David Harrington replied:

Hi Gary,

I am only new to 4WD so I am probably not the best person to answer your question. I have just purchased a second hand Tirfor through the Trading Post for $300. These retail as you would be aware at anything up to $800. I was originally looking at one of the Taiwanese lookalikes but was not happy with the engineering of the gripper assembly for the cable. My advice would be to look out for a good second hand Tirfor.

Hope this helps.

Dave

luke salzmann replied:

gary arb in perth have a hand winch wchich has all the same specs as the tirfor but is only $415
LUKE

Linda replied:

Hi Gary,
We did a trip around Oz for a year and came back this year. It was wonderful and you guys will have a great time (very jealous). We took a 2nd-hand tirfor (cost was less than $300 I think) and travelled alone and had no problems. Maybe you could put a wanted ad in the Forum or check the Quokka if you're in Perth. Good luck and enjoy your trip.
Linda

Mark Callaghan replied:

Hi Gary
I've had a Tirfor for 20 years (bought it 2nd hand then!) and has never had a problem. I've had no involvement with other brands but ii've found that over thew years the cheap imitations are just thet.

Tim replied:

Gary,
I've had a bit of experience with hand winches and basically if you get the real thing, you'll be right, when you get the cheaper bleep ty japenese ones with an ARB sticker that sell for $200 less, then you taking a big gamble.
Tim

Darrin replied:

Gary, like most things you get what you pay for. Winches can be extremely dangerous under load if they break and murphys law it will break when you don't want it to. My advise pay the money and buy a Tirfor or equivalent. The extra cost well and truly compensates when it comes to safety and reliability. Have a great trip.

Brett replied:

Get the Tirfor.

Most of the Hire companies use Tirfor winches because the rarely fail and availability of spare parts are guaranteed. I have a T532, which is the big one, and it will lift 3200kg and pull 5000kg it cost $165.00 at auction complete with 20 mts wire rope and had only just been certified and tested for the second time. It looks as if had been used once or twice.
I have read that even the lightweight range of tirfor winches are individually tested to 50% overload.

Don't buy a new one keep a look out at the auctions.