'01 F-350 CC SD w/PS. Now that's some lazy typing!!

I think it weighs just over 6000 pounds. So if I were to buy a winch to mount on a bumper, how much winch should I get?

 

It depends on how wild you get. If you run in steep wet back country you would need a good winch to pull you out of a creekbed.

 

on an SD i would get a 12000 pounder if you do any four wheeling. these trucks can get really stuck with all the weight in the front

 

You can easily go with a 9000 or 9500 winch and with the ease of a ****** block double the pulling power and get out of a bunch of messes

 

Look at your mounting solution first. Warn will probably want 12k as the smallest for most superduty mounts, but 9500 as the biggest in the hitch basket carrier. I have a feeling the other manufactures will be the same.

 

Warn makes Semi-Hidden Kits for the 01 rated at 12000, and 15000 lbs. I would get the 15 for the diesel.

Warn Industries - Mounting Systems: WARN Hidden Kit

http://www.warn.com/truck/mounting-s...iddenkit.shtml

 

True. Your mounting always poses a threat to what the winch can do. No matter if you have the biggest winch on the market, if it isnt mounted to something that can hold that rated amount it is pointless to have.

 

I have always used this rule: go with at least 1.5 times the weight of the vehicle. If your truck weighs 6000lb (which seems pretty light), then you want a minimum of a 9K winch. Personally, I would go with at least a 12K. You want to make sure that you can pull your self up a hill or unstick yourself from the suction of mud. Plus, figure that you might have a considerable amount of weight in/attached to the truck.

 

Having been a Licensing Examiner and Motor Vehicle Instructor in the Marine Corps & spent a couple decades following the four-wheeling communities, here is what I have learned & experienced.


Any four-wheeler, four-wheeling forum, or four-wheeling shop will almost invariably tell you to only consider winches that are at least capable of pulling 1.5 times the vehicle's GVWR. The better informed sources will tell you to start looking at winches with a double or higher capability. After all, you can never have too much winch, but it is easy to have insufficient winching power. And, few things spell utter defeat like burning up an underpowered winch trying to free your "pride & joy" and being forced to walk/hitch a ride back to civilization to hire someone to recover your truck. (Especially when it shows up in the form of the Chevy or Dodge tow truck!! )

The truth of the matter is that most winches will only be able to pull at their maximum rating at the drum-layer itself (i.e. the layer of cable directly contacting the drum). For each additional layer or wrap of cable, a winch loses somewhere around 10-15% of their pulling capability. And, let's face it, most "out of the box" winch setups come with enough cable for at least two to three wraps/layers on the winch drum.

So, on the first wrap, a 9000lbs winch can pull a theoretical 9,000lbs. On the second wrap, that drops to something closer to 8,000lbs. By the time you hit your third wrap, the winch's actual pulling capacity has been decreased by 30 - 45%. That is a huge difference.

All too many folks are unfamiliar with the loss of pulling power & how the winches are rated, and they go by the 1.5x rule. While it is easier on their bank account, they end up with a winch that is less capable than at first thought. The inevitable problem is that they expect more out of the winch than it is really capable of, and that generally leads to excessive stress/strain on the winch which will often prove detrimental to its lifespan. Considering the cost of a good winch,


Another bit of trivia that is useful to know is resistance. Resistance is calculated (guesstimated, in most cases) using some basic rules of thumb, as indicated below:

Recovery resistance = vehicle weightRecovery resistance = two times the vehicle weightRecovery resistance = three times the vehicle weightSuction is the next factor in resistance. In essence, any vehicle stuck in thick mud takes on additional resistance because of the suction created by the mud. The rule of thumb here is to determine the initial resistance, as indicated above, and then assume the resistance is equal to a vehicle stuck to the next higher level. For example, a truck stuck to the bottom of the rims in thick mud would have a total resistance equal to twice the vehicle weight.

There is more that technically goes into the overall resistance factor (resistance of recovery tackle, vehicle able/disabled, etc.), but then this would become a full blown vehicle recovery class, my post would expand into a mind-numbing, multi-page dissertation, and most folks would lose interest before getting the proverbial "meat & potatoes" of the information.



In circling back around to the opening post, I would say that your guess of 6,000lbs is a bit low. Crew cab + Powerstroke generally equals a pretty heavy truck. I would be willing to bet that you would probably be north of the 7,000lbs mark.

My personal suggestion would be a 12,000lbs winch. The Super Duty is not really a trail friendly truck...especially when you factor in a crew cab. As such, it is unlikely that you will see any "heavy duty" four-wheeling...which minimizes the chances of being really, really stuck. In essence, a 12K winch provides enough winch to recover yourself in most instances, and it will save you a couple of hundred dollars over the larger, and more capable, 15,000 - 16,500lbs winches.

If you happen to get decently stuck, a ****** block can be used to double your effective pull rating. So, even while factoring in the various losses, your winch can still be provided a mechanical advantage to cope with your predicament.

On the heals of that, I would STRONGLY suggest that you spend that extra couple of hundred dollars on some solid rigging gear. Warn offers some decent winch accessory kits which include a chain, ****** block, recovery strap and/or trunk protector, and gloves. While they will not include everything you may/will need, they are a good starting point.

Good luck!!

 

Great post and I wouldn't mind reading the whole class, if you wanted to type that much. Rep points for you.

 

Nice post Deluxe05! I'm with ReAX on learning more.

 

Again, excellent post!
Too many people overlook the gearing loss that happens as more cable is spooled onto the drum. Likewise, I hear of too many "burnt-up" winches from the 4-wheeling community.

A Super Duty pickup shouldn't have less than a 10,000 pound winch, with 12,000 reccommended.

 

Indeed. You can never go to big. As the old saying goes "Go big or go home!"

 

Reps given to Delux 05

 

FWIW, my 4000lb Jeep has a 9000lb winch. I have never had a problem with it, and I have countless pulls on it.