Which winch?
Hey i am looking at buying a winch but i really dont know which one i should buy, i know the Warns are the best on the market but i dont have enough cash for one, and i really dont think i need the faster line speed since i am planing on using the winch for recovery not as a method of getting through the trail. I have been looking at smitty builts, are theses good winches? is there another brand i should look for?
thanks for any advice!
Smittybilts are decent, a lot of people on here use them. I have a Warn XD9000i which i've never had to use (thankfully) but I was also considering a Superwinch EPi 9000 because it was similar specs to the warn (slower line pulling) but had sealed solenoids and pretty good warranty. I think that was about $700 compared to the $1100 warn I ended up with.
The Superwinch EP series also have a insulated spool which helps out if you plan on using synthetic line, won't get as hot and melt it in other words as easily as the Warn would. At least my M8000 doesn't have an insulated spool, not sure about any of the others.
Check out the Recon winches, they have amazing prices and the reviews have been great. Recon Winches <<<Click here
Craigslist. Is where I got my 8274
Base your winch choice on two things:
How deep is your wallet and how often do you plan to use the winch.
Your top of the line winches like Warn and Ramsey are designed with a lot of brutal use in mind, hence the $$ pricing.
Superwinch is right about in the middle as far as quality and pricing goes and is a pretty decent winch with good reviews and a decent record.
Tabor and Bulldog winches are towards the bottom, though the Tabor winch is probably a bit better than the Bulldog. (Quote from a Bulldog seller" I wouldn't even be selling these winches, but we use the low prices on them to get people in the store to buy a more expensive winch") Tabor is built by Warn, but isn't quite as good.
Chicago Electrics are really at the bottom as their price reflects.
I am not familiar with the other brand mentioned, but I would certainly check it out if I were you.
I use my winches a lot, both for wheeling and for work (construction), so I chose the Warn winches. I have had both Warns and Ramsey winches on all of my 4x4s since 1970 and have had little or no trouble with either. Most of these winches have traveled from rig to rig as I got other rigs. The winches I have now, both Warns, have seen a huge amount of abuse in the 6 years that I have owned these and I haven't had any trouble with them.
I know people who have used the Tabor winches with good luck and the same for the SuperWinch. Like I said, base your choice on the wallet and what you expect to do with the winch. If you are going to abuse the crap out of it, then a Warn or Ramsey is going to be the better choice as they will last through the abuse..One of the reasons that these two are the only winches that you see on tow trucks and most of those are Ramsey winches. If you expect only frequent use, but not excessive, then the SuperWinch or Tabor will probably do just fine. If you only want a winch for the one time a year when you really need one, then a Bulldog may be OK.
I wouldn't own a Chicago Electric winch unless it was for pulling an ATV onto a trailer.
I too have heard good things about Superwinch. You might also check out Tabor winches, as they are made by Warn but are cheaper. Good friend of mine runs a Tabor and it works really well. I personally have a Ramsey and like it.
I have the Smittybults 10k & 8k on both front and rear, they do okay for pulling your self out of a jamb but I have learned that they are not for repeated pulling like say more than one vehicle up a slope one after the other w/o a good cool down period. Also Rob in their customer service dept SUCKS azz, he won't take your calls let alone return a call, even the guys at 4wheel parts on federal complain about him.
I just bought a supperwinch EP12.5 for my Little truckgot rid of the warn it was to fast and got me in to a bad . spot one to many times:toilet:
i'm not gonna be any help, but i have a bulldog winch(brand new)3yrs now that was given to me and i've used the hell out of it noshit i've even used it on tonnkatoys beast i might have gotten lucky but i do prefer superwinch or warnbest of luck
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