X-Bull 13.5 Winch

[bobbywalter]

I've been using a Chinese Zesuper 10k for about 3 years now. You jut for to remember to run it 45 seconds on and at least 30 seconds rest. It says it's got like a 10 min duty cycle. But I find it hard to.trust that. I was gonna get the X Bull 10k but after the winch tray I had to find something cheaper. It was less than 300 on sale.

1 minute on.......the very first minute. 10 minutes off.

then 45 sec and 10 minutes off.

last you long time.



i run the balls off of the chinesium harbor mart critters...they do ok for 300 bux.

the zeak / x bull/ smitty critter all do really good for the money from what i have seen over the years. keeping the contactors in good shape where i live is about a 3 winter max.

 

[Uncle Gump]

I need a bumper or front receiver first. Money that could go for that is going into the 2019.

The one time I did use that method was on a gravel driveway with a small slope. It wasn't fun and it was a lot of work. Throw a mud trail with a bunch of rocks and ruts, it would be a bad day.

I get it... I went through the money suck last year. Sadly... it's still not over.

 

[Curious Hound]

I need a bumper or front receiver first. Money that could go for that is going into the 2019.

The one time I did use that method was on a gravel driveway with a small slope. It wasn't fun and it was a lot of work. Throw a mud trail with a bunch of rocks and ruts, it would be a bad day.

It would be a tiring day. But it works and you could get out.

 

[sgtsandman]

It would be a tiring day. But it works and you could get out.

Oh, I fully agree. Sorry if it read differently than what I meant.

 

[Robertmangrum.rm]

1 minute on.......the very first minute. 10 minutes off.

then 45 sec and 10 minutes off.

last you long time.



i run the balls off of the chinesium harbor mart critters...they do ok for 300 bux.

the zeak / x bull/ smitty critter all do really good for the money from what i have seen over the years. keeping the contactors in good shape where i live is about a 3 winter max.

My 300 buck winch was supposed to just get me by till I got a new one. BUT. Like everything else if it's not broke it's not gonna get the attention haha. I always enter the raffles to try and win a better brand but can't see dropping the cash till this Chinese junk let's me down. It pulled me up 2 muddy hills with the ATs. I remove countless trees clearing local roads and my property. I've recovered 3 full size rigs. 2 in mud 1 in snow. And 4 mid sized rigs decked out. I fell I've got my money out of it over the 4 years. I always test it and make sure it all works before I head out on a adventure. So far it's still going strong. I'm gonna replace the synthetic line this spring. It's looking a little frayed. So better safe than sorry. I always run ot out and spray it off if I have to use it when I get back home.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

 

[Robertmangrum.rm]

I've seen this done at an event. It looked quite labor intensive and kinda dangerous haha. But it's amazing what people come up with. I've seen a guy use a tow strap and his own wheel to pull himself out. Was interesting and looked super sketch. Worked though.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I've seen this done at an event. It looked quite labor intensive and kinda dangerous haha. But it's amazing what people come up with. I've seen a guy use a tow strap and his own wheel to pull himself out. Was interesting and looked super sketch. Worked though.

It is pretty labor intensive but likely not overly sketchy and does have the advantage that you don’t constantly have to re-set like using a come-along or farm jack.

I want to say that an early winch system was to use essentially a bare rim and a rope to wrap around it… think I saw something in reference to that and a Model T years ago

 

[SenorNoob]

Like this?: Bush Winch

 

[Uncle Gump]

Like this?: Bush Winch

Linky no worky...

 

[Curious Hound]

I always test it and make sure it all works before I head out on a adventure.

I always run ot out and spray it off if I have to use it when I get back home.

You're my hero. I wish I could (honestly) say I was that good.

 

[Shran]

Main problem with cheap winches is slow winch-in speed and some of them do not free spool out very well. My Smittybilt XRC-8 checks both of those boxes, free spool out is really difficult. Supposedly it's the grease inside it. All of my cheap winches also came with exceptionally cheap controllers, the Harbor Freight ones are especially bad, they look like a toy instead of a functional tool.

My other old Smittybilt XRC comp winch on my crawler has been excellent, I have given that winch a beating and it doesn't seem to care. Free spool out works fine. Winching myself or others out, pulling trees, fence posts, rocks, etc out, works great. Rarely do I snatch block. I always seem to find myself with not enough rope to double back and I'm lazy enough that I just straight pull even if I do.

I have a Badland ZXR 12k on my car trailer and a ZXR 9.5k on my Jeep. Having used my XRC-8 on the car trailer a lot, I can't tell much difference between that and the Badland 12k. Used to be that the gear ratio was the major difference, in Smittybilts anyway, everything else was the same, the 10 & 12k ones just had deeper gears.

If you want a big old brute, look for a used Warn 8274. I scored one of those for my Explorer crawler. They are like $3000+ new but they have about the fastest line speed and they are incredibly durable. I think I paid $350 for mine. You can pick up Warn 6014/8200/Belleview winches pretty cheap too and they look very similar to a 8274 but are nowhere near as desireable.

 

[SenorNoob]

Try it now...

 

[Curious Hound]

Try it now...

Cool idea. But it looks kinda cheap and flimsy, as in; A high school kid 3D printed it and stole his mom's clothesline rope.

 

[SenorNoob]

I never said it was a good product. I did see one where a truck that had steel wheels with a dually-like setup they bolted another steel wheel onto with a notch to hook a chain into. Probably more solid.