The Winch Thread 2012

[chopper]

I like my hydraulic for sure, and it suits my needs but I reckon that for occasional use there's nothing wrong with a good electric winch.
I've never seen the need for the extra fluid volume, but the dump valve should be mandatory.

[Thommo3337]

I do believe that most of the warn winches aren't waterproof which alot of the cheap Chinese are. My mate had a good warn winch bought it off his brother and had been through 2 river crossings and was stuffed he thought it would be waterproof for the money that it cost only tonne told by arb that they arnt and every time u do a river crossing u should roll out the wire and dry wd40 etc and wind back in he could not believe it! Been told that tiger 1 are sealed not bad for less than a third of the price. Tabor are warns budget brand between 1000-3000 over here 500 in the us would be interested to hear how people have found these? I myself have bought an aldi winch and am awaiting a bull bar to install!

[Naff]

Just a quick comment from me on my experience with my winch.

I have a T-Max 9000lb winch with some Dyneema Rope which I used for the first time in late April. The winch performed well for 2 hefty pulls and on the third pull the rope shifted from a protected position on to a rock and subsequently snapped. I don't suggest anyone should stand near any winching operation but it was noted that there is little to no energy in a rope snapping and it just falls limply to the ground.

This, however, isn't the issue I am writing about. It just happens that since the rope broke, we were able to determine a problem with the winch. As we were pulling off the snapped rope, I noted that it was melted and that the protective sheath at the end of the drum was also damaged. We started to load a new rope that was spare. Upon taking it off again to shorten it we noted the rope was warm to touch and then found the drum to be abnormally hot.

I sent an email to T-Max that evening and received a phone call the next morning to discuss. It appears that the drum brake requires adjustment i.e. the brake is on the whole time.

Overall I'm still very happy with the winch and have been extra happy with the support T-Max has offered so far. It is going in tomorrow to be repaired (new brake) and they are supplying a new Dyneema Rope. Despite the mistake being mine for the rope breakage, which I was willing to accept, had it not broken I doubt I would have found the melted rope which no doubt would have caused problems later on.

Probably the thing to take away from this and something that chopper teaches is, check your rope (or wire) regularly, no matter what winch you have. They all have parts that can fail.

Finally, whilst it is still early to give rave reviews about the winch, I can highly recommend Geoff at T-Max based on the level of support and willingness to help thus far.

[g_mac]

Geez Naff that could have been a lot worse - glad to hear there were no injuries
Taking mine in to get the winch fitted tomorrow - hopefully take it for a test run over the weekend.

I'd be interested to hear more about the waterproof winches Thommo... ARB have been quite upfront that my Warn XP9.5 won't be waterproof. They've also "warned" that it will require a lot of maintenance and needs to be run all the way out and back in under load (monthly at minimum) to keep it running properly.

They said if I wasn't likely to be doing all the regular maintenance on it, not to waste my money.

[Homer]

Yes I can vouch for Naff's rope snapping and subsequent safe "flop" that occurred. Very happy and relieved at the time.
What I would like to add was that we had a few recovery's at that time using a number of different winches and while pulling the rope out I thought Naff's was a fair bit harder to free spool compared to one or two others....rope winches tend to almost overspool they are that easy.
At the time I put it down to just being a different brand of winch (we had 4 or 5 different winches from memory - one with wire) which on reflection should have been a sign that something possibly wasn't right and we should have mentioned it for inspection.
I guess sometimes small things like that are easy to overlook in the heat of the moment but we could have saved a rope and a potential accident by mentioning it....

Oh...and the Aldi winches performed flawlessly other than a hand control issue

[Thommo3337]

Sorry there are no completely waterproof winches around but warn aren't even close they have an issue with old and outdated technology the bloke that sells warn locally stopped recommending them due to the high amount of returns he now ops for King one which is a lot cheaper more water resistant flogged the warns in a winch trial and in over 60 units sold he said he hasn't had 1 returned yet which he said is unheard of with any product sold. I personally have no experience with any winch and am just portraying what I have been told.

