Well I'm finally in the market for a winch and I was wondering what kind any of you use? I'm not very familiar with them but they have saved my Rover plenty of times to know that they are a must.

 

The best you can afford, 8500lbs is the min you need for these trucks.

 

something you need to pay attention to is whether the motor is water proof or not. it is not necessarily a necessity to have it be water proof, however if it isn't you don't want it continuously exposed to the elements.

 

I've always figured 3X the weight of the truck, that would put the ideal in the 12,000 range, bigger is always better. (actually anything will help so the 8500 may get you out of a mudhole but the 12k will pull you up into a tree)

 

The rule of thumb is 2x the max loaded weight of your truck and a min of 650 amp battery and a 60 amp alt.
That is right off of the Warn winch web site.

 

Thanks guys, I'll be looking around for the right one. Last thing I need is pos that gives out on me the moment I need it

 

I know a lot of people buy warn winches. But as a recreational user I bought my winch as a last resort of use. My goal is not to use the winch. With that being said I purchased an Engo 9000 with Synthetic line. The few times I have used it, it worked perfect. The box came with everything I needed and with the synthetic line it is much lighter. Yes it is made in China but that is life. I unfortunately am not made of $$ so I had to weigh out the cost versus probability of frequent use.

Engo 9000S

 

I bought the 12000 lb one from harbor freight. I think it was on sale for around 300. I have the harbor freight 9000 lb on my trailer and have used it to winch many rovers in various states of repair onto the trailer. It has never given me any trouble. The Warn winches are better and if I were going exploring in the Arctic, I would have chosen one of those. The hf ones are made by badlands winches and are made in china just like nearly everything else anymore. IMO they are a good product for the money.

 

I bought a Smittybilt 8500 lb for mine. It was $280 delivered. It has worked for me! Make sure you also get a ****** block and plenty of straps. Using the winch with 1 layer on the drum to start the pull gives you the most power, so you want enough extra recovery gear to allow you to set the line up as needed to get you out. Good winching technique can make an 8,500 lb. winch pull harder than a 10,000 lb. winch.

 

Alot depends on the type of wheeling you will be doing and how often you may need to use it.
There are a lot of really cheap winches on the market, might be OK for the occasional, light use, but if you are going hard core, stay with a 8500 pound plus Warn or Super winch which cosy a lot more bit are much better built for the long haul.
Also, as Spike mentioned, Warn will mention on their light winches that a good 650 CCA battery will do for occasional use, but most go up to a 1000 CCA or dual batteries cause a really hard pull requires up to 450 amps and a light battery can't make that sort of a pull.
Synthetic rope is a huge and expensive plus if you wheel alot. Also a strong bumper and lift are needed.
Let us know what you find.