Winches
07-07-2010, 07:15 PM
#13
JK Freak
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07-08-2010, 05:22 AM
#14
JK Super Freak
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A quality snatch block is VITAL piece of trail equipment.
It'll let you pull at strange angles, dramatically increase your available pull, and may even keep you warm at night.
It'll let you pull at strange angles, dramatically increase your available pull, and may even keep you warm at night.
07-08-2010, 07:02 AM
#15
JK Super Freak
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Don't expect an 8K winch to pull 8K under anything other than ideal circumstances. If you've still got most of the cable on the drum, your 8K winch will only be pulling 6200 pounds (per Warn's website ="http://www.warn.com/truck/winches/src/M8000.shtml"]http://www.warn.com/truck/winches/src/M8000.shtml
Add a snatch block and you'll double that...almost (loss due to friction and the like)
Given that most of our Jeeps weigh at least 4000 pounds, multiply that by three for a "mired to the body in mud" situation (per the US Army's recovery manual) and you're just barely pulling enough to get yourself out.
If you add a less than ideal pull angle to the equation, you're not going to be able to get out.
Most people do not NEED anything more than an 8K winch....but a 9.5 is not overkill by any stretch of the imagination. A 12K may be going a wee bit overboard on most Jeeps, but it's not unreasonable...especially since I've seen a 12K hydraulic winch stall while trying to pull my JK out when it was mired to the frame. No, we weren't using a snatch block there....but we could not have used one either. There was not enough line on that winch to use one in that situation.
Add a snatch block and you'll double that...almost (loss due to friction and the like)
Given that most of our Jeeps weigh at least 4000 pounds, multiply that by three for a "mired to the body in mud" situation (per the US Army's recovery manual) and you're just barely pulling enough to get yourself out.
If you add a less than ideal pull angle to the equation, you're not going to be able to get out.
Most people do not NEED anything more than an 8K winch....but a 9.5 is not overkill by any stretch of the imagination. A 12K may be going a wee bit overboard on most Jeeps, but it's not unreasonable...especially since I've seen a 12K hydraulic winch stall while trying to pull my JK out when it was mired to the frame. No, we weren't using a snatch block there....but we could not have used one either. There was not enough line on that winch to use one in that situation.
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07-10-2010, 04:30 AM
#16
JK Freak
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Buy the biggest best you can afford. Use snatch blocks. Buying bigger load now will mena you don't have to change winches later, if you build your rig bigger. My rig weighs 6800lbs empty. Add to it passengers, and it is getting pretty heavy.
Something else to consider...if you wheel in an area where others are stuck and they need help, then having a bigger winch is useful. We frequently coming across someone, usually not in a JK who has gotten into trouble. A few weeks ago we recovered a Toyota truck that fell off a hill into the trees after breaking his drive shaft. I figured it would be easy. WRONG. The hill was super steep, we had to use double snatches to get him out of there.
Winches aren't a place to save a couple/few hundred $.
Something else to consider...if you wheel in an area where others are stuck and they need help, then having a bigger winch is useful. We frequently coming across someone, usually not in a JK who has gotten into trouble. A few weeks ago we recovered a Toyota truck that fell off a hill into the trees after breaking his drive shaft. I figured it would be easy. WRONG. The hill was super steep, we had to use double snatches to get him out of there.
Winches aren't a place to save a couple/few hundred $.
07-10-2010, 09:58 PM
#17
JK Super Freak
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Why...do you have hard facts that contradict what I put down?
What I typed there is a simplification of what's in the US Army's vehicle recovery manual. Those ballpark figures have proven to be pretty accurate over the past decade...a decade that has afforded me lots of chances to winch Jeeps and 1-ton trucks out of some VERY ugly terrain.
Why don't you go read what's on the winch manufacturer's sites about number of wraps versus line speed and pulling ability, and then read all of the US Army vehicle recovery manual (I have), spend a few years dealing with the rigging of suspended loads, read a couple of industry primers on lifting and hoisting safety, and then spend ten years figuring out how to apply what you've read. That's what I did, and the post I made earlier is a distillation of a lot of that information.
What I typed there is a simplification of what's in the US Army's vehicle recovery manual. Those ballpark figures have proven to be pretty accurate over the past decade...a decade that has afforded me lots of chances to winch Jeeps and 1-ton trucks out of some VERY ugly terrain.
Why don't you go read what's on the winch manufacturer's sites about number of wraps versus line speed and pulling ability, and then read all of the US Army vehicle recovery manual (I have), spend a few years dealing with the rigging of suspended loads, read a couple of industry primers on lifting and hoisting safety, and then spend ten years figuring out how to apply what you've read. That's what I did, and the post I made earlier is a distillation of a lot of that information.
07-11-2010, 05:21 AM
#18
JK Freak
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This is right in my experience. I've been stuck really bad out in back country in the winter, with a jeep full of kids. If that winch failed, we would have been so screwed--like a dummy I wasn't prepared for survival in the snow, and lots of miles from nowwhere. My winch could not pull me out without a snatch block and double line. It tok several hours of wichng to get us out of the gulch I was in.
If you wheel a lot, you will become truly stuck, in which case you will need a strong winch and snatch block or two to get out.
A winch can save lives. Sounds trite. Isn't, though.
A little stuck example, a guy following me got hiself high centered, all four wheels off the ground. Took me a short pull with my rear winch to get him off of that ridge. No biggy. Weigh of jeep.
If you wheel a lot, you will become truly stuck, in which case you will need a strong winch and snatch block or two to get out.
A winch can save lives. Sounds trite. Isn't, though.
A little stuck example, a guy following me got hiself high centered, all four wheels off the ground. Took me a short pull with my rear winch to get him off of that ridge. No biggy. Weigh of jeep.