Winch shopping

[Shayne]

My first vehicle winch so i have no experience .

I like the look of this but i'm told its very slow http://www.winchmax.co.uk/products/...b-sl-winchmax-brand-mil-spec-wireless-feature , so i might be better looking for something around the 9000lb mark .

Trawling the web they all look pretty much the same to me and i figure being new all will do what they are supposed to do for a while anyway . So thinking perhaps its worth paying a bit more for something that will work rarely and randomly for years to come might be a good call and this is the front runner at the mo http://www.electricwinchshop.co.uk/tigershark9500sr.html

Unless someone can suggest a better option ?

 

[Gary Stockton]

Speak to David Bowyer at Goodwinch - you won't go wrong. We did a group buy a while back and it was excellent.

http://www.goodwinch.com/

 

[StarCruiser]

Looks nice Shayne. I really should get round to putting my Superwinch Husky 10 on that I've had in the garage for 2 years!

 

[chapel gate]

Slow doesnt bother me, more time to keep an eye on whats going on.
i used to have a goodwinch behind my bumper, i think its turned to dust now..

 

[fbnss]

Got this from the goidwinch guys at the donnington show if it's if any help
( and if you can see the numbers!)

They also said if you get it from them at a show you don't have to pay the vat, guess that depends on how much diesel you have to spend to get to one though.

 

[LC80tim]

Got my tds from thematic the show, with rope and hawse, isolator switch / snatch block / all wiring with cable ties and insulation tape all in the box, well pleased with it £618

 

[stumog]

Good winch to here. seems OK but not that impressed with the pulling power going to have a strip down in the summer.

Good to collect from the farm he owns

 

[LC80tim]

Haven't had to test mine under a good load, will use a snatch block alot of the time though as found it's nearly as quick as doesn't sap the batteries ànd working easier, there's always a bowmotor 2 as upgrade lol ( faster and more powerful )

 

[Shayne]

Looks nice Shayne. I really should get round to putting my Superwinch Husky 10 on that I've had in the garage for 2 years!

I've had an old Ramsey winch buried in my shed for two years Rich and finally got around to testing it yesterday , it worked but groaning and unhappy so i thought right strip it down for a clean and grease and snapped the casing undoing a 10mm bolt using a 5 inch long ratchet so it aint going on my truck .

I am following all this with interest and purchase will be put off until Monday .

Stu's comment echo's a few i've read on the web and reading between the lines it suggests the Goodwinch feels like it might fail but doesn't .

Slow doesn't bother me, more time to keep an eye on whats going on.
i used to have a goodwinch behind my bumper, i think its turned to dust now..

Care to elaborate did it die of old age or ?

This David Bowyer sounds like a star but i do wonder at the fact that he rebuilds new Chinese winches adding seals they might not otherwise have which is great in theory but i guess it must hinder development ?

What i do find interesting is my web trawling of random forums often sees the Goodwinch compared to the budget end competition while the Superwinch is more likely to be compared to Warn .
That said non are great forms of reference as they might be years out of date and like suspension everyone has the best because , well it must be the best because they paid a bloody fortune for it and so they couldn't possibly have made the wrong choice even if there is no way of knowing how it will perform before its fitted .

 

[Julian T]

I have a David Bowyer custom made winch on the front of my beloved, it has performed flawlessly twice to get myself unstuck in the 6 or so years I have had it, and I cant count how often I have used it to remove other stuck vehicles and odd bits of vegetation.

Best bit of advice I can offer is talk to David about what you need, he is both helpful and knowledgeable.
His winches are used by quite a few rover competition drivers.

Side story I dropped in on my local tyre fitters the other day and one of their service gents was mildly curious about Thirsty but could not stop talking about winches and how good Good Winch are when he spotted I had one fitted.

 

[chapel gate]

I've had an old Ramsey winch buried in my shed for two years Rich and finally got around to testing it yesterday , it worked but groaning and unhappy so i thought right strip it down for a clean and grease and snapped the casing undoing a 10mm bolt using a 5 inch long ratchet so it aint going on my truck .

I am following all this with interest and purchase will be put off until Monday .

Stu's comment echo's a few i've read on the web and reading between the lines it suggests the Goodwinch feels like it might fail but doesn't .



Care to elaborate did it die of old age or ?

This David Bowyer sounds like a star but i do wonder at the fact that he rebuilds new Chinese winches adding seals they might not otherwise have which is great in theory but i guess it must hinder development ?

What i do find interesting is my web trawling of random forums often sees the Goodwinch compared to the budget end competition while the Superwinch is more likely to be compared to Warn .
That said non are great forms of reference as they might be years out of date and like suspension everyone has the best because , well it must be the best because they paid a bloody fortune for it and so they couldn't possibly have made the wrong choice even if there is no way of knowing how it will perform before its fitted .

