Hidden Winch

[Lefty]

Probably will be fine as long as you keep its limits in mind.

I would just advise anyone reading that a winch rated for X/lbs needs a mount and mounting hardware rated accordingly. Additionally... every wrap of rope/cable that you add to the drum decreases the pull capacity. And cheap winches are notoriously overrated...

I have been in plenty of situations with my Ranger where it was so stuck that my 8k Smittybilt would not pull it out. I have a 12k winch on my car trailer, I tried to pull an Explorer onto it that had flat tires and was frozen to the ground... the winch had enough power to drag my 7000lb F250 and 2500lb car trailer backwards with the parking brake on and over the wheel chocks I had set up. You have to know what your equipment's limits are and it is very easy to exceed those in the blink of an eye with electric winches. I have just seen enough broken and damaged vehicles from winching that I am very cautious with them these days. Small cables, cheap parts, tiny grade 2 bolts, inadequate mounts... very good way to get hurt.

It doesn't hurt to practice a little first, especially if you have never used a winch before. Both winching and towing are inherently dangerous.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I understand all the stuff that is said about that but my dad always took us 4 wheeling in virginia when i was little and they only ever had a 3-4k with a hi lift and some snatch blocks, which is what i always kept in case i ever got in that kind of trouble. i never did because i never really did anything worth a winch. You don't really need one in sand so i got rid of it but even going off road in georgia with friends and red clay, we never needed anything heavy duty like that so that is why i feel the way i do.

Of course, others feel different from their experiences

The Ford accessory winches were 6k or 8k for first gens fwiw.

 

[JoshT]

I understand all the stuff that is said about that but my dad always took us 4 wheeling in virginia when i was little and they only ever had a 3-4k with a hi lift and some snatch blocks, which is what i always kept in case i ever got in that kind of trouble. i never did because i never really did anything worth a winch. You don't really need one in sand so i got rid of it but even going off road in georgia with friends and red clay, we never needed anything heavy duty like that so that is why i feel the way i do.

That's the best way to do it, don't need one in the first place. I can't speak to virginia off roading or desert rock crawling, but I grew up in Georgia around sand and that red clay that you're talking about. The worst here is a mixture of red clay and kaolin after a light rain. Sticky and slick as things I shouldn't say on a public family friendly forum. That said, if you get stuck in it you don't know what you're doing or you did something stupid. It's not like you'd be able to use the winch anyway, the shit is too slick to walk across dragging the winch cable.

My 68 F-100 has been through some of middle Georgia's worst while my dad owned it. It's had a Warn 8247 hanging on the front bumper for nearly 35 years because his step dad gave it to him. In that time it's been used twice, once to unstuck a truck in the clay/kaolin mix and once for tree removal. It no longer works due to lack of use. Usually when he needed to get someone else out of a stuck spot he drove up to it, tied a strap to the bumper, and drug it out. Key to getting through most of what we have here is wheel speed and momentum, and he wasn't afraid to put the pedal to the floor and lth the FE drink.

The small winch is exactly what is needed in a case like Leftys. I wouldn't go smaller, but that size is about perfect. He's not retrieving trucks buried to the axle (or deeper). He's not dragging disabled vehicles with wheels or axles falling off. He's pulling a running vehicle with no traction off wet grass. He's pulling a dead rolling car up a drive way. Sure they may weigh close to the limit of the winch, but the winch isn't actually applying that much force to get it rolling. As mentioned in the WDYDTYRT thread I've got a 5K HF winch set up for my trailer for the exact same purpose. While I haven't actually used it on my trailer yet, we used it to pull a dead 85 Ranger up a (relatively) steep incline onto my dad's. Worked great! We did have to stop and let it rest a couple of times, but that's the trade off of having a smaller winch that's lighter and easy to move around. My trailer is lower and not tilt deck so it'll be much easier pull. Would have been an easy pull on his if we didn't have to stop to rerig while on the ramps and his deck weren't tilted, but due to deck height of the trailer it was necessary for clearance and ramp angle.

Size your winch for your application. If you need a big-un, get a big-un. If you don't, then don't.

 

[JoshT]

I have been in plenty of situations with my Ranger where it was so stuck that my 8k Smittybilt would not pull it out. I have a 12k winch on my car trailer, I tried to pull an Explorer onto it that had flat tires and was frozen to the ground... the winch had enough power to drag my 7000lb F250 and 2500lb car trailer backwards with the parking brake on and over the wheel chocks I had set up. You have to know what your equipment's limits are and it is very easy to exceed those in the blink of an eye with electric winches. I have just seen enough broken and damaged vehicles from winching that I am very cautious with them these days. Small cables, cheap parts, tiny grade 2 bolts, inadequate mounts... very good way to get hurt.

That goes both ways. I may have a little winch, but I wouldn't have tried to pull that as it was regardless of the winch size. I would have attempted to air up the tires and get it rolling before hooking up the winch. If it wouldn't do those two things, I would have tried again at a later date after making it do those two things. I do understand not everyone has that option, but I do. The little winch will do the job.

It doesn't hurt to practice a little first, especially if you have never used a winch before

...and even if you have, be careful. Stupid happens. Keep you fingers away from the fairlead. Ask me how I know (or read my last post in the above WDYDT thread). I got off with an easy reminder, but gotta admit that it feels worse today than it did Saturday.

 

[Shran]

That goes both ways. I may have a little winch, but I wouldn't have tried to pull that as it was regardless of the winch size. I would have attempted to air up the tires and get it rolling before hooking up the winch. If it wouldn't do those two things, I would have tried again at a later date after making it do those two things. I do understand not everyone has that option, but I do. The little winch will do the job.

Yeah...lot of factors in my decision there. Usually flat tires are no problem with junker cars, they just roll like crap. That whole day just went sideways, it was supposed to be a quick trip to pick up a $100 Explorer before the city has it towed. Up a really steep hill, really no room to turn a truck and trailer around, snow on the ground, snow coming down, Explorer wouldn't start. Winching at an angle, sunk into the ground and frozen to the ground with flat tires. Pulled it off though.

Now I can't even remember why I bought that truck. Needed the rear axle or something I think? I do carry an M18 inflator in the recovery rig now to prevent the flat tire situation now.