a winch could do, but the winch does it a whole lot more easily

I have competed in many winch challenge events in the UK, and you obviously need a winch, In India I didn't have one on the Jeep. I thought I could get through but if I did not with all my experience I knew I was two hundred miles from recovery. So discretion proved the better part of valor and to get around we drove over 1000kms. If I had a winch I would probably not have needed it, but it is the what iff's.

I have similar experiences in Africa, when traveling with a winch equipped, vehicle go for the impossible.

Winches make a difference, personally I have bogged three Land rovers down trying a recovery that a winch would have accomplish with ease'

So for green laneing, or plodding were a mobile phone will bring a rescue no winch.

If you really are out there by yourself, its your best buddy, and hopefully you wont need it, But it takes you places you wouldn't dare to venture
 
If you're going to have a winch don't forget an anchor (Pull-pal recommended), nylon stretchy rope and pulley. It's nice when there's a convenient tree but sometime there isn't one.

Charlie
 

SeaRubi

Explorer
a really *good* stuck seems to often involve the use of some other bit of recovery gear besides the winch. a hi-lift and a set of sand ladders can be quite useful. sometimes dragging the vehicle over the blockage isn't an option. sometimes there just simply isn't a good place to anchor the winchline. I wouldn't become too dependent on it - you still need a good variety of gear to provide options. my .02 -
 

laurie-the-lorry

Adventurer
Agreed Searubi.

But what is less vehicle damaging? A slow controlled winch, or a good tug from a friend!

Imagine not having a friend, so if you are stuck you are really in the sh$%,
So you don't even try.

Its a lot of extra weight, and in the USA i have never owned a winch, but if wheeling in the back of beyond I have been with a winch equipped truck.

In Europe or the USA its expensive to call recovery, but that's money! When there is no recovery you will be more winch dependent but hopefully still never use it!
 

SeaRubi

Explorer
oh - by no means was i advocating not having the winch; more to the point, don't forget to round out the rest of your equipment and recovery gear. A good winch should be thought of as just one component in your overall bag of tricks to get out of a jam - not the sole component.

Imagine not having a friend, so if you are stuck you are really in the sh$%,
So you don't even try.

before the winch, jacking and digging and building up the road under the tires usually paid off for me. I always carry reserve water and food, work gloves, and an expectation that *something* is going to delay my progress. Usually that something is bad judgement :eek: with the jeep, I would generally get stuck by snagging on the belly somehow, helplessly high centered. To speed things up, I began resorting to lifting the front-end up reasonably high with the hi-lift, then gingerly hop back in the vehicle, find 1st and mash the go pedal :smiley_drive:
 
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Atticus_1354

Adventurer
SeaRubi said:
oh - by no means was i advocating not having the winch; more to the point, don't forget to round out the rest of your equipment and recovery gear. A good winch should be thought of as just one component in your overall bag of tricks to get out of a jam - not the sole component.

I once came across a guy who didn't even have a hook or anything for the end of his cable. So I tugged him out and told him to head to the nearest tractor supply. It amazes me how little some people will think things through.
 

lowenbrau

Explorer
I use my winch more as my truck becomes more "expeditionary" It was a lot more capable when it weighed 1000 lbs less. Also, because I like to travel long distances I have chosen tires that are less capable off road than others I have used.

I've used my winch about 25 times this year, more than half on one, three day, trail. There were four rigs and all four had some kind of winch failure. Fortunately mine was just a broken rope.

Charlie's post reminded me of something that really hit home for me this year. We generally use static straps as tree saver when winching but adding a dynamic component to the anchor end. (ie a stretchy tuggum strap) can be a real advantage. You feel the winch load up the assembly and then 'pop' the rig out of the mire. I experienced this when I had all 225 feet off my spool connected to my 100 foot extension and still wound up 25 feet short of the tree. The tuggum saved the day but also made that particular recovery easier.

I guess somebody should define words such as 'expedition", "wheeling" and "crawling". I use them interchangeably. Rubicon is a pretty good example.
 

spressomon

Expedition Leader
I've used my winch 4-times so far this year. I wouldn't want to be without it that's for sure! BTW: It's a Warn 9.5XP. I wanted a 12K rated winch but the largest I could stuff in my TJM bumper was the 9.5XP and even that required a little creative re-engineering of the brackets.

