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amondeggs



Member Since: 06 Mar 2011
Location: Telford
Posts: 452

United Kingdom 1999 Defender 90 Td5 HT Woodcote Green
which winch to buy???
Im in the market for a winch and have been looking at new and second hand options as I have a ltd budget. Looking for a little guidance from those clued up on winches please.

So could buy a new winchmax military spec winch with synthetic rope and 2 yr guarantee for about £450

or used Warn 9.5ti for about the same money,

or for a bit more could get new goodwinch with wire and upgrade to rope at a later date.

or powerful superwinch (18000) used for about £400

what would you do??

thanks in advance Thumbs Up
Post #511857 7th Mar 2016 11:17pm
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AJC



Member Since: 30 Nov 2015
Location: Lancashire
Posts: 1360

United Kingdom 
I've had a good winch. spot on

I've had a Warn Tabor 10k now and i've yet to use it. so can't comment on that
Post #511873 8th Mar 2016 6:53am
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Scoobeenut



Member Since: 04 Mar 2015
Location: West London
Posts: 310

United Kingdom 2010 Defender 90 Puma 2.4 SW Santorini Black
Another vote for Goodwinch here, rock solid and well built and good back up advice from David Bowyer too. I bought the Dyneema rope at the same time as the winch but it is expensive, you can start off with the wire rope then upgrade later but you will also need to get a fairlead when you do.
Post #511887 8th Mar 2016 7:51am
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blackwolf



Member Since: 03 Nov 2009
Location: South West England
Posts: 17368

United Kingdom 2007 Defender 110 Puma 2.4 DCPU Stornoway Grey
Your intended use will influence the choice, so why do you want one?
Post #511900 8th Mar 2016 8:41am
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dantastic



Member Since: 04 May 2010
Location: London
Posts: 367

United Kingdom 
Get the cheap and cheerful winch with the synthetic rope.

We have been running the cheap winches for years in harsh environments. They actually hold up surprisingly well. I know a Goodwinch is better but if budget is limited then so are your choices.

Do not even consider getting a wire rope. They are dangerous and difficult to work with. Don't even consider it as being an option!
Post #512025 8th Mar 2016 1:39pm
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blackwolf



Member Since: 03 Nov 2009
Location: South West England
Posts: 17368

United Kingdom 2007 Defender 110 Puma 2.4 DCPU Stornoway Grey
There are situations where synthetic rope is downright dangerous and steel is the only safe option, though if you want a winch for pose value and occasional offroading you are unlikely to encounter these.
Post #512062 8th Mar 2016 2:44pm
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Supacat



Member Since: 16 Oct 2012
Location: West Yorkshire
Posts: 11018

United Kingdom 2013 Defender 110 Puma 2.2 XS DCPU Keswick Green
+1

If you really want a recovery tool then get Tirfor style hand winch - just don't try and bolt it to the front of your vehicle for posing points in the Waitrose car park.

If wire ropes are dangerous, then you are cutting corners on how you are using them.
Post #512085 8th Mar 2016 3:52pm
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dantastic



Member Since: 04 May 2010
Location: London
Posts: 367

United Kingdom 
Wire rope for the rear winch. But OP isn't installing a rear winch.
Most people who ask about winches should absolutely not be using wire rope.
Op is more likely to find himself in a situation where a steel rope would kill someone and a dyneema would just break. A perfect example would be people using winch rope instead of tow rope when pulling with another car.

Unless you know what you're doing, say no to wire rope.
Post #512098 8th Mar 2016 4:43pm
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amondeggs



Member Since: 06 Mar 2011
Location: Telford
Posts: 452

United Kingdom 1999 Defender 90 Td5 HT Woodcote Green
blackwolf wrote:
Your intended use will influence the choice, so why do you want one?


The reason I want a winch is for those few times you need to self recover. Therefore I don't want to spend megabucks on the latest Warn for example. Im not intending to use it very often but it will be nice to know that it is there would the need arise and that it will not let me down.

I am in full agreement over not having the wire and would replace with rope if I happened to buy one with wire fitted. I have done a coupe of winch courses and am fully aware of what can happen when not used correctly. My car is used for long overland trips and as explained above the winch is a tool which I may use if I need to self recover or recover another vehicle.

thanks for all the comments Thumbs Up
Post #512106 8th Mar 2016 4:58pm
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Supacat



Member Since: 16 Oct 2012
Location: West Yorkshire
Posts: 11018

United Kingdom 2013 Defender 110 Puma 2.2 XS DCPU Keswick Green
dantastic wrote:
Unless you know what you're doing, say no to wire rope.


