Pro Stock John said:
How much power do they pull? Do you put an inline fuse into the wiring? I'm guessing if they draw a lot, you have to leave the jeep running so you don't kill the battery.
Anywhere from 100A to around 500A, depending on winch make, model, weight being pulled, and if you're running 12VDC or 24VDC. Typically, a fuse is not installed - but ANL fuses can be had that large, so it's certainly doable. You should weigh your rig, and double that weight to figure a "typical" pull (yanking it out of mud will ramp up the weight, or trying to pull over an obstacle you can't quite driver over creates a good deal of rolling resistance.)
You'll typically end up drawing less current through the winch if you're pulling a smaller percentage of total capacity - pulling 6k# using a 12k# winch will usually result in less drain than pulling 6k# with a 9k# winch.
If you give me more specific information, I can answer you a bit more clearly - but you're going to have to settle for "vague" if you don't.
Since the duty cycle of the typical off-road winch is agreeably low (speaking in percentages - if you hit 5%, you're using it a lot...) some compromises may be safely made in wiring and connectors. That's something else to consider tho - if you're going to do a lot of long pulls, be sure to mention that when you get your wiring done, since it will have to be upsized. Assuming constant duty, you'd be looking at 000AWG or larger - but you can knock that down to about 2AWG if you compromise (most winch makers will give you 1AWG or 2AWG cabling for hookups, and 175A Andersons.)
Of course, larger cabling is available, and Andersons can be had rated for 350A constant duty. But, it's largely up to your intended use, and you
will hit a limit on use due to your wiring, if you compromise.
