Winch mounting

[charlie56]

Originally Posted by rob_gendreau

Finally may break down (no pun intended) and get a cheap winch.

Rob

Going back to the original statement, are you still going to get a CHEAP winch? Seems to me a winch is a last resort device that if designed poorly or used improperly can cause grave bodily injury. My position is this is a piece of equipment that I want to be certain is going to work and work well even though I might never use it. On my new rig I considered saving a few hundred but went with a top of the line Warn instead.

[witoke]

Rob,

the plan sounds fine, use what you've got since it sounds like it's more than strong enough. You can space the bumper out easily enough if you need more room for the winch.

As for HF, I used to diss their stuff until a few years ago when DeWalt started making crap that breaks down after a few months of serious work. Since the HF stuff is at least as