I have $600 for a winch. There are so many choices out there. My use will be light duty while camping or for hurricane clean-up. Can someone please tell me the advantages or disadvantages of the following:

Permanent magnet motor
Series wound motor
MOFSET control
Hydraulic vs electric

Thank you as always.

 

I'm going to run a Tabor 9K, I haven't installed it yet, so I can give you any feedback on it. It's part of Warn's value line. You can get them for around $500. Check it out here....... http://warn.com/truck/winches/value_series.shtml

 

one of my "cheap" winches is a T-maxx. well worth it and under $500 shipped all the time.

Permanent Magnet Motors - In a permanent magnet motor, the stator uses permanent magnets and there are no field coils. With permanent magnet motors, the drain on your battery tends to be less than series wound motors, which uses field coils in the stator rather than magnets. Permanent magnet motors are better suited for light to medium duty winching because they tend to generate more heat and overheat. Winching time & load should be carefully monitored as they have the tendency to overheat. The magnets in permanent magnet motors can loose their field strength over time and repeated use.

Series Wound Motors - With a series wound motor, the field coils are connected in series with the armature coil. Series wound motors are powerful and efficient at high speed and generate the most torque for a given current. A series wound motor will uses more current over a permanent magnet motor because they use field coils to generate a magnetic field. Series wound winches are heavier duty winches, and tend to be more expensive.

A permanent magnetic motor will pull the same as a series wound motor, at at less of an amperage draw on the battery and charging system. However, as the permanent magnet motor gets warmer, the power will drop as the amperage draw will increase. The amperage draw on a series wound motor will stay the same throughout the duty cycle.

MOSFET is just a solid state type of control. I have no problem with "old style" selinoid packs as they are pretty durable and easy to replace.

Hydro winches have great power and will not overheat at a trade off: usualy slow and seeing as they are ran off either a crank powered pump or powersteering pump they will not work when your engine is dead and you are on your roof

 

Thank you very much. Great information, it will help me make my decision. One more question for you. Does a winch need to be covered when not in use? Will the elements take their toll on performance over time?

 

smittybilt is now making a winch, I guess it did good in the field tests in moab. I guess its a reasonable price as well.

 

a winch cover is always a good investment and even more so with synthetic line as it is UV sensitive. (side note: I just put enough chaff guard/tubular nylon on the synthetic line to completely cover the last wrap to keep the sunlight away) It also keeps the salt spray off the housing and line.

the most important thing you can do is protect the solenoid pack from the elements. When you install the winch put a liberal amount of dielectric grease on all connections and literally FILL the boots on the motor with it. It keeps the salt spray and road crap from corroding your connections

 

Just remember to consult your owners manual. The Powerplant doesnt require anything per the manual.

 

I would if you live anywhere it rains

open connections WILL rust and not work when you need them to

 

Warn Winch's state... "seals at the key points give extreme-duty water resistance"... Maybe this is why Warn products cost more than others?

 

e l e c t r i c a l c o n n e c t i o n s

not the motor, not the solenoids themselves, the connections. you know where the grounding wire goes to the lug on the motor, the control plug and the power wire connections.

Everywhere that a wire terminal is exposed to the elements it WILL rust, the more salty state the quicker it will. My warn the same as my el'chepo T-maxx has the same external connection points with crappy rubber boots that hold more water better than keep it out. The only reason a warn costs more is because its a warn

And FYI, even the end all be all blingity bling Warn PowerPlant says to bring it back to a certified repair place if your submerge it in water