A Warn rep told me the 9.5XP is a very conservatively rated winch. Although it's never hesitated pulling my 6,500lb LC 100 (even when I buried it up to the frame in mud last spring) I put it to the test last month when I couldn't make it up a steep loose off-camber slope with the ~2,500lb AT Horizon in tow. Even without a snatch block it pulled my ~9,000lb load up without hesitation. Can't ask for much more than that!
 

Kilroy

Adventurer
While out exploring on my own, I have used the winch to get myself out of a stuck a couple of times, and moving tree's a number of times.

Without the winch I often times would not have considered pressing on and turned back. When I was outfitting my Jeep, I felt the winch was the cornerstone of my self recovery equipment, the pul-pal was next.

I would hardly leave a dirt road while solo without one.
 

BIGdaddy

Expedition Leader
Kilroy said:
While out exploring on my own, I have used the winch to get myself out of a stuck a couple of times, and moving tree's a number of times.

Without the winch I often times would not have considered pressing on and turned back. When I was outfitting my Jeep, I felt the winch was the cornerstone of my self recovery equipment, the pul-pal was next.

I would hardly leave a dirt road while solo without one.


i guess thats where i differ from most...if i'm going somewhere i could get stuck offroad, i don't go alone.

if i'm going alone, i stick to trails where there's no real possible way to need a winch...if my travels took me to places i hadn't read about or been before, i might consider adding one.

just look at all the folks though, that take subaru's, westfalia's, Element's, etc, offroad all over this darn planet with no winch.

I'm not too worried about it, cuz my jeep is way less likely to get stuck when compared to the above vehicles if taking the same routes as them.
 

UK4X4

Expedition Leader
Winch or not to winch that is the question.

A winch is like any other recovery tool....extra weight unless its needed.

When is it needed ....

when the dog dowl and spoon you had with you when you got stuck just are'nt up to the task.

All recovery tools help in stuck situations, the winch is simply the big daddy and can exert more force than the rest.

A shovel/ pick/ sand matts are all tools, and all have their uses..

The better prepared you are, both in experience and equipment levels
the shorter time your vehicle will be stuck...

The more equipment the more extreme recovery's can be completed as per the rollover pictured earlier.
 

I Leak Oil

Expedition Leader
BIGdaddy said:
I'm not too worried about it, cuz my jeep is way less likely to get stuck when compared to the above vehicles if taking the same routes as them.

Well now you did it...You're bound to get stuck good and solid now! You better find some wood really quick.:shakin:
Jason T.
 

jh504

Explorer
BIGdaddy said:
i guess thats where i differ from most...if i'm going somewhere i could get stuck offroad, i don't go alone.

if i'm going alone, i stick to trails where there's no real possible way to need a winch...if my travels took me to places i hadn't read about or been before, i might consider adding one.

just look at all the folks though, that take subaru's, westfalia's, Element's, etc, offroad all over this darn planet with no winch.

I'm not too worried about it, cuz my jeep is way less likely to get stuck when compared to the above vehicles if taking the same routes as them.

I have kind of had the same mindset in the past. Since my Jeep is sitting on a 6.5" lift I have not worried too much about it, especially when traveling with comrades. Now maybe it is my driving skills, but I am tired of being in bad situations sweating, and busting knuckles trying to get my truck moving again. Its winch time for me.
 

BIGdaddy

Expedition Leader
UK4X4 said:
Winch or not to winch that is the question.

A winch is like any other recovery tool....extra weight unless its needed.

When is it needed ....

when the dog dowl and spoon you had with you when you got stuck just are'nt up to the task.

All recovery tools help in stuck situations, the winch is simply the big daddy and can exert more force than the rest.

A shovel/ pick/ sand matts are all tools, and all have their uses..

The better prepared you are, both in experience and equipment levels
the shorter time your vehicle will be stuck...

The more equipment the more extreme recovery's can be completed as per the rollover pictured earlier.


well, shoot. If the winch is the big daddy, then i guess i have no choice but to buy another one eventually.

i didn't realize that. :sombrero:
 

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