Never thought of my winch as the "life and death" sort of equipment. That doesn't mean I shouldn't.... even in remote Montana... I have not needed the winch to save my life, so... that probably reflects in my choice.
I've had three winches in 25 years... An old Ramsey winch (REP 8000). A RUNVA that I won a bid on for 200 bucks on e-bay (died after 4 years of use), and now this Smittybuilt 12,000 xrc... Always would have liked to buy a Warn... but it often took me a years of savings to get the cheap one... so there is that for some of us. :grayno:
I have only used the winches to pull dead trees out of the trail, pull up a few ledges, or out of mud holes... maybe a dozen times. Summer pulls are a rare thing...
So I really don't "wheel" where lockers - ground clearance - and tires are not the greater "needs" in order to have safety on the trail... I'm sure if I did, I would have a different perspective. I guess I would put a lift, or good tires, or gearing and lockers -over a winch, so my saving and investing in parts is directed at other areas first. A winch was a bonus item when I got other things set up first.
The Ramsey failed by design... the control box was under water... and the controller could not be pushed in because there was no where for the water to escape the plug... and it wouldn't compress while in a river. Then another time it shocked us when it shorted out... again in the water pulling a bogged tree out of a mud hole. The Winch also rusted terrible on the inside a seal was broken. Bought it used... so I guess it owed me nothing.
The Runva did fail at a bad time... not life or death, and I was not alone... but the other winch that was brought into action was a warn and it stopped working too... but we did fix it (loose nut on cable shorting out)- and we eventually got creative with tow straps to get the jeep back in a happy place on the road. There was no warranty left on the runva... and no parts to fix it. If that would have been a worse place... there would be a different feeling about having a winch fail.
So the advice from most of you on here comes from that place..."life or death"- and it is a good point to consider when buying a winch.
90% of the use of my winches have been in the snow and the recovery of others in snow conditions. I already have stated that this winch has more than 40 full pulls on it... the line is looking terrible at this point (I think the ice crystals and the rope being streached while frozen is very hard on the line). I pull people back onto the highway. 8 in the last storm before Christmas. 3 in the storm before that. Many times I have to strap my jeep to a truck sitting on the highway to stop sliding on the ice towards the recovery vehicle. If I can't find a recovery point, I get them home to call a tow truck... but most times I can get them back to the road. Not again life or death situations... but I have saved people hundreds of dollars in towing cost, maybe even a thousand a time or two. I thought I would have broke this winch by now.. I really did, but it keeps working. So I can't say much bad about it at this point.
You guys wheel with a lot more times where the winch is a "critical part" of your day. I think that should influence your choice. You have all seen lots of China made winches fail... that should influence your choice and advice. People would be wise to hear your experiences with the cheaper winches.
I only have what has happened to me... I must have got the 1 in 10 good ones? I will be more careful telling people about my experience... and let them know that there are others who have seen these winches- fail apparently a lot more often then I have.
I did see an engo winch fail... but the driver was using his winch cable like a tow strap... jerking the jeep while flooring it in reverse... so I didn't fault the ENGO.. I think a warn would have died too, I tried to get him to stop but he wouldn't listen... saying that it was not going to break and that is what winches are for... after nearly snapping it in half... it wouldn't spool line anymore?
I also don't wheel alone... we really can't do that safely in many parts of Montana. Too remote.
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