I went to use It last year and It made some awful grumbling noises. Its very badly corroded to the point of a small hole has appeared in the aluminium. Ive had it about four years i think. I need to get it off and see if it can be fixed and painted up.

its not used often and sat under there at the front of the vehicle wont do it any good. But i expected a better finish

 

[LC80tim]

The thing that swung it for me was the brake being at the end and not in the drum, using rope rather than cable that's a big plus, last winch was a superwinch and it melted the bottom layer even with shield on it, think the lower end of superwinch is also made on China these days

 

[chapel gate]

I was happy with its performance and the service from david. I went with the 12000 lb because I wanted it slow and the extra pull is handy for logging,pulling sheds down and shifting packs of bricks etc..

 

[Shayne]

The thing that swung it for me was the brake being at the end and not in the drum, using rope rather than cable that's a big plus, last winch was a superwinch and it melted the bottom layer even with shield on it, think the lower end of superwinch is also made on China these days

I hadn't realized you have a Superwinch Tim until i read the above immediately after reading this https://expeditionreport.com/2015/06/22/gear-review-superwinch-tiger-shark-9500-sr/

I agree on the China thing , it goes some way to explaining Warn's prices .

 

[clivehorridge]

I wish I could constructively comment on this thread, but feel I can't.

I've only ever had one winch and that is a Superwinch 9.0 bought new and fitted 11 years ago. I've used it quite a lot and abused it on occasions. I've given it a partial strip down once to grease some of the intrnals, but that's it.

I'll treat it to a new rope this year as the old one is looking a bit "fluffy" in places.

It is slow, but that doesn't bother me. It has a plugged cable remote, which is OK, but I really would like a wireless operated remote, mainly for when I'm on my own for spooling out the rope.

For some reason, the freespool has always been very stiff, and rarely can I just release the clutch and run with it, like you see on youtoob.

If you're prepared to spend more, then I'd be tempted to get one with a remote operated clutch, because the number of times I've climbed back into the truck with remote in hand to start winching and then found that the manual clutch is still disengaged, is embarrassing as well as bloody annoying.

Remember, most times you're winching, it's wet, it's muddy, you're boots are clagged with the stuff, you're tired, your hands are cold muddy and can't grip anymore, you've walked what seems like miles in clag to find a suitable tree, you've lugged blocks and straps and worse still lengths of chain (maybe) up steep slippery banks and actually, you're quite knackered.

Anything to make winching easier is a blessing, not a luxury, IMO, so at whatever cost, my next winch will be a bit higher spec than this one, but otherwise, no complaints with the Superwinch 9.0 which is already way out of date when I look at it's current comparative models.

 

[flint]

Has anyone tried the hydraulic winch running from the power steering pump idea ? Probably too much faff and cost for occasional use.

 

[Julian T]

Has anyone tried the hydraulic winch running from the power steering pump idea ? Probably too much faff and cost for occasional use.

IMO best if for competition use and better still if a PTO driven dedicated hydraulic pump is used.

And if memory serves me correctly I think someone on this forum has done the power steering pump for hydraulic winch thing, cant recall how well that worked out.

 

[silvercruiser]

I Had a warn 9.5 on my Defender and it performed everytime i needed it too. it sat on the front with no cover, only the plastic coating on the metal parts flaked off, i just touched it up with some two pack paint we use.
it did cost a fair bit but normally you get what you pay for.

 

[LC80tim]

I hadn't realized you have a Superwinch Tim until i read the above immediately after reading this https://expeditionreport.com/2015/06/22/gear-review-superwinch-tiger-shark-9500-sr/

I agree on the China thing , it goes some way to explaining Warn's prices .

Had a superwinch EP16500 on the disco, beast of a winch that was slow but could single line pull anything did upgrade the motor to a bowmotor 1 and run it with 12mm dyneema, wanted something that had a faster no load speed this time so went for the goodwinch, used the superwinch mostly for recovering others at p&p days as disco had air lockers front and rear with 35's so was very capable lol

 

[StarCruiser]

Superwinch are very helpful and good with parts. The Husky mentioned above came to me, little used, off a Thames boat at 24V. I bought a brand new 12v motor from Superwinch and swapped the motor over.

Clive, your winch could be converted to wireless remote and freespool. Some have kits available. If you want full control over the freespool, a four channel radio remote is best. Look at Lodar over the cheap Chinese ones as they are super reliable. They just wire into the back of the socket you plug your remote into.

You can attach a solenoid to your freespool lever. Not sure how but it has to be possible. For a two channel remote, a bit of wiring and a switch could make the freespool click back on the "winch in" button before actually operating the winch.