[TUFF TROOP]

The tigers winches u can get in water proof set ups, my mate has one on his comp Hilux, it's two speed , has breathers etc. pretty dam good winch too

[gauci204]

Does anyone know how many metres of wire rope are on the aldi winches?

i want to replace the wire roap with Dyneema before the winch and bull bar gets fitted at the end of the month and i want to get the rope sorted out this week.

am i best to replace it with thicker Dyneema, or keep it to similar diameter and fit longer length?

cheers

chris

[Cowboy Dave]

I had 30 metres of Boycee's heavier Dyneema on mine and it only just fit. But I think that was maybe the 12mm which is rated much heavier than the Triton is so query whether you need that?

[gauci204]

Hi CD,


thansk for the reply. i've never had to recover myself or someone else via winch which is why i thought i had better seek the advice of NTN. im not sure which is more beneficial - having a bit more rope of the 10mm dia which is i think 9000 or 10000lbs rated, or going a bit thicker 11m/12mm and sticking with the 30m length

thoughts guys?

chris

[Cowboy Dave]

I did both I've still got the thick stuff on but bought some nice silver stuff a bit longer from ebay for when I stuff the old one.... I figured the heavier the better but in retrospect I'd rather the rope fail than pull the bar off or bent the chassis or the winch or something. I'm far from an expert but now that I've seen rope break, I'd rather that was my weakest link than something more serious on the truck.

[smlr]

When buying a winch the thing to look out for is to find out if the winch motor is rebuildable & if it is ,can you get parts for it. I think nearly every electric winch after a while will need to be pulled apart & checked to see if bushes or bearings are worn or seized, brushes are not worn, cracked or corroded & check insulator condition. A winch is like a starter motor in terms of current draw so if used a lot, it wont take long to burn out & having parts for it will give you the option of rebuilding it & saving money.

[mattz]

Gauchi.....you can always buy a winch extension strap to

[gauci204]

Too true. Looks lke 30m x 10mm it is then

[Snooozy]

before fitting rope consider the type of terrain you will be traveling.

If is more sandy or flat ground rope will be fine.

I had been considering changing mine over for a while, the benefits are all well known (weight saving, safety, able to re-join if broken etc).
However, after the last high country trip I am reconsidering if that is the best option

I not only had to winch myself up a fairly steep hill but also 3 or 4 others once I had gotten to the top. The problem was that the cable was rubbing quite hard on the rocky ground. I was pleased that I had not changed out the cable, if it had been rope I would be needing to replace it now as there would definitely been some cuts & possibly breakages.
A break while recovering on a steep hill could have some nasty consequences if the vehicle being winched starts to slide uncontrollably

So back to the first comment, if its rocky steep ground the cable is far better. I think I will stay with cable for now.

If the winch is not used a lot you could also remove the cable & lighten the bar weight for the daily commute between trips.

[motoz]

That's sage advice Snooozy. As mine was one of the vehicles that needed assistance getting up that hill I thought the same thing.

The recoveries involved a full winch cable plus two extension straps. I was watching the cable graze across the top of the rocks on the ground. If it had have been a rope and it was cut my vehicle would have slid uncontrollably down the slippery clay track.

[snowman]

Further to Snooozy's comments;

to all of you who rely on other peoples winches.

when winching yourself (single line pull) your rope does NOT move relative to the ground, so you can easily protect your cable/rope with a suitable means. However when you are winching someone else it is moving relative to the ground and in my opinion far more liable to damage.

There should be a rule, if the winch rope breaks while you are 'borrowing' its assistance, you pay for a busted rope.

winches are pretty cheap now and plenty of sub $1000 options. so anyone doing pretty serious trips requiring winching should probably get one. if you are buying a bar give yourself the 'option' buy getting winch compatible even if you don't 'think' you might need it. plenty of people on this site didn't 'think' they would even use their Triton off road let alone modify it.

"life is all about options"

rope is FAR safer. the sound of stretching cable under high tension makes everyone wince, the sound of breaking rope is spectacularly boring.