If you don't know what you are doing, then wire or soft rope is not the issue.

OP seems switched on having done a couple of courses.

Surely a Tirfor tucked away would take up the least amount of weight. Weight being a critical thing when overlanding. Also, it will allow the vehicle to be more standard looking and maybe not attract the wrong sort of attention when touring.

KISS also applies - my electric warn winch has caused a few issues through infrequent use - my Tirfor has never failed.
Post #512112 8th Mar 2016 5:06pm
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mse



Member Since: 06 Apr 2008
Location: UK
Posts: 5035

United Kingdom 2016 Defender 110 Puma 2.2 XS CSW Scotia Grey
Land Rover ownership tends to bring out the self proclaimed experts that forget they were new once to and many of them got some knowledge by doing.

I'm of the opinion (after lifting courses - which i appreciate is slightly different) that a wire rope can be fine if handled and worked properly and if you cant work it properly and methodically either would be dangerous...but its really simple stuff - if the answer is to have a plasma rope just because it will drop when it breaks, then thats not the answer Mike
Post #512118 8th Mar 2016 5:15pm
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jst



Member Since: 14 Jan 2008
Location: Taunton
Posts: 8021

 2011 Defender 110 Puma 2.4 USW Stornoway Grey
what ever you go for i would buy new. winches need and like use. Cheers

James
110 2012 XS Utility
130 2011 M57 bespoke Camper
90 2010 Hardtop
90 M57 1988 Hardtop
Post #512155 8th Mar 2016 6:40pm
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jst



Member Since: 14 Jan 2008
Location: Taunton
Posts: 8021

 2011 Defender 110 Puma 2.4 USW Stornoway Grey
blackwolf wrote:
There are situations where synthetic rope is downright dangerous and steel is the only safe option, though if you want a winch for pose value and occasional offroading you are unlikely to encounter these.


does that by default mean a synthetic rope is no good serious off roading in your opinion? Cheers

James
110 2012 XS Utility
130 2011 M57 bespoke Camper
90 2010 Hardtop
90 M57 1988 Hardtop
Post #512157 8th Mar 2016 6:40pm
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blackwolf



Member Since: 03 Nov 2009
Location: South West England
Posts: 17368

United Kingdom 2007 Defender 110 Puma 2.4 DCPU Stornoway Grey
No, absolutely not, though on rereading what I posted I see that my remark could be interpreted that way.

What I meant was that the situations in which synthetic rope is unsuitable are few and far between, and highly specialised. They are therefore situations which are unlikely to be encountered in run-of-the-mill usage.

However comments which suggest that wire ropes are per se dangerous are, in my opinion, both misleading and irresponsible since I cannot think of a single situation in which a wire rope is less safe or suitable than a synthetic rope, provided that the winch is used correctly by someone who knows what they are doing.

Since a wire rope is hard to damage except by kinking or crushing, both easily avoided and easily detected and is easy to check for damage, whilst a synthetic rope is susceptible to damage from abrasion, including internal abrasion from dirt which is not easy to detect, uv degradation, heat damage, and potentially one or two other things, in my view a wire is more suitable for the occasional use winch than synthetic. Less likely to be be pinched, too.

Ideally you should never be in a situation where there is any question of anything failing since you should have a good idea of the forces involved before you even start deploying equipment, but few people have any idea of how to do this. So if winching by trial and error, you should never be in a situation where the rope is the weakest part of the rig, or where you don't know what is the weakest part and haven't taken steps to ensure that a failure of that part is safe. It isn't difficult.

I operate heritage cranes, and can just imagine how the conversation with HSE would go if I snapped a rope or broke any rigging components and dropped a load because I hadn't figured out the forces involved!

Oh, and anyone who thinks even for an instant that towing one vehicle with another using a winch cable, as mentioned a few posts above, is acceptable, shouldn't be let near a winch nor probably out of the house unsupervised.
Post #512165 8th Mar 2016 7:13pm
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blackwolf



Member Since: 03 Nov 2009
Location: South West England
Posts: 17368

United Kingdom 2007 Defender 110 Puma 2.4 DCPU Stornoway Grey
As far as the OP's question is concerned, for a vehicle used for long overland trips where, presumably, the winch may mean the difference between life and death, I would opt for the unbreakable Superwinch Husky 8 with wire rope.
Post #512167 8th Mar 2016 7:20pm
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