Four Wheeler mag winch shootout

[Nonimouse]

Do you have alist of those winches and their 'failure modes'? Such information would be invaluable to those looking for a winch

I wonder how many MileMarker winches catch fire? The same type under a different brand name is sold by Champion here in the UK (the Champion EWS IIRC) it's one of the most reliable winches I know. Champion used to be derided here in the UK because of their chinese contacts now they own the largest share of both the recovery market and the fallen stock market - finding worse conditions and worse maintenance would be hard!

When we recieved our first batch of warn winches at the Land Rover Experience, of the ten delivered and fitted to the new (at that time) Warn bumper, 7 of the 10 failed. The failures ranged from jammed brakes to unfitted caple grub screws. Not one of the Experience instructors (proper instructors mind you, not the modern marketing guys) wanted to trust a Warn winch. The Winches were XD9000i's

I ran an instruction week for Biosphere Expeditions whilst at the Experience - driving, vehicle dependant survival and recovery. Four brand new Td5 110's, four brand new XD9000i's all of which failed to complete the first pull...

I can relate similar incidents with TGS (Warn and Ox), Nissan (Warn), Warn Europe and Ramsey Europe. Oddly enough I've never had a brand new Superwinch product fail - not even the Superwinch labelled T-max's (I've never had a new 8274 fail though - not ever). TGS fit Warn as a use and dispose item! Too much money if you ask me

Yet I still recommend Warn M8000's and XD9000 to my clients (although I do strip them and re-build prior to fitting if possible). Of the 3600 EP9's and EP9i's sold by David Bowyer in the 3 years prior to the TDS coming out only 3 broke (all down to user fault; one was mine and I manged to snap the chassis, but enough of that)

That's why ALL winches need testing ESPECIALLY as they ARE Safety Critical

[Rocket Ship]

How on earth did FourWheeler manage to pay $1000 for an EP9? They sell for half that much. And since when was sound level a performance measure? I could care less how much noise my winch makes as long as it's working. And why did they award a full 10 points to the Warn in the water test? Sure, it still worked, but it's clear that the gearbox probably lost most or all of it's lubricant and is now filled with water. And maybe that contributed to the full-load gearbox failure.

In the end, it appears what really mattered to the testers was how pretty the winch was. And that's also true in the marketplace. Spend a lot of money on advertising, packaging, powder coating and stainless steel bolts, and to hell with what's on the inside.

The fact is, winch tests cannot be completed in 1 week. Sure, you can eliminate the early failures. But the remaining contenders should be tested for a year before you declare a winner. Spray them with water daily, and dunk them in muddy water weekly. Blast them with sand, and spray them with gravel. Do a full pull weekly, and stall them once a month. If they survive that, only then can they be judged.

[Nonimouse]

These guys would have won in every catagory http://www.red-winches.com/

even the prettiest

They look even better in the flesh

[Frostymug]

I’d like to suggest the next OJ winch review include the following test.

Subject winches to all types of environmental conditions: temperature extremes, water and mud submersion, ice, sand, gravel, dust, etc. for an entire year. During this period do not use or service the winch. Then after one year conduct a series of difficult winching tasks. This is how many winches are used in the real world.

Of course a year long test may not be feasible in which case a simulation could be designed.

Cliff

[LR Max]

I know of 3 Milemarkers that have burned up. The worst I heard of was one that caught fire while doing a bench test . Its replacement, I saw got smoked out and then I've seen a 3rd.

That was years ago when they first came out with their electric winches. Haven't really seen them since. Warns have been far more popular.

Hydraulic winches are awesome. I know of one Red Winch here in the states but haven't heard of any feedback on it. I can only assume as long as the engine is running then its good to go.

[Nonimouse]

The original electric MM's had an awful switch on the control box to make the sytem live

I often wonder what would have happened if these winches had been wired in with a kill switch/cut out and decent 50mm2 cable; then serviced on a regular basis...

The Red winches are like nothing else on the market, a thing of true beauty that is more reliable than a reliable thing. Even the pumps are beautiful

[AA1PR]

I thought their results were impressive, I forget which one [harbor freight maybe] failed altogether

[Scott Brady]

The MM was a brand new winch with their new solid state controller.

[I Leak Oil]

A friend of mine has an early mile marker. It died and when he dug into it he found the magnets in the motor had become detached. Apparently the glue failed....yes, glue.

Those Red Winches look nice but they are hydraulic and I think we've been discussing primarily electrics as that's what the articles have been based on. Lucky8 is listing the challenger at nearly $1800 and the terrier at a shade over $2400. Not sure if that includes all the pump stuff, lines etc. or not. I'm guessing not.

A hydraulic winch test article would be nice to see.

[Antichrist]

The 8274-50 and M8000; the two best winches Warn ever made still cut the mustard as well. Here in the UK a tired, rusty, beaten to hell and back 8274 is worth $1000!

Ok, I know where I'm taking two of my 8274's when I get done rebuilding them.

Who upgrades the wiring for a more efficient supply?

I, for one. As far as I'm concerned that's mandatory with any electric winch installation. Stock power supply cables are generally pretty pitiful.