This is for my 86 if it matters..
So I know good and budget friendly isn't exactly something you use in the same sentence for anything.
But that's it in a nutshell.
I'm not out off-roading my truck but I will be on private and unmaintained roads that I've
never been on before so might as well get one to be prepared.

Anything specific I should look for in a winch while I research? duty cycle?
I don't think SR vs cable will be a huge deciding factor for me on the amount of usage I assume to see.
I guess depending on the brand I get it might be possible to swap from cable to SR down the road.
I read that ppl have done it on winches where it's not recommended due to drum temps. But they also repacked it with higher temp grease.
I'm not set on namebrand fwiw. it's really a budget bang for buck decision.
I do agree you get what you pay for, Does it makes sense to pay a grand plus for a tool that may never be used? Yes Zeon I'm looking at you.
yes the voice in my head is saying what all of you are probably saying... pay once, cry once..


How do you have it wired up? Is it wired to a dedicated battery or do you just use vehicle battery?
I'm thinking a 2nd battery isolated wouldn't be a bad idea? Think the factory 60 amp alternator is enough?
Do you leave your winch installed all the time or take it off until you think you need it?
Do you do any special runs for wiring? dual solenoids for example?
I know little about winches and their setup if it isn't obvious.
I could spend a month easy researching this but figured I'll ask here and it will get me going in a more focused direction.

 

Perhaps you should research "Vintage Warn" winches..... A consideration will be "Can I still get parts" ?

Hobo

 

seen that a bit in my limited research as well. I'm ok with used.

 

"Vintage Warn" anything (winches, hubs, etc) has quality American metal holding it together and making it work.

Hobo

Note: The pickin' is slim in your area.... Wrong season to be winch shoppin'..... One of the last things a man gets rid of is his dog, gun and winch.... Best of luck.

I'll be adding some examples:

https://chillicothe.craigslist.org/p...238746391.html

https://cincinnati.craigslist.org/pt...254948126.html

https://lexington.craigslist.org/pts...246295149.html

https://erie.craigslist.org/grd/d/er...243658708.html

 

already scoured the local section for one and you're right it's wrong time to be looking but I'm not in a hurry.
You think 8k is enough for old iron like my f250? I was looking at 10k minimum. my truck has a steel flatbed on it with a 460 so it's definitely no CJ.

 

Just personal opinion, but it's never a good idea to scrimp on something that is going to help you in an emergency. I decided once a couple of years ago that I would mount a small electric winch in my garage to pull my projects into the shop. So I figured how bad could a Harbor Freight winch be. And I really didn't have to rely on it, I'm at home with a fully stocked bar behind my shop. So I bought it, worked great once...............................

 

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Carry a "****** Block" with you. Rig a "2 Part Line" and this will almost double the capacity of your winch.

Hobo

 

Yep, that's non-negotiable, not even budgeting for one, it's a given.

 

When I bought a winch a couple years ago I decided that I didn't want to pay what a high-end Warn cost, but I also didn't particularly want to buy a "bargain" winch that might not prove to be one. So I bought a low-end Warn. I thinks it's the VR line? Anyway, somewhere between Hardly Great and Zeon in price. Was that the right call? All I can say is that so far I'm happy with it.

On synthetic vs wire rope (fwiw, the winch / hoist industry calls it "rope" either way), I decided to save a little more money and get wire rope. I'm not happy with that decision. The stiff wire rope doesn't want to stay wound tight around the drum, and I've kinked it by not realizing that it wasn't tight. Would synthetic rope do the same thing? I don't have any experience with it, so maybe it would. But it seems to me that, being more flexible, it wouldn't try so hard to straighten out. Add in the other advantages (safety and weight) and I'm planning on replacing my wire rope with synthetic soon.

If you plan to do long hard pulls, or pull without the engine running, then having an auxiliary battery might be a good thing. But if you're not expecting to use it that much I'd skip the dual battery. I'm only running the one battery, and it works fine in limited use.

