Hand Winches

[bsevans]

I know most of you guys like the looks of the ARB bumper with the winch set up. Yes it really does look good, not doubt. But I personally would like to find a hand winch for emergency situations. The reasons for not wanting a heavy front bumper and winch on that bumper are as follows. First it adds alot of weight up front, so you need to do something like a lift etc, new coil springs, etc. So you spend 3K for a winch and setup. That cool. But then your gas mileage decreases even more. I know if I wanted great gas mileage why buy Cruiser, mentality. I don't want to decrease my gas mileage even further, period. I typically drive 20K+ miles a year, and want to increase that fairly soon for even more trips. I want the gas expense to be within reason for these trips. You see I have alot of hobbies and have better ways to spend 3K is all. Of course I am looking for a quality hand winch, anybody out there use the hand winch?

Thanks
Gman

I researched this extensively, but for different reasons. I have a RE8000 winch that weighs 140 lb on the front of my FJ40. I wanted something that was very stout to use to pull me back from the rear. This company makes the most serious hand winches I've come across. I purchased their 6,000 lb unit and it if hefty (27lbs). I also purchased spare Tubular safety handles and a choker. The issue is, you get what you pay for. The 3 ton unit is $152. If you are serious about this, then you need to be real clear about the fact that you are putting yourself in harms way when you use this method of recovery. If you use a cheap hand winch, are you willing to put your safety from bodily harm or death in the hands of a cheap mechanism?

https://www.wyeth-scott.com/index.asp

 

[Godwin]

When you're stuck the cost of a winch or bumper or the impact upon mileage becomes much less important, if not irrelevant, and the value of quality extraction gear becomes evident. I've had a cheap come-along fail once and since then I've avoided them. I now carry a More Power Puller, the 3 ton job. Free shipping from here http://www.cspoutdoors.com/morpowpul.html. I can't make a comparison of the MPP to the Tirfor because I've never had the opportunity to use one. While the FJ40 has and 60 that I'm building will have a good Warn on the front I'll also carry the MPP because at times a side or rear pull may be needed.

 

[IsaacUribe]

Old thread, but I keep finding it while searching for hand-winch options.
FYI Wyeth-Scott has now a 3 Ton (Lift) / 6 Ton (Pull) model with 35 feet of synthetic rope (double line for the max capacity, that becomes 12.5 feet and you get to pull 12,000 lbs), its weight is only 24lbs!! (That is what sold me, as the OP mentioned, I don't want to go the fixed winch and bull bar way, mainly because of the added complexity for the electrical system).

 

[e9999]

well, the added complexity for the electrical system can consists solely of connecting 2 wires from the winch to the battery -if you don't want to add fancy switches and relays etc. Not that bad.