Cheap hand winches?

[LowFour]

I'm looking at hand winches on the net, ebay has a few with BIG differences in pricing.

They're either (in Australian dollars) about $40, or about $300-$400. The cheaper ones are probably all the way from the Peoples Republic of China, have names like Come-A-Long and Power Puller, the expensive ones are Rig-Mates, look like Tirfors.

Any ideas about the cheapies? Do I really need to spend ten times as much to get something that works, or can those little fellas put together some hardy engineering that will pull my little BJ74 out of the mud?

cheeries, Peter

 

[lavarunner]

those arb hand winches are SWEET

 

[bjowett]

The more power puller, though it would probably cost you close to 300AUD by the time it arrived.
https://www.wyeth-scott.com/

The dayton 3AY61 is also nice, but hard to find at a good price.

Bring plenty of water, both will give you a nice work out.

 

[LowFour]

looking at the Big Haul winch - if you're gonna have a hand winch I suppose it might as well be something that's going to work when you need it. $400 Australian, ouch, but I don't think I'd feel good about going into a heavy duty bog with a 40 dollar comealong between me and starvation.

 

[3_puppies]

can't say which, but I like tirfors, sp? pull on both strokes, and unlimited pull, as long a wire rope as you have.

 

[Beowulf]

Any ideas about the cheapies? Do I really need to spend ten times as much to get something that works

Peter,
Search this section (Outfitting) using keyword=tirfor and you should get a couple of threads discussing this very question. Pros & Cons of the come-a-long style, the More-Power-Puller style, and the tirfor style. Let me know if you come up empty.

Bottom line, it's like anything else, you get what you pay for. I've see the $40 come-a-long do a lot of work but you have to be careful with the load and the rigging and if they break when you need them......
-B-

 

[Live to Ski]

Well, I just tried to use a cheapo hand winch to pull out a small stump. The cable jumped the sheeve and jamed between the sheeve and the sheeve plates. You get what you pay for.

 

[Coolerman]

Another vote for Wyeth-Scott

The more power puller, though it would probably cost you close to 300AUD by the time it arrived.
https://www.wyeth-scott.com/

Gotta agree with this one 100%! I have one of their OLD models. It belonged to my dad and to the best we can figure it's 31 years old. I used it a lot growing up and once I moved out I took it with me. It finally got so worn that I stopped using it.

Then I stumbled onto Wyeth-Scott's website and found out that every single part for it is STILL available! I ordered new cable w/new hook, 25' extender cable w/pre-made ends, cable retainer rivet, handle, and main hook. I now have an almost 'new' 31 year old hand winch.

 

[hoser]

I've used Lug-all brand hand winches and they are of very good quality. They also make a hand winches that use web straps so the cable can't get stuck in the spool.

 

[Off Road Costa Rica]

Avoid cheapo hand winches. We bought a $50 hand winch to "eperiment" with, no good, fortunately we have the real deal bolted on the bumper to pull us out of any trouble. Lucky for us we did not depend on it, and no customers were on board, we were just scouting out new trails with guys from our crew.
maybe we had bad luck, and aquired a worse-than-most chinese hand winch, but chances are Beowulf is right, you get what you pay for.
Good luck!
www.offroadcostarica.com

 

[e9999]

I remember vividly reading this account of these guys who were going down So. America in a Land Rover Defender. Amazingly enough, IIRC, they only had a hand winch. It was funny to read in their log that they said they would have liked to have had an electric winch...
Of course, theirs was the kind of expedition where they were winching 36 times a day, 25m at a time...

 

[Front Range 4x4]

Anybody know anything about this one sold by CCOT?

http://coolfj40.stores.yahoo.net/wincom80heav.html

 

[Beowulf]

www.offroadcostarica.com

Interesting web site! Are you Ted?

I got a chuckle out of your "who we are" web page. Most Cruiserheads would get highly offended if someone referred to their vehicle as a jeep; yet you did it twice when referring to your fleet of restored FJ40's.

No biggie though 'cause you are experiencing the life many of us would dream to live; making a living driving Land Cruisers off-road in a beautiful country with a lot less stress than we live with daily. Sounds like you get to see your share of lovely ladies in bathing suits too.



-B-

 

[nuclearlemon]

ive always just used a hi lift, since i carry those anyway. dont need to carry more stuff than i have room for

 

[78-FJ40]

Anybody know anything about this one sold by CCOT?

http://coolfj40.stores.yahoo.net/wincom80heav.html

Looks to be the same as this, but more expensive:

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-5-TON-COME-...ryZ66900QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem#ebayphotohosting

I have the ebay one. Pretty stout unit for the price. Don't worry if this auction is expired, that come along
is always being offered.

 

[Front Range 4x4]

I have the ebay one. Pretty stout unit for the price. Don't worry if this auction is expired, that come along
is always being offered.

Ever used it? My experience is that most people find comfort in having a winch but rarely, if ever, use it.

I've been in a situation to use one :whoops: and didn't have one so think something like this may be a good alternative but if it doesn't work I don't want false security.

 

[78-FJ40]

Ever used it? My experience is that most people find comfort in having a winch but rarely, if ever, use it.

I've been in a situation to use one :whoops: and didn't have one so think something like this may be a good alternative but if it doesn't work I don't want false security.

I have not used it to winch my cruiser out of being stuck. I have a Warn for that. I have it in case I need to winch myself or someone else (with the Warn) and provide support on the side (hand winch) so they don't roll. That I've had to do twice.