Best winch to buy?

[camel_landy]

Genuine question: Do you actually need a winch?

My personal preference is for a Turfor hand winch. With one of those, you can pull from any direction. With a vehicle mounted winch, you can only ever pull in the one direction... Usually forwards and further into the clag!

However, if you are going to nail one to the front of the car, you're going to need a few more £££ coz you'll also need:

Something to mount it on.
Batteries.
Different front springs.

M

[mcjimny]

camel_landy said:

Genuine question: Do you actually need a winch?

My personal preference is for a Turfor hand winch. With one of those, you can pull from any direction. With a vehicle mounted winch, you can only ever pull in the one direction... Usually forwards and further into the clag!

However, if you are going to nail one to the front of the car, you're going to need a few more £££ coz you'll also need:

Something to mount it on.
Batteries.
Different front springs.

M

Plus:
Tree strops
Ground Anchor
Maybe a snatchblock

There might not always be someone to winch off.


I'd have a play in it as it is and wait until you find you really need a winch. If you find you're getting it more and more stuck then look at investing in one.
Ones i see frequently are Warn 8274's and goodwinch tds9.5 i know some guys who use the goodwinch on their challenge trucks.

[BIG DUNC]

I have a good winch 9.5i and it is very good.

I am not saying it is the best, as it is the only winch I have ever had so I cannot compare, just that it does the job.

Consider spending extra money and buying rope rather than wire. Much easier to handle and much lighter.

[Jonny TVR]

camel_landy said:

Genuine question: Do you actually need a winch?

My personal preference is for a Turfor hand winch. With one of those, you can pull from any direction. With a vehicle mounted winch, you can only ever pull in the one direction... Usually forwards and further into the clag!

However, if you are going to nail one to the front of the car, you're going to need a few more £££ coz you'll also need:

Something to mount it on.
Batteries.
Different front springs.

M

I bought a hand winch for £50 a couple of weeks ago and they work well. Got stuck on a lane last week and used it easily to get me out. Much cheaper than the electric winch and can use on the back of the truck as well. Only downside is that it has about a 7ft distance for pulling out before you have to adjust the rope and winch again if you know what I mean.

[camel_landy]

Jonny TVR said:

I bought a hand winch for £50 a couple of weeks ago and they work well. Got stuck on a lane last week and used it easily to get me out. Much cheaper than the electric winch and can use on the back of the truck as well. Only downside is that it has about a 7ft distance for pulling out before you have to adjust the rope and winch again if you know what I mean.

Check out the Turfor hand winches coz they will keep pulling as long as you've got enough rope.

M

[Godzuki]

If you are going to get a winch fitted, get one front and rear. You WILL at some point need pulling out backwards. I used to run with a chain block thrown in the back of the car. Worked a treat!

[bigblock]

camel_landy said:

Check out the Turfor hand winches coz they will keep pulling as long as you've got enough rope.

M

I have never heard of a Turfor, I think you mean a Tirfor winch.

The problem with a Tirfor is that it takes a while to set it up and then put it all away again which can be a pain in the ass when you need to use it on more than one occassion. The other problem with them is that they are very slow and if you need to move the vehicle more than a few metres it can get a bit frustrating.

There is not much of a saving to be made between a budget electic winch and a Tirfor rated for around 9000lbs. For the type of offroading the OP is doing an electric winch will be a handy tool to have and a lot less hassle than a Tirfor.

Here is a photo of a Tirfor and all the other bits to get you out of the mud

[normalbloke]

bigblock said:

I have never heard of a Turfor, I think you mean a Tirfor winch.

"Hassle"

Agreed.

[camel_landy]

bigblock said:

I have never heard of a Turfor, I think you mean a Tirfor winch.

Yep, typo...

bigblock said:

The problem with a Tirfor is that it takes a while to set it up and then put it all away again which can be a pain in the ass when you need to use it on more than one occassion.

If you're using an electric winch properly, then that too takes a while to setup & break down.

bigblock said:

The other problem with them is that they are very slow and if you need to move the vehicle more than a few metres it can get a bit frustrating.