A 60 amp alternator is fine for pretty limited use. If you just need to help your truck out of a little mud hole it'll be fine. But again, longer, harder pulls will not go as well. If I were you I probably wouldn't worry too much about it. But if I was replacing the alternator for any other reason I'd go bigger.

I have my winch on a receiver mount. That lets me put it on either end of my Bronco, or move it to the front of my pickup (I don't have power cables to the rear of the truck). It also lets me not have it on all the time when the Bronco is sitting outside, or in a mall parking lot, and only put it on when I'm going 'wheeling. So that seemed like the best route for me. But a solid mount has its advantages as well.

I'm not sure what you mean by dual solenoids. I just have the standard solenoid pack that came with the winch. Then on the Bronco I added a shut-off relay so the cables to the back of the Bronco aren't hot all of the time (it shuts the front off as well). On my pickup I didn't bother with the shut-off relay since I just have about a 12" power cable going from the starter relay (the hot side, where I got my 12V power) and the quick-connect I use with the receiver-mount. So I'm not too concerned with it rubbing somewhere, shorting out and lighting my truck on fire.

 

i had an old ramsey for 35-40 years.
when it finally died, i replaced it with a harbor freight 12,000 lb unit.
why? because for the amount of times i use it, that HF winch will last the rest of my life.
and i have the winch mounted on a hitch plate so i can put it in the rear to get me out.
if it is bad enough i get stuck trying to go in, i ain't going no further.

i do have a hitch receiver mounted on the front of my truck in case i need to pull someone out, but i rarely use it so i could not see spending the extra grand for a winch i almost never use.

 

I feel the same way, just as long as it works when I need it to.
Also I continued this over in the 86 sub since it's what I will be installing this on

 

well, the way i look at it they are always on sale for $299.99
and these days, that is cheaper than a one time off road tow bill.
so even if it only works 10 times, you are still ahead of the game by two grand or so..

 

Everytime I purchased an inexpensive winch it didn’t work when I needed it most. I only use warn winches. Have done rock crawling for a long time. A 12k warn winch is not as efficient as a 15k. I don’t know why but the different grades of winches have different motors. That is where the efficiency lies. I used to have a 12k and it would flatten out the batteries in no time and I would have to give the batteries a rest and charge them pull the trigger again. My 15k doesn’t need to let the batteries rest as much. Winch rope is a must because it doesn’t retain kinetic energy like a steel cable does. Just my $.02

 

I ran a warn 9k on my old 250 for about 10 years, worked ok until it didn't. Housing broke & I replaced it with a 9k harbor freight, been on there about 6 years. Slower than the warn but worked fine so far, pulled myself out of a few jams & several logs out of woods. Bought a 9k mile marker for the ranger, haven't used it yet.

 

Nothing wrong with a used name brand winch like Warn or Ramsey, even if in rough shape. Most parts are still available or can be modified to use newer versions of the parts. The brakes on Warn 8274 come to mind.
I really like my used Ramsey worm drive winches and for someone who'll rarely use a winch probably a better choice since they are slower.
The only new winch I've bought was a Warn 8274 around 1975 or so.

For your use 8k with a ****** block, high quality screw pin shackle and some extension rope would be fine. Don't cheap out on the ****** block,
I prefer wire rope just because if treated right and maintained they rarely break, whereas I've seen quite a few synthetic break. I've been using wire rope on my winches for around 45 years and never had one break. You still want to use the normal precautions though.

If you rarely use it there's no real need for a second battery if your primary is a good one like an Odyssey. Diehard Platinum is made by Odyssey.
On most batteries with both side and top posts the side posts can't carry as much current as the top posts so if you have starter and winch connected separately, connect your starter to the side posts.
Odyssey/Diehard Platinum batteries don't have this limitation.
For wiring, you want less that 0.5v drop to the winch. Depending on the winch this could mean 2/0 cable to the rear mount.

Don't forget winch ratings are with only one layer of cable on the drum. Another good reason for using a ****** block.