Winch choice made....I pretty sure
 

Been looking and reading and here is what I think I am going to pick up for my choice in a winch.

I plan to use it on a winch cradle and run quick connect wires to both the front and the rear of the truck for giving a tug at either end as needed.

So here is your opportunity to talk me out of going the less expensive route. It has great reviews and under $300 for 12K of winching power.

12000 lb. Off-Road Vehicle Electric Winch with Automatic Load-Holding Brake

I have the 10,000 pound version of this winch on my car trailer and I love it. This line of winches was voted "Best Deal In Winching" by Four Wheel Magazine and Jeep Magazine in the last 3 years. I've seriously considered this now that I have my hitch in the front. Just remember the hitch only has a 9k pound rated inline pull. So you are going to leave the RanchHand on???

I am going to leave the Ranch Hand Grille Guard on. I contacted Bodiak about their front receiver hitch and they sent me some measurements. It looks like it will be a close call, but should fit with the Ranch Hand in place.

Nice thing about the Bodiak hitch is it would raise the height of the hitch to a level where a winch in a cradle would not be sitting as low as my Curt receiver hitch would. The Bodiak hitch attaches with two bolts through the OEM tow hooks so I should be able to take in on or off with ease (I hope). And of course with a cradle mount you would know if your going into a situation where the winch maybe needed, so I would also know that the Bodiak may be required or wanted.

I also like the idea of the hitch not being exposed to the weather all the time. Also not carrying around the weight of a replacement winch bumper and winch all the time.

I hope to have the Bodiak hitch end of next week, and will report back with my findings.

OH and you are correct as to the 9K line pull limit of the Curt/Reese receiver hitch. And many of the winch cradles are rated the same. But, since I can get the 12K winch for the price of the 9K winch I may as well go with the greater power. I guess if I were to use it in the rear receiver hitch it may have a higher rating line pull.

Kind of like buying a Shelby GT500, just because it will go 212mph, doesn't mean you have to go over the speedlimit if you don't want to. Common sense goes a long way when it comes to safety.

I doubt the Curt / Reese receiver will come apart at 9,001 lb ..... just sayin'

There is some safety factor there. Our crews constantly pull 12 - 15,000 lb trailers on 9,000 lb receivers. We actually just got fined for it yesterday......

Sounds like a good deal to me....
I'm with Darren on the safety factor, but not sure I would routinely try to find out just how much of a safety factor they've put in!:D

I looked at the Bodiak too and that's when I really decided I don't like chrome tow hooks}> If the cradle will fit with the hitch and clear the RanchHand, then I will probably order a RH, Tough Country or Frontier-Gear and be happy.

With the Ranch Hand in place if I wanted to use a winch cradle I would need to also use a receiver extension. I did pick up an extension and could do so, but it is not a setup that I would feel comfortable driving around with the winch in place. That would be too unstable and low to the ground for my comfort level.

The extension I picked up is 12" long, I feel a 6" would get the job done without any issues.

I too think I have decided on a winch for mine. I will probably go with the Smittybilt Gen2 X20 12k...just a little more than the HF one, but more of a duty cycle and it will stay a lot cooler due to the new brake design. I say "probably" due to the fact that I almost brought home a Badlands from HF yesterday! It WILL be one of those two though:D

The Chinese junk store quality has come up some over the years. I see nothing wrong with most of their stuff. I now buy their tools since they have the unlimited warranty on them. Talk is that Sears/K-Mart might not be around many more years. They might be going bankrupt down the road.

I would also look at the remote control to operate the winch. I think they have it on sale at times for less than $50.00. Have seen it included with some of their wenches.

http://www.harborfreight.com/wireles...rol-61474.html

The wireless remote from HF is priced at $79.99 currently on sale for $39.99. Then I will use one of the 20% off coupons and save an additional $8 dropping the price down to $32 and change.....not to bad.

My store has been getting picky on use of the 20% off..
"Oh, this is a sale price, one or the other.. not both.. "

Not bad at all.. That's one thing I liked about the Smittybilt was the remote can either be wired or wireless. The Smittybilt has a Chinese component to it too. Most all do except for Ramsey. That's the winch we've had on most of our rescue trucks for years. They are great winches but just as expensive, if not more than Warn.. I'm just not that sold on Warn any longer as I've seen the inside of two of their winches that have never been submersed, but were very rusted and corroded in the motor and solenoid.
I do like the possibility of the wireless remote though. And like you said, you can't beat the price!

My local HF will accept the 20% off coupon on sale prices, unless the sale price is a coupon sale price. I picked up the HF winch cradle yesterday on sale for $49.99 minus the 20% for a price of $39.99. It's rated at a 9K line pull also which is what most of the front receiver hitches are rated at.

I have also been in contact with Bodiak front receiver hitch getting additional measurements to try and make sure their receiver will work in conjunction with the Ranch Hand Grille Guard. I ain't going to lie, it's going to be close, very close. However I just finished placing the Bodiak order so I hope to have results in a week or so.

I don't think Warn is nearly high quality as they were years ago, I had a Superwinch on my old '73 Jeep, never had one issue with it and it was very fast. The only reason I have kicked around the idea of the Warn, is the hidden winch mount & skirt, I haven't seen one in person, but they're supposedly only compatible with a Warn winch, and then only a certain couple of models. IIRC, when I was in the service, we used Mile Marker winches.