I never said they were quick and unless you're doing a winch challenge event, speed isn't usually an issue.

bigblock said:

There is not much of a saving to be made between a budget electic winch and a Tirfor rated for around 9000lbs. For the type of offroading the OP is doing an electric winch will be a handy tool to have and a lot less hassle than a Tirfor.

Cost is not the point, it's the versatility. If you're stuck, the easiest way of getting un-stuck is usually to come out the same way you went in... i.e. backwards. When you mount a winch to the car, it usually goes on the front... Not much help if you want to go backwards.

Then, if you're using your winch correctly, you'll know that you should be pulling in a straight line. How often do you find anchor points directly in front of your winch?? So, you end up having to rig up an angled pull.

bigblock said:

Here is a photo of a Tirfor and all the other bits to get you out of the mud

OK... Now post up a photo of all the bits you need for an electric winch. I think you'll find it's the same, if not more when you include the other bots to mount & power the winch.

I know it's not as "cool" but IMO, unless you actually have a use for a vehicle mounted winch and know what you're doing with it... Don't bother!

M

PS... Don't forget that we haven't even touched on the safety aspects of winching, nor have we talked about servicing, etc...

[normalbloke]

Please do, it's almost bed time. Got to be better than counting sheep!

[West4x4]

I had a warn 9.5XP on my defender. Amazing bit of kit unlike the cheaper ones which always stop working when you need em most. The "goldfish" waterproofed ones from goodwinch are a great cheaper option the warn was close to £1000 new. But as said mounted on the front they only pull yourself into more trouble. On the back is more practicle for green lanning as can pull yourself back to decent ground or pull motors behind yoalongs u through dodgy areas as you can make it through em first. Id get a Tifor for green lanning can use it front back side on other vehicles and they dont look as offensive to ramblers. The electic winches are more suited to competitons and quarry play days

[normalbloke]

The other opinion is that you shouldn't need a winch for any green lane, and if you do, you shouldn't be on it.

[camel_landy]

normalbloke said:

The other opinion is that you shouldn't need a winch for any green lane, and if you do, you shouldn't be on it.

Good point, well presented...

[SmokinV8]

I'd also reccomend the Goldfish winches from Bowyer, very good bits of kit.

No ones mentioned yet that when you do have an electric winch on your vehicle you will be surprised at how many times that you do use it for other tasks. Ive pulled out countless tree stumps and unwanted bushes, moved bulk bags of shingle and recovered my fork lift when attemting to drive over sufaces it was never meant to go!

Oh and synthetic rope is well worth the added expense.

[NEAM]

normalbloke said:

The other opinion is that you shouldn't need a winch for any green lane, and if you do, you shouldn't be on it.

Totally agree. Warn make some of the best winches, but the whole point is do you need one?

[OrangeD]

What winch and whether you need one or not is completely dependent on what your offroad intensions are. If your just green laning around Salisbury plane as long as your careful about what you drive into you shouldn't need a winch. If your laning with other people there will generally be someone around to pull you back out the way you went in.
If your trying to get somewhere though, sometimes the only way is through clag
I had a instance around Marlborough where there was a long steady gradient with a chalk base which was wet and no matter how much run up we got we couldn't clear it so winching was the only option and it was probably 2or3 pulls with a 100' rope I definitely wouldn't have done that with a tirfor

[normalbloke]

OrangeD said:

What winch and whether you need one or not is completely dependent on what your offroad intensions are. If your just green laning around Salisbury plane as long as your careful about what you drive into you shouldn't need a winch. If your laning with other people there will generally be someone around to pull you back out the way you went in.
If your trying to get somewhere though, sometimes the only way is through clag
I had a instance around Marlborough where there was a long steady gradient with a chalk base which was wet and no matter how much run up we got we couldn't clear it so winching was the only option and it was probably 2or3 pulls with a 100' rope I definitely wouldn't have done that with a tirfor

I love the planes around Salisbury, fast and loud....mostly.