winch choices

[Winter Beater]

I'm starting to pull together ideas for the front bumpers -so the starting point for me would be the type of winch so I know it's baseplate size. Is a 150 lb Warn m15000 completely silly? Or is this a good choice for a 712? It is a little pricey, but experience tells me that I don't save anything in the long run by cutting corners on tools.

[Gear]

Is a 150 lb Warn m15000 completely silly? Or is this a good choice for a 712? It is a little pricey, but experience tells me that I don't save anything in the long run by cutting corners on tools.

I think it is way overkill for a Pinzgauer. I would find a 9-9.5k winch and add a synthetic line to it(keep the weight down). Honestly I don't even think a winch is a necessity on a Pinzgauer. At least here in Southern California. I don't plan on getting it stuck in mud. My bigger concern would be flopping it on its side. If this happens I think I would be better off with a Come Along(Hand winch) or a Hi Lift Jack set up for winching. If you do decide to get a 9500 winch just add a snatch block and you have almost doubled your pulling power. 18,000 pounds of pulling power you better have something large on the other end to pull off of. Below is a review on the Black Rat Come Along.


http://www.4x4wire.com/reviews/eopwinch/

I would like to hear some of your examples of where you might need a winch?

[4x4Pinz]

I have carried one of the Black Rats for years and would not even consider a vehicle mounted winch anymore. The versatility is just too great with these winches. One other great advantage is its portable and can go in any vehicle so you don't have to buy one for each 4x (or 6x) you own. I used it at one of the RMP treffens and now the RMP club owns one. Once you get to see them in action you quickly realize that it is a better option, besides it always works no matter what condition your batteries are in.

[Profpinz]

Hand winches have there place but for serious winching there is no substitute for a powered winch (electric, hydraulic, mechanical etc)

About 10 years ago I was on a trip on a seriously steep track and it was raining....the six Swampers were just spinning on the slick clay and so we had to winch with a hand winch/Tirfor ...it was before I fitted an electric winch.
It took two of us in turns nearly 4 hours of hand winching to get out of the situation and I would have sold my soul on that day for a powered winch

Yes hand winches are versatile and more useful than a powered winch in some recovery situations, or for simply dragging the vehicle back on line etc, but for your average forward recovery you can't beat the speed or ease of a powered unit.



I fitted an 8000 lb Warn winch because I didn't want a unit that was not too big physically and not excessively heavy.
Given the shape and form of the Pinzgauer front cross-member, and the fact that the top of the cross-member (where the winch mounts) is not in line with the chassis or centre line of the drivetrain I have opted to restrict heavy recovery operations by the capacity of the winch.
For this reason during difficult and heavy recovery operations I always prefer to use a double line pull with the end of the cable attached to the recovery tow points welded to the lower portion of the cross-member just in front of the front differential.

[Winter Beater]

Thanks for the info. I had found several surplus 24V M15000 and given the Pinz is 5000 lb dry the 15,000 looked reasonable. At least until I read the specs (cable7/16", wt 150 lbs)> then I thought to ask.

I think the hand winch is a good idea and the club owns one already. I only plan to fabricate the front bumper once so I'll look for a inexpensive 8,000 version for the long hauls or pulling logs. From previous posts I see that Harbor Freight has some that would work for intermittant use.

[4x4Pinz]

Mark has a harbor freight unit on his and has used it a few times to recover others, still going strong.