[Dunga71]

So if a 9.5 winch takes say 30m of cable how much rope could you fit on it ?obviously 3om min but would you squeeze more on,im guessing its been done

[mattz]

Snooozey......further to your comments about the winching and rocks.
When you were winching the others up you could have positioned yourself further toward the crest of the hill which would have lessened or eliminated the rope rubbing on the rock.
Otherwise you can purchase rope protector like this
http://www.roadrunneroffroad.com.au/Win ... -2mtr.html
Or use an old jumper or tarp to protect the rope.
If you were using a rope you would naturally accomadate for these things.
The safety of the rope far outweighs any disadvantage.
Here's a vid of another recovery on the same part of the same track with little or no rope rubbing on rocks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbqz2j8y ... ata_player
All I'm saying is you would approach things differently with differant equipment......and don't be put off buying a rope.

[snowman]

Snooozey......further to your comments about the winching and rocks.
When you were winching the others up you could have positioned yourself further toward the crest of the hill which would have lessened or eliminated the rope rubbing on the rock.
Otherwise you can purchase rope protector like this
http://www.roadrunneroffroad.com.au/Win ... -2mtr.html
Or use an old jumper or tarp to protect the rope.
If you were using a rope you would naturally accomadate for these things.
The safety of the rope far outweighs any disadvantage.
Here's a vid of another recovery on the same part of the same track with little or no rope rubbing on rocks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbqz2j8y ... ata_player
All I'm saying is you would approach things differently with differant equipment......and don't be put off buying a rope.

couldn't have said it better myself.

[Homer]

Yep I'm a rope man for sure.

After the butt clenching pings and twangs as a wire rope stretches - and watching winching from crouched down in the back seat because of that I would risk rope and buy extra protection every time.

There is no doubt a snapped winch rope can be a dangerous thing as the winched car can come crashing backwards - and it is more likely - but the safety difference swayed me big time...that and the weight.

[Snooozy]

Snooozey......further to your comments about the winching and rocks.
When you were winching the others up you could have positioned yourself further toward the crest of the hill which would have lessened or eliminated the rope rubbing on the rock.
Otherwise you can purchase rope protector like this
http://www.roadrunneroffroad.com.au/Win ... -2mtr.html
Or use an old jumper or tarp to protect the rope.
If you were using a rope you would naturally accommodate for these things.
The safety of the rope far outweighs any disadvantage.
Here's a vid of another recovery on the same part of the same track with little or no rope rubbing on rocks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbqz2j8y ... ata_player
All I'm saying is you would approach things differently with different equipment......and don't be put off buying a rope.

fair call there Mattz, & I do agree, rope is MUCH safer.
As I had not had much winching experience I followed the direction of Wellhung & we both agreed on the positioning of my vehicle on that recovery, I was a little reluctant to place my Tri much further forward due to the drop-off & wanting to keep the track clear for the rest of the convoy to have a good run up.
I was not aware of the sleeves you posted a reference to & they do look like a good option & as you say, if you have rope fitted you would take the precautions to protect it anyway.
Now I will have to re-consider my thoughts on cable vs rope

[mattz]

Sorry mate.......more money to spend.

[borngeek]

Rope FTW. Simply put safe, light.


IF, in the event of a slippy steep recovery, where there is a risk that a snap would endanger the vehicle being recovered, use a snatch strap, extension or chain etc as fall back safety (no load on it, just a catch/safety line) that is continuously moved up as the recovery progresses.

Better to take a long time to safely recover vehicles than damage vehicles or people.

I have spent the good part of 5-6 hours to get as many cars up a 25 meter piece of track.
With the cable in my winch I was the mug terrified in the back seat. It is being replaced with 4wdsupplies rope

//Would never want to be present if a cable snapped. I would stand over the top of a snapping rope, it is a non event, that I have seen for myself.

[Bennys]

Yeah I had a winch rope snap in a deep mud recovery and fling into the back of my old pajero.... barely knocked any dust off the back door when it hit.


Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2