mudmauler winch - useful or not?

Brad
Thanks for the tip off. 1 tonne is not much pulling power in mud.

Can't find the thread with the testing though.
EV700

Previous Mud Mauler winch posts

If you are pulling a very short distance (say 2m) in flat terrain- ie: all your wheels just spinning ontop of a hard mud surface, Then they are great. Any other situation I have found leaves you wishing you got an electric, or at least spent a little more to get a real hand winch.

meant to say- click the link then search mud mauler

Is it just a matter of not enough leverage, or are they just not strong enough mechanically? At face value, chain would seem to be stronger (and safer) than cable. I really can't justify the expense and weight of an electric winch for the realistic use it would recieve (little or none), and am poking around at hand winch options.

The biggest problem is their design- they use a drum, so as you take up the slack in the system it increases the effort required, and due to the small drum size they typically have they are only good for 5m or so of wire rope. By the time you have taken up the slack and pulled your car 2m you have to reset the whole system for another 2m pull.
Doing this trying to get over a 3m diameter rock..... you work it out.

A typical hand winch feeds cable through it, so the pull length is as short as the roll of wire rope you possess- generally 8m or more, so there is less hassles, but a slightly higher upfront cost.

Thay don't use a drum at all ... they use a chain gypsy that just feeds the chain through!
I spoke to the manufacturer & thye say it will pull 4.4t static weight

BenSpoon,

Are we talking about the same thing here? I though the Mud Mauler was a chain winch, like in this link:

http://www.4wdmegastores.com.au/products_lz2/winches/mud_mauler

There's no drum or wire rope involved... are your comments about them being crap in reference to this product or another?

Shaker is correct - no drum - doesn't build up tension and manufacturer will back up claims. - called them prior to buying

defintely no wire - maintained and oiled etc, no rust

up against std hand winch they would be sligtly slower due to shorter handle which tends to limit each pull reach.

as far as i'm concerned space is king (espec with added bonus of being a drag chain) especially for something that usually collects dust but is a must have.

couldn't justify $$ on electric winch (and weight) - locker instead is a better investment so you don't get stuck in the 1st place ;-))

it also helps if you've got a LR...

come on bite.

Apologies- That one is different to the one I was talking about- I had seen the names come along, mud mauler, wire rope puller and emergency winch all used to describe the one product - the standard linesman's wire rope winch. I have come across chain winches before, but none that small.
I reckon I may go pick one up- Its a hell of a lot smaller and lighter than my 40kg unit- a 4t lifting PWB Anchor hand winch, and that 40kg doesnt include the 20m coil of 16mm wire rope.

Its the first time I have seen that kind of winch so small. The thing that put me off getting a similar model previously was the cost of the calibrated chain it needed. Got a price for one of those?
Also, do you know if it can indeed run on a standard drag chain?