A long time ago, one of my Land Rover buddies had a "portable" winch which consisted of a 9000 pound Warn winch mounted to a carrier that fit into a receiver hitch he had on his front bumper.

I've been considering this as an option as it might have some benefits:

1) No need to carry a heavy winch when not in use
2) No need to upgrade suspension to prevent the front end from sagging from the weight
3) Keep winch out of the weather and humidity which can be very detrimental here in Alabama
4) discourage thieves from stealing something expensive when my Jeep is left unattended in remote areas
4) Improve self-recovery ability since I could pull myself backwards out of a mud hole if I do not want to make any more forward progress

But there are some downsides:

1) Carrying and lifting a 100 pound winch is not so good for my aching back
2) It is not always with the vehicle if I do not carry it with me
3) Easier to steal when it is mounted to the vehicle
4) Initial price searches suggest that this is a more expensive option.

So what do people think of these "portable" winches?

 

Check out mrsig profile. He switches it from front to rear.

https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/members/mrsig-5637/

 

A secure interior mounting method would DEFINITELY be necessary. Wouldn't want to be hit in the back of the head with a flying winch in an accident.

 

I have been thinking of mounting my winch inside my rear compartment and using it from there to pull me forward and backwards. So far it's on thinking stage yet as there are some problems trying to find out proper line routes.
Now when needed I just mount it with 4 bolts to my front winch plate , takes no more than 15minutes to get it working. Same when removing it.

 

An other problem this is when you do get stuck and you can NOT find your reciever because its hip deep in stuff and if you leave it on one way or the other it WILL as affect your approch or departure angles.

 

I have a removable winch in my f150, I don't know if to call it removable still. I put it on about 2 years ago. I always thought I would move it from front to back when need it. IMO too much of a hassle to move around.

 

another thing, we all usually wheel with friends, so there's not much need for a winch in the back as you would think.

 

I thought a long while on this before buying/mounting my winch. Several things influenced my decision not to go this way.

- Weight...an 8000# winch is easily 80# plus the mounting plate is 20-40# plus the reciever insert piece is another few, plus the wiring...just gets unrealistically heavy to move by one person.

- How will you mount it to the front? This limits your choices on aftermarket front bumpers, or requires you to spend about $130~160 on a front mount reciever hitch designed to work with the OEM bumpers.

- How will you power the winch? It isn't that difficult to run a set of power cables, or to setup a quick disconnect design. There are kits, but they are around $50~90.

- When I've been stuck, or helped others that were stuck, it would usually have been difficult to slide the receiver insert in even without it weighing so much.

- Even with a 8000# winch, where does your 'weakest link' reside? You shouldn't pull straight on a winch, so in reality you are pulling at an angle and putting a huge amount of pressure on the receiver insert 'neck'.

- Do you really wheel alone? I rarely go alone, and when I get stuck or need a little help, it is so much easier and quicker to grab a strap and hook to another vehicle. Using what you have is great, but also be wise.

- Where will you store it in the vehicle when not in use?

- Approach / departure angles are killed when it is in place on the front / rear of the vehicle.

- Cost: I figured that if I bought everything and didn't fab anything and wanted a setup to use on front and rear of my vehicle, it would cost $150 for a front mount reciever hitch, $85 for a 25' quick disconnect wiring kit (another $40 for a 10' if I wanted to permanently wire both ends), $130-ish for a mounting tray, $30 for a receiver insert (some mounting trays don't come with inserts), $50 for mounting tray handles (some trays don't come with handles)...and so on. -- I figured for about $150 more I could get a nice front bumper and keep it simpler.

 

Just be sure to be #2 in line when wheelin then if your buddy gets stuck you can pull him out. If he makes it you are pretty much good to go.

 

The removable setups I think were more intended for and marketed towards businesses that had a need to share a winch between commercial vehicles or couple of farm trucks. For recreational off-roading I don't think it makes much sense. When you get out to recover your vehicle (or someone else), it's a lot of small tasks to worry about before you get to pull cable. Better to have something permanently mounted - you'll have enough to keep busy with as it is! If you end up needing it more than once on a sticky trail it will get old real quick, and leaving it attached is probably a no-go due to it turning into clearance liability while underway.