help me pick a winch

i think that an electric winch would be more useful, cause a hyd. winch requires the engine to be running... spend the extra and get a synthethic rope... safty is most important...

honestly, I'd stick with a hydraulic if you want speed or an electric if you don't want to run hydraulic lines and/or don't mind a slower winch.
get well-known brand with atleast a 12,000lb single line pull rating. up to the frame stuck in mud it'll take about 3X the weight of you vehicle to pull out. (i.e a 5,000Lb blazer needs atleast 15,000lbs of pull.) think of that.

also a good tech article to read regarding such matters from Billavista over at pirate4x4: http://www.pirate4x4.com/tech/billavista/Recovery/index.html

Get at least a 9k# winch. I had a 12K Warn on my old 1-ton and I loved it. It would drain a battery pretty quick though if the engine wasn't running and you loaded it pretty good. Since you plan on mudding, I would say go with an electric simply because if you suck some water or who knows what, you can still get yourself out of the puddle.

hydraulic all the way...I picked up a 9K MM(what my front hitch is rated at anyway) for under $500

8274s for everyone :baby:

I have a warn 8724 & no complaints.
Just make sure to get one large enough!! :bigthumb:

On 2005-11-27 21:23, draggbody wrote:
i think that an electric winch would be more useful, cause a hyd. winch requires the engine to be running... spend the extra and get a synthethic rope... safty is most important...

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i wouldnt go with synthetic rope simply becuase he stated that he mainly does mud. stick with wire rope otherwise the mud will tear up the synthetic over time.

On 2005-11-30 07:39, The Boss wrote:


i wouldnt go with synthetic rope simply becuase he stated that he mainly does mud. stick with wire rope otherwise the mud will tear up the synthetic over time.

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are you saying that getting mud on the line will start to eat away at it???

Dont have any experience with the synthetic stuff, but I would think rocks would harsher(more harsh?) on a synthetic line bc it would most likely be rubbing on them and what not.

Like I said dont really know anything bout the synthetic stuff.

On 2005-11-28 12:07, rdnksierra wrote:
Get at least a 9k# winch. I had a 12K Warn on my old 1-ton and I loved it. It would drain a battery pretty quick though if the engine wasn't running and you loaded it pretty good. Since you plan on mudding, I would say go with an electric simply because if you suck some water or who knows what, you can still get yourself out of the puddle.

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just got my Ramsey patriot 15k winch mounted and almost done ( can use it need to mount roller fairlead )... anyhow... I see one other problem you may run into.....


i have a 63amp alt... with the truck running and dual 1000ca batteries fully charged... I couldnt feed my winch line (90') in one complete pass.. .meaning... my batteries drained when I was 1/2 way in so 45' left.... i did the electric in the back expecting to be able to pull myself out of muck if need be.... now I was able to go 45' but that is with 0 load... my winch draws 90amps with 0 load...... so you need to look at the winch amps draw chart too.... you may need to do the 1994 140amp pontiac transport alternator upgrade......I have mine... but couldnt get the upgrade working... not sure why but not going to worry about it until i freshen up my motor...

good luck...

I don't remember what size alt that 1-ton had, but it was bigger than 100A. Good point though about current draw during no load and half load/full load.
I just installed a front reciever on my current truck (GMC) and plan on getting another electric for it. That way I can remove it easily when needed. Actually it will spend more time off the truck than on, but I believe they pay for themselves the first time you NEED it and use it :bigthumb: