what is your guys' opinions on whether or not an old warn 6000 lb winch is enough for basic needs. have the opportunity to use one on my rig and wondering if its worth putting in or not. will it pull my loaded camping rig out of a bog or up a slick hill?
6000 lb winch enough?
- Thread starter bigbadshawn
- Start date
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.
Is it an upright style winch like the Warn 8274? If so, a buddy of mine had one on his `74 FJ40 and it was a great winch. He said that it had more pulling strength than the 8274. He never had any trouble with it not pulling him out. If you are worried that it won't have enough strength to get you unstuck, then carry a snatch block with your recovery gear.
If I had the opportunity to try one, for basic needs, I'd give it a go. Nothing to lose really, take a snatch block just incase. I have 8000lb on the front, its been more than plenty. I've been thinking about getting a m6000 short drum for the back, maybe putting a m8000 gearbox and 9.5xp motor if its not good enough..
If it is cheap, I would buy a snatch block and run it. Nothing to lose....
- Thread starter
- #7
how does the snatch block work?
A snatch block is just a heavy duty pulley that lets you double the pulling power of your winch. Here is a photo of one.
Many of the IH8MUD vendors sell them. Here is the snatch block page from OK Off Road. There are several different makers of snatch blocks listed there.
Many of the IH8MUD vendors sell them. Here is the snatch block page from OK Off Road. There are several different makers of snatch blocks listed there.
- Thread starter
- #9
DOUBLES the pulling capacity? so i have a 12000 lb winch for another 2lb object? would it be 3X rated capacity if i used two snatch blocks? how exactly do you rig up a snatch block?
The attached picture is a page out of my rope rescue manual, and hopefully large enough to read. The principals of mechanical advantage are the same for ropes as they are for winches/cable. Simply put, just adding more than one snatch block does not necessarily mean that you will increase your mechanical advantage. Yes, adding one snatch block will double your rated capacity. However, to get the 3:1, 4:1 or 5:1 advantage, you have to set it up correctly or you will simply have a change of direction. See the picture below for clarification. In the picture, "A" is anchor, which could be your vehicle in a 2:1 pull. "L" is the load. The red circles would be your snatch blocks. In the explanation, "MA" refers to mechanical advantage.
Just remember, your line speed is a direct inversion of your mechanical advantage. In other words, a 3:1 advantage gives you 1/3 your original line speed. Also, you have to factor in your line strength, anchor strength, and snatch block capacity when increasing your mechanical advantage.
Finally, to interpret the picture, the "arrow" end of the rope would be where you are pulling from (i.e. the winch). So, a 2:1 (first drawing on the left) would be a snatch block around a tree "L" anchored back to your vehicle "A".
A 3:1 system would be your winch line out to a snatch block attached to a tree "L", back to a snatch block on your rig "A", back to the same tree "L".
With all that said, a 2:1 is typically all anyone ever would realisticly need. I would never use more than a 3:1 advantage. If that doesn't get you out, then you need to re-think your extraction plan. A 3:1 puts tremendous loads on everything in the system and beyond that the chance of a catastrophic failure (i.e. line or hardware failure) increase exponentially.
Good luck!
- Thread starter
- #12
nice info. thanks. i think since this winch is available dirt cheap i can't go wrong installing it.
Hi Shawn,
If you don't know much about winching? Then you might want to read the Warn Winch Basic Guide to Winching Techniques. It is in PDF format so you can save it to your computer to read whenever you like. In the section on rigging techniques, it shows the multiple line rigging that you are thinking about.
Also, properly rated snatch blocks weigh about 8 to 10 Lbs.
If you don't know much about winching? Then you might want to read the Warn Winch Basic Guide to Winching Techniques. It is in PDF format so you can save it to your computer to read whenever you like. In the section on rigging techniques, it shows the multiple line rigging that you are thinking about.
Also, properly rated snatch blocks weigh about 8 to 10 Lbs.
- Thread starter
- #14
yeah, never had a winch. always had to rely on others to get me out which often involves requesting help from other wheelers. this is great information - exactly what i needed. 
LC_Hamma
The Anti-Leafer
Yep, as others have said, a 6K winch will NOT be enough. I bought the Warn 6K multi-mount & had to use the snatch block whenever I was stuck on the framerails 
Learned my lesson & bought an 8274, no more worries ;p Also don't buy those cheap land spikes (not the Pull-Pal), I used it once & bent it all to he!!
Learned my lesson & bought an 8274, no more worries ;p Also don't buy those cheap land spikes (not the Pull-Pal), I used it once & bent it all to he!!
you said old, but how old?
is it this style?
IIRC, these were sold as 6000lb for a while, but are actually an 8k winch
they have a manual brake that can be a PITA, but they are big enough for a 40
OLD Warn Winches - Land Cruiser Tech from IH8MUD.com
is it this style?
IIRC, these were sold as 6000lb for a while, but are actually an 8k winch
they have a manual brake that can be a PITA, but they are big enough for a 40
OLD Warn Winches - Land Cruiser Tech from IH8MUD.com
winch
I like that winch; looks pretty cool--I wonder what the pto winch would be rated at
I thought about going with the lower rated winch myself as the 8 or 9 k are big money
Probably better off than buying a cheap over seas version.
I wonder if there be a way to incorporate the pully under the vehicle like in the engine bay so it could be wound out and used as normal but with the mechanical advantage---seems it could be done with some thought
I like that winch; looks pretty cool--I wonder what the pto winch would be rated at
I thought about going with the lower rated winch myself as the 8 or 9 k are big money
Probably better off than buying a cheap over seas version.
I wonder if there be a way to incorporate the pully under the vehicle like in the engine bay so it could be wound out and used as normal but with the mechanical advantage---seems it could be done with some thought
- Thread starter
- #18
yeah the winch looks like the one in gladly's picture. why market it as a 6000 when it was really an 8000? doesn't make much sense.
Saw a episode of "Dirty Jobs" where the host and some Marine Corps. Non-com.s hulled a HUMMVEE out with what appeared to be several hundred feet of large diameter rope and in the neighborhood of 5 snatch blocks. No winch! The HUMMVEE was buried in sand up to the doors. These five guys were able to pull it out.
While not practical, it was an interesting exercise from my arm chair perspective! lol
The "1rst" snatch block must be located opposite the pulling device (the winch). Since the winch is customarily attached to the vehicle, then the snatch block would be attached to the immobile anchor (tree, bolder, significantly massive thing). So the rope is spooled out from the winch to snatch block #1 (say it's wrapped around a large tree) and run back to the winch equipped vehicle. There it is affixed, prefferably to a "D"ring or suitable strong purpose made attachment.
While not practical, it was an interesting exercise from my arm chair perspective! lol
The "1rst" snatch block must be located opposite the pulling device (the winch). Since the winch is customarily attached to the vehicle, then the snatch block would be attached to the immobile anchor (tree, bolder, significantly massive thing). So the rope is spooled out from the winch to snatch block #1 (say it's wrapped around a large tree) and run back to the winch equipped vehicle. There it is affixed, prefferably to a "D"ring or suitable strong purpose made attachment.
These were originally built by Belleview. They were rated at 6000 lbs. When Warn bought them out, they tested them and found they could rate them at 8000 lbs. I'm not real sure why Belleview had them rated at 6k. But the exact same winch with a Warn name is rated at 8000 lbs.