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anyone had any experience with any of the small winches (2000lb realm)?  i'd long discounted the idea of a winch due to 150lbs on front bumper and a jillion amp draw requiring a power cable the size of my wrist.  but, given that I only have 2WD, I was thinking about toting my come-along and 100' of Spectra/Dyneema rope to help pull me out when (not if) I miscalculate my sand flotation.

but then...........I happened to be mindlessly reading the Northern Tool catalog while temporarily enthroned....dangerous practice..........and I learned that the 2000# winches from Warn, Superwinch, and their China Inc house-brand all weigh less than 20 lbs and cost >$100.  hmmmm.......  the Warn is heavier than the Northern one but claims 80 amp draw at max load as opposed to about 120.  2000# is of course way-too-small for Real Manly Jeeper Guys, but i'm not looking to pull a CJ5 back up a cliff, just help get out of deep sand..........and with the remote, I could run the winch and drive at the same time, a mite tough to do with the come-along.

any thoughts?  jeers?

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brilliant.  bet that would work fine in deep sand......but i'd have to carry the wood with me....usually anything in the desert has been scavenged for firewood

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I have a 2000 pound pull Warn on my ATV.  I does great on there but the ATV and I combined only weigh 600 pound.  For use with you RV, I would suggest a snatch block, & a good recovery strap to wrap around a tree or to extend you reach.  The block gives you double the pulling power.

 

My nephew bought a Harbor Freight winch with a wireless remote.  The remote lasted about 2 uses and died.  He could not get a replacement remote.

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thanks for info!  yeah, planning on adding the fixins for a block n tackle if I get such a wimpy winch. your nephew's story describes nicely why i'm leery of the China Inc one. 

just learned my wife got laid off for the summer, so Jim's 2x4 n strap plan is looking real good right now................!!  I guess I could stencil a Warn logo on the 2x4.......:P

Edited by payaso del mar
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some jeepers and others carry a high lift jack also sometimes known as a farm jack. also refered to as a poor mans winch. combined with hevy chain  . cables or even straps they are capble of some hevy pulling. I just watched   a guy pull a dead 3 1/ 4 truck up on a tilt bed trailer with one.

Edited by 5Toyota
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hilift is definitely also in the plans, but in addition to rather than in lieu of winch/comealong. 

around here, lots o folks use em as offroady bling....kind of funny to see one on a vehicle w/o a scratch on the paint anywhere!

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save the cash up for at least a 9000 lbs one else you will just smoke the winch and possibly your batteries or their terminals. overloading an ATV winch is effectively causing a short to an electrical system and will beat the piss out of your alternator if the truck is running while you do it.

 

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appreciate everyone's input!  I know close to nothing about winches and winching.

Totem, the issue with a larger winch isn't $, it's weight and power draw.  the winches i'm lookin at aren't sold as ATV winches per se, just utility winches.    I am worried about the issues you mention, but as I said, i'm only looking for a little extra pull out of deep sand, not any sort of dead lift.  the biggest I could see going is maybe 3500# and even that's pushing it.  but maybe I should look at something a little bigger than 2000#.  whatever I do, i'll let y'all know the results, even if i toast it first use and eat mucho crow. 

thinking about mounting it to a 2" tube and just making a hitch receiver for the front, so I could use it front or rear and move it between vehicles.  Warn makes something commercially for this but it's a lot of $ to avoid a little welding.

 

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Barbor freight sells a 2 inch reciever winch mount good for winches up to 9000 lbs.  i welded a 2 inch reciever onto my dodge front ranch hand bumper and do exactly what you mentioned on my work truck; i have a battery in the back of the truck thats connected to the alternator wire of the rear and runs the rear inverter and winch hookup. Works great! Same for toy would be a nice setup. Best part when not in use winch stays inside to keep from the weather/theft

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6 hours ago, Totem said:

Best part when not in use winch stays inside to keep from the weather/theft

yeah, I like that part too.  also lets me carry the heavy mass somewhere centralized, like under the opposite bunk from the batteries, instead of on the far end of the vehicle.

the mount sounds pretty simple to weld up, tho...even as cheap as HF is, cheaper to weld steel from the garage bin.  i'm going to have to do some welding anyway to make up the receiver.....looks like I can tie into the bolts for the towing eyes to mount it.  I want to keep it from hanging down too much so as not to kill my approach angle.

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as odd as this will sound it wont matter where you decide to mount the winch.. it will actually pull down. weird right? even winching into 9 feet up in a tree will still end up putting downward pressure on the mount point...you will actually want to reinforce the underneath; as if its meant to tow.

Edited by Totem
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OK, thanks.  in my case, it will really pull downward since i'm likely to be tying off to a stake or a buried spare tire....or if i'm lucky, another vehicle.

what I'm planning on making is sort of a mirror image of a rear trailer hitch receiver mount...figure that should be stout enough to support whatever I carry and occasional winching

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ground/stake based pull point may actually put upward pressure on it if below the winch axis. I wouldnt know because it always seems when i have used mine that i am pulling something above axis or at a higher altitude. from now on I will try low.

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well, I just ordered the Warn 2000#....got the extra Northern Tool sucker warranty in case I do torch it......with coupon, about $125 with 2 snatch blocks and shipping.  i'll let y'all know how it works out..........

I sometimes think my wife envies the Irishwomen whose husbands merely stop at the pub on payday to drink up their wages....the tool store is much more pernicious and pricey!

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