I have a 12k hydraulic Mile Marker on the front of my F-350 and a Mile Marker 12K electric on the rear. The hydro definately out pulls the elec and is not much slower under load. I would never have anything but a hydraulic as my primary winch.

 

I noticed the same thing about the rating for the first spool of wire or synthetic rope on the drum. As far as mounting goes, I really like the Mile Marker Extreme II, but without the headlight hoops. I sent an email to the gents at Mile Marker asking if they have tested a hydraulic winch on a stock 6.2L truck. And I am waiting to hear back from that before I make my decision. I did find a nice dual battery setup for my Gasser on ebay though. And, if I do go with the electric, I will definitely add that setup as well. I really would love the winch setup off one of my old trucks when I was still in the army. Those things were massive, and used 7/8's cable. I can only imagine what they were rated for.

 

Also if you do go electric get an isolator for the batteries.

Sean

 

What year and engine are you running that hydraulic off of? What has been your experience? Any leaks so far in the hoses? How does the power steering pump handle the extra work when running the winch?

 

It comes with an isolator. Here is the link if you'd like to check it out.
2011 2012 2013 2014F 250 F 350 Ford Super Duty Truck Second Battery Tray Box Kit | eBay

 

I kinda doubt milemarker tests their mounts on each model truck & engine size. Probably rated to a max winch size. Warn makes a nice 16k winch if you bigger. When i was in the service they usually had 20-25k pto winch on the dueces or 5 tons. Some of the humvees had hydraulic,
some had 24v electric. They rarely got used though, usually just hooked up to another rig the same size or bigger & let them pull ya out.

 

I know the mount will work on my truck. I'm just unsure about running a hydraulic winch on a stock power steering pump. I don't think I should need a 16k winch though. Unless I somehow get stuck pulling a trailer.

You should see the PTO winches on the Hemmit wreckers. The PTO runs a large-ish pump which runs the winch. I have seen a Hemmit wrecker lift a 3 axle LMTV off the ground using a metal A-frame. Those things are super heavy. Crazy stuff.

 

I dont think you would have a problem with stock pump but if it worries ya, i'm sure someone makes a heavy duty one. Milemarker might be able to recomend one or possibly an ambulance/cop model. Usually they get that stuff. I retired in 95 so I imagine the mil has lots of new stuff, still driving jeeps when i enlisted. I dont think you can go wrong with either style winch.

 

I guide hunters and the owner of the business used to run 8000 and 9500 winches. We encounter a lot of mud and have burned out more than one of those. I finally convinced the owner to use the 1.5 rule as I personally always have and for the last 8 years we have had no problems at all. We run 12000 Warns/Milemarkers(electric) on the Transformer Mounts. They look good and perform well. I've never seen the Milemarker hydraulic installed but I read an article some time ago the the U.S. Military switched to them. If that's the case then they must be a pretty good setup. The only problem we ever encountered with a Milemarker is the steel rods that hold the two halves of the winch together got sheared off by the winch cable. So when your winching in you have to try to keep the cable as level as possible so it doesn't bunch up. Although I have never measured it, it appears the rods are closer to the drum than with the Warn.

 

Being former military I am always a little worried about the quality of certain items. We had a saying(which I'm sure is still around). "Built by the lowest bidder." But I have also read the Mile Markers are pretty bullet proof. I think I am going to go with the Mile Marker hydraulic winch on the transformer extreme II mount. And just bring a couple extra hoses with me just in case the winch hoses blow out. Anyhow, thanks for all the opinions!

 

2003 F-350 6.0 diesel. No leaks and it works great.

 

Yes I'm with you guys on the 1.5 rule. That's what I'd go by even a little bigger. When your out in the middle of "nowhere land" and full of gear, I would rather have a winch capable of even 2 times my truck, and get me out quickly. When your stuck....your stuck!! Why take a chance? There's no forgiveness when your competing with mother nature.

 

Don't forget the ps fluid, if ya do blow a hose you'll need some.

 

If you REALLY want to be on the safe side you put a set of these in the line

It's called a hydraulic fuse. It shuts off the flow if you blow a line.
It works by flow rate. If you start to exceed the flow rating it closes
down a valve. You size then by flow rating. It will keep you from blowing out
all the fluid. Here is more info.

http://navyaviation.tpub.com/14018/css/14018_328.htm
http://www.predatorsystemsinc.com/fuses.html

Sean

 

I completely forgot about that. Thanks for the reminder! I really appreciate it.