I think I am going to give the Harbor Freight 12000 lb winch a go. Its on sale for $399 and I found a 20% off coupon which makes it $319.99. Even if it brakes in a year its worth the money.

 

I had a HF one on my old rig and it worked well for the few years I owned the truck. I only winched myself or others probably 4-5 times a year if that.

I miss that rig.

 

Discovery5 thanks for the input, it just seems like a great deal for a winch that size. Did you waterproof it at all?

 

How often do you need a winch? If just occasionally and then for light to medium stuck one of these may be very suitable.
The Wyeth-Scott Co. - portable winches


I have one, and used them in anger, and they are rugged and actually more versatile that a bumper mount winch.
The price went up Jan 1 but this place has a decent price on the 3 ton model.
More Power Puller

Don't forget, with a winch you're going to need a minimum of around $100 of recovery and rigging gear to use it safely.
The advantage of the Wyeth-Scott is that it's about $180 which leaves money for the additional rigging which you can still use with a powered winch when you can afford to get a good one.

 

+1 on the hand winch.

I know what you mean about it being okay if it only lasts a year because of the price, but what if it breaks when you need it most? My T-Maxx failed when I was stuck on private land without a vehicle to recover me. I will be also carrying a hand winch from now on.

 

That looks just like my Maasdam 4 ton come along. Tom and Zack your right on this but for about $100 more the electric one just seems like a good deal. It will be much more simple with the winch to pull tree trunks out and move fallen trees. I never thought about the hand operated one before though.

 

Oh I wasn't saying just do the mechanical one, I was thinking about it being more of a back up for when you go off roading.

 

Thanks Zack for the clarification on that. I guess my come along would be a great secondary then.

 

Check the fit on the big winches. The frame rails on the Land Rover are narrow and not much over 8000 fits between them. Even less will fit with the fairlead centered. That last part only matters if your winch mount is already done. If you're going custom you can offset the fairlead to one side.

A lot of winches are going very wide in the design to move the brake outboard of the drum to accommodate synthetic line. That's what Superwinch did with Talon, and I think Warn just did it with the Zeons but not sure on that.

If you go with a wide winch, it will mount above the frame and block cooling, or below the frame and be in the way of obstacles and out of reach.

 

Come-alongs are no good if you ever wheel with anyone else. I've found most groups are very tolerant of a low-sitting rover and glad to help keep it moving along. But busting out a come-along would certainly test their patience. It's great if your plan is actually to "borrow" someone else's winch or strap. Just tell them about the come-along, and they'll be offering. Considering that, I don't see how it would be even better if you were all alone without any help.