New line of winches on the market. Any thoughts?

[Wiser]

That's why I got the HF winch but I might replace with synthetic cable soon. They now carry 12k lbs Badland winch.

I may do that to mine also. I'll probably pay the prorated amount to upgrade to the 9.5k winch.

 

[Skwerly]

rough country has done alot of work to build up their reputation in the past couple years. that being said i dont think they would start marketing a p.o.s. winch to set them back. its not a warn but it will work for the average weekend warrior. and im sure that they will tell you that over the phone when you call to order one. every rc guy i have ever spoken to on the phone has always been a straight shooter.

Very well said. If someone runs a competition style rig, they aren’t going to consider this winch. They *need* something that pulls what it advertises, every time, without question, and they need it often.

The weekend warrior type guy needs something to get him or a buddy out of situations, maybe three or four times a year. I have run a winch on my rig forever and if I’m not in Asuza, daring folks to go through the lakes of mud, I rarely use the winch. 90% of the time a yank with a strap is enough, but when I need my winch it’s there, and it’s a Brand X thing, 12,000 pounder. It probably doesn’t pull 12k pounds, but then again I don’t need it to. If it pulls even half that it’s good for what I need.

 

[silverslk]

. I have run a winch on my rig forever and if I’m not in Asuza, daring folks to go through the lakes of mud,.

 

[Skwerly]

Aww yea lol! Daisy chained and yanking hard! Haha, good times!

 

[bails85]

figures its a chevy.

 

[96XJ9705]

Apparently they make good anchors for land and sea.

 

[silverslk]

I was sure Skwerly (Captain XJ) was gonna come out of it with a stretched XJ.

 

[Skwerly]

Haha, you weren't the only one. Several folks asked me if I had a limo afterward.

 

[bhicks]

Finally got around to ordering the winch. It's on back order until the 31st. I was told I should have it by the 5th. That timing is perfect because that's when I start my summer break and will have the time to put this winch through the passes. In regards to the warranty, it comes with a 2 year warranty. The winch was 299 and I used my Jeepforum 10% discount which put it to $269. With shipping it was $315. I'm quite happy with that price. Hopefully I was be just as happy with the product.

 

[bhicks]

Finally got the winch. It took a little longer then originally stated but only by a few days. The quality seems pretty good. The packaging was reinforced and designed to protect it in shipping. Everything was as stated in the add and seemed to be made of pretty good material. The old style harbor freight winch I had years ago was a MUCH lower quality then this. I mounted it up to a universal reciever mount and welded up a front receiver to my existing (skullver built) bumper. I also picked up some Bull Dog quick connects for the front and rear and ran about 20' of 2 guage wire to the back. After it was all set up I started with a long pull of the entire line with me hanging on at the end. I wanted to see how fast the line speed was. It only had one speed which was rather slow. Faster then the HB model but slower then my old Warn 9500ti I had on my wrangler(ofcourse this was also 1/3 the cost). It took a few minutes to crank in all 150' of cable. so I was content with the line speed but not impressed. I then went to work moving some boulders around on my property from beach ball size to about 48" diameter size. It worked for hours with no issues. I must have done a couple dozen long pulls and a handful of odd angle snatch block pulls with perfect success. The last rock I tried to move ended up weighing more then my rig so I actually just drug myself towards the rock instead of moving it towards me. On the 2nd day I began moving railroad ties around in preparation of a retaining wall I will be building. It moved 3-4 at a time with zero issues and continued that for about 5 hours. I probably could have added more RR ties to each pull but was too lazy to tie that many together. I also have used it once on the trail yanking a yota off some rocks. It has done extremely well in everything I have thrown at it. I have not gotten it wet so I'm unsure how it will respond if it got dunked in a deep river crossing. Sorry for the long post but I wanted to pass on all my experience for those who are considering this winch. For how it handled, I don't think you can find a better winch for the price. Now I will see if it can withstand the test of time. If I have any issues or impressive stories of its performance I will continue to update this thread. I took some pics of the winch and my wiring set up which I will post up tomorrow. Hopefully someone found some value in this info.

 

[karstic]

Are you running a synthetic or steel line?

 

[Reedster]

Thanks Brad. I saw your photos from Holcomb Creek and I saw the winch on the front of your rig and was wondering how it was working. Glad to hear it's working well so far. Hope it keeps going strong.

 

[bhicks]

Are you running a synthetic or steel line?

I'm running the steel line. Couldn't afford to upgrade to the synthetic line. Maybe for my birthday I will go synthetic.

 

[bhicks]

Here's the pics. No action shots of the winch in operation. Just how it looks and how I set it up.

 

[scottmcneal]

I wouldn't tape the ends up like that.This will let the water stay in there and screw with things.Let it stay open, it doesn't hurt it at all, i have had mine open for over a year now.Just keep the front cover on and your good to go.

 

[2stix]

i agree, either leave it open, or liquid tape it. plastic dip works pretty good too.

 

[cracker]

I don't quite understand 'budget' recovery equipment. It is always a crap shoot whether it will work when you need it or not. Sure they are expensive but when you need them they are worth every penny. I never have heard anyone say 'I spent too much on my winch' but I always hear 'I should have got an nicer winch'. :lecture:

I am glad the Fire department doesn't cheap out on their recovery equipment. :looney:

 

[NW-ZJ-SCOTT]

I kinda dig the Deaver sticker with the ruff country winch..

 

[bhicks]

I kinda dig the Deaver sticker with the ruff country winch..

Unfortunately those deaver rear springs are long gone. They were too saggy once I added the spare tire, gear, rack, and full gas can. I went back to the taller full traction springs. I should probably take the sticker off. I just never remember because the rear tire swing normally covers it up. In regards to the earlier comments about the tape; I originally didn't go with it but after a day on the trails the quick connect out back was all filled up with dust and was VERY difficult to connect up with the winch. The tape seems to keep the dust out and the rubber covers are definately not water tight so any water that may get in there will simply drain out.

 

[bhicks]

I don't quite understand 'budget' recovery equipment. It is always a crap shoot whether it will work when you need it or not. Sure they are expensive but when you need them they are worth every penny. I never have heard anyone say 'I spent too much on my winch' but I always hear 'I should have got an nicer winch'. :lecture:

I am glad the Fire department doesn't cheap out on their recovery equipment. :looney:

That's kinda why I started this thread. Do a real world assessment of a lesser expensive winch. In my experience it hasn't always been the case that spending more money automatically means better quality. It is the case more often. Time will tell and as I stated earlier I will continue to update this thread with issues or impressive experiences in regards to the winch. Hopefully this will be an exception to the rule. Fingers crossed.