Cheap winches... How good are they?

hi boo

read the specs 1500kg pull yr 4by would weigh more than that let alone stuck in the mud or sand.

save yr money and buy a proven brand.

its no good spending the money on a cheap winch for it to be of no use when u need it most.

gra

This doesn't even get into the real vs chinese winch discussion. This is a boat winch

Have a look at this recent tests (last 2 pages)
http://media.offroader.com.au/4wsa/autumn2006/4WheelingSAautumn2006%20pages31to45.pdf

and (first few pages)

http://media.offroader.com.au/4wsa/autumn2006/4WheelingSAautumn2006%20pages46to60.pdf

I recon for the money these could be fine. Firstly if your not hard core off roading most of the "stuck" situations could be just out of reach for the 4x4 doing it on it's own. So in this situation 1500kg is easily going to help. Also you can use this think to help others out and pull yourself out in reverse by attacthing it to a tree behind you. As for reliability its such a simple thing you could rewire it with quality gear in 20 mins + if the motor fails I bet its one of those $10 chinese things you can buy at heaps of places for probably $50 retail. I cant see why it wouldnt be good for occasional use especially as 1500kg, even 1000kg can go a long way in heaps of situations.

The problem with this gear is that it encourages you to go where you shouldn't. "I've got that winch, we'll be right." And of course that's when it will fail.
If you're a weekend warrier then just phone a friend. But for anything else, forget it, it's false economy.
After all, when you're deep in the doo doo you want something that will get you out, right ?

cheap stuff? my experience has shown that its generally "you pay for what you get"

That being said

A) I have a mate who bought two ozito rotary hammer drills...one to be retained as a spare untill the first one carked it after a couple of months of daily drilling......it, the first one is still going strong after two years...... used every day... the new one is still in its box....

B) when I first met who is now my swmbo i thought to my self ...hell this one's cheap to take out......so i made her my wife........i must have have been drunk, or I work em too hard, cos she sure cost plenty to maintain....not allowed to trade in for new model

Boo

The Whyalla & Districts 4WD Club are currently doing a comparison on one of these Cheap Chinese winches, versus A Repco special versus a proper Warn winch. For the first in a series of articles go to www.4wheelingsa.org and download the latest edition. Having been present at the first lot of testing shown in the photo's I can say that the Chinese job performed just as well as the others, although I can not comment on the reliability or longevity of the winch after only 3 line pulls on each winch.

Kind Regards

Snowy

If your going to spend 3-4 hundred and only want it occaisionally then my sugestion would be a hand winch, it will pull you backwards, forwards, sideways even up or down .........lol

and if you've ever had to swing off the handle of one, then you wont be too keen on getting stuck too often which then becomes a extra bonus

they are much more versatile than a front mounted vehicle winch (not that they aren't good) especially if your on your own.

Glen A.

Hi Boo

I have had a 'Tirfor' hand winch with a snatch block for 20 years and would not have anything else, unless I was going out to get bogged for the fun of it!

Benefits of a hand/cable winch are reliability, versatility of use, can tansfer between different vehicles unlike a fitted winch, and lighter in weight. Used with a snatch block (which halves effort required and travel distance with each movement of the handle but increases pull power x2) , I have pulled large 4bys out of black soil bogs where their own electric winches could not. Not saying you do not get a sweat up , but for the times you have to get bogged, a cheap price to pay.

Winching is dangerous and cheap electric winches I think is asking for trouble.

yeah i bought one awhile ago have not give it a work out yet.
what confused me is the sticker says wind on drum this way but when
you hit the in button it goes out.
so is the sticker wrong or the switch wired up wrong ????

Id say good for a car trailer and boat’s but not a 4WD recovery operation.

Thanks to all who replied,
Most of the experiances and views are greatly appreciated to help bolster my own knowledge, Unfortunatly I have to agree with most views that they are too light weight to bother with and that something like the Turfer would probly be a better option cosidering the limited funds available. I will admit that I have bought some cheap tools in the past for the very rare jobs that might require a once off type tool and they have been very good when used remembering to use them within their limitations.

Unfortunatly there are a few morons out there that have to add in their useless and worthless opinions trying to either bignote themselves or try and be funny, all I can say to them is 'Get a life'.