what specs do I need for a winch?

Yeah sorry I was just reading this catalogue when I spotted you post and figured I would just tag my littlie question on the end.

It may give you something to think about in regards to where you get the winch from, the U.S army uses Mile Marker winches so it isn’t a El Cheepo brand and I dear say they cop some abuse out in the field too, And if they couldn’t take it then they probably wouldn’t be useing em.

Don’t know much about winch prices but if the REPCO ones are $699 and they are a Chinees 9000Lb winch, then I think $1100 for a 12,000Lb name brand winch isn’t a bad deal.

As to the question I will have a go.

1. Most people seem to run a 9500Lb winch on cruisers/ patrols and alike and from what I have read you haven’t got a hope in hell of getting out of a decent or even a mild bog on a single line pull with one of these ankle biters. So that’s Why I mentioned the 12,000 pounder, Do it once do it right

2. You could get a winch mounting Frame made up that will sit behind the standard Bull bar and bolt onto the chasse, or make it your self if you are good with a bit of metal fab and have a welder.

Hi P7
Do u use the power streering pump? if not what size hydrolic pump do u use and where are u driving the pump from?

Mattie

sorry about that i was not writting as fast as i was thinking, (to drive the winch?)was supposed to be in the post above.

Mattie

Yes the Hydraulic winch is powered off the power steering Pump.

Yes, the hydraulic power comes from the power steeting pump. We have also fitted a dump valve that, when activated, allows some steering pressure and winching simultaneously.

Hi P7
Do u do a lot of winching? I was told that it was too hard on the power steering pump, the hydraulic winch to me seems the most sensible option if the power steering pump is up to it.

Mattie

Mattie. Depends on your definition of a 'lot'...

There are plenty of misconceptions about hydraulic winches, best bet it to talk to someone that has one.

I've had them on an old 2H motor, a 1HD-FTE and now on the 3lt Nissan and have never had any problems with them. however I only had the dump valve on this latest truck as not having it did make for some issues on the previous cars, especially when on a sideslope.

sorry to butt in but can somebody tell me why a winch doesn't get quoted in kg or tonns???????????
just curious
fran

I will have a guess, 3 letters, USA.

Good question fran. They mostly orginated in USA who haven't discovered metric.
Here in Aus, 9500lbs rolls off the tongue easier than 4320kgs!!

And the Chinese........well... they just copy :-)))

Hi Phil
We are thinking alike again.

Mounted mine on longer leads to, just managed to squeeze it in between battery and guard, and bonnet just touches it on closing, haven't quite drowned it yet.

Don't like the long leads though, musing about wether to design a fet controller instead, but readliy available fet's only like 200A or so , so you'd need a lot and this tends to put me off.

The gears can come in 3 basic grades, cast, stamped metal power and machined.

My Brawn one has the stronger machined gears and cost more as a result.

Robin Miller

Fran,

It's funny - hand winches are measured in kg, or tonnes, but the electric and hydraulic ones are in pounds. Weird, huh?

Chump

Hi Robin,

Yeah, mine has a space behind the LH Headlight, so should mount easily. I was planning on putting the connector for the controller somewhere easily accessible - maybe near the winch, or even in the cab. Don't like the idea of hoons potentially flattening the vehicle by hooking up to the towbar and turning it on.

Best of luck with the fets. My son races electric cars and their speed controllers have rows of FETs to handle the huge amperage. They are very small too - quite incredible. I don't know what type of gears go into the winch I bought, but a friend who works for them assured me they were upgraded, so I trust him on that one.

Just went thru my Simpson photos - got some great ones with all that shifting sand on the top of the dunes on the lower Hay track. Wouldn't mind going back to take a few more :-)))

Cheers
phil

Chump,

I think hand winches mostly come from Europe - I think Tirfor is French.

Robin, Willem has a Brawn winch and I was told it was made in China!

Hi John Yes my Brawn is definately made in China. I have been thru them in detail and can confirm that there are varying grades of quality in Chinese winches.

Its only the top grade that Brawn waterproof - and its the more expensive one.

A guarantee of machined gears as opposed to pressed etc is usually a good indicator.

Robin Miller

tempted re the mountings but not sure what you mean by "if you are handy with steel". I am probably not. I would be interested if it was something that would bolt straight on to the patrol but if it needs modification it is probably not something I would entertain.

I will keep it in mind. My need is not that pressing (need to convince SWMBO)

Trevor

interesting that you used to sell Chinese winches (i assume) on ebay. There are 9500lb ones going now for under $500. If you were my best mate would you recommend I buy one? yes or no will suffice and I would never hold you to it or deem you responsible (as no-one could on such a forum). If you respond that you can not give an advice either way then I will interpret that as I deem fit.

Thanks
Trevor

You assume correctly....lol

The reason we have stopped is because the bottom fell out of the market after a little while. Once Repco started selling them, the prices dropped. Now Aldi sell them, they should drop a bit more.

The units themselves have been very good. Sure, we have had a few problems, but most can be traced back to user error. We have had 2 manufacturing problems ever - thats it.

As a bit of an example, we brought over a whole pile of spare parts with our first order. Motors, gearboxes, remotes, rollers, solenoids and all sorts of bits and pieces. All up, I have sold 1 motor. I still have everything else sitting on the shelf. Our manufacturing fault solutions have been to simply send out a new winch.

Would I recommend buying one? Absolutely. I would get a 12,000lb one if you could, as the price difference should be minimal.

Most of my mates have one on the front of their cars, and none of them have had any problems. Sure they got a slightly better deal than most people, and they knew if something went wrong, they could just pop round and we could sort it out, but nothing has gone wrong yet.

I may have an ex-demo unit coming up for sale soon if you would be interested in that. It'll be a 12,000lb unit, and it is the one we have had disassembled to show customers how they work and such. It has been used a couple of times, but only in our driveway. It'll have a new motor, and the cable is a little dirty....Email me at 4wd4wd at gmail dot com if you are interested....

Also, if you have any questions, let me know. As I won't be selling them any more, I'd like to think I could offer an un-biased opinion......

Cheers,

Chump

email sent

Trevor

Hi Chump,

I haven't had a reply to my email so just checking the address is right. Is it 4wd twice? And with no "dot au"?

Cheers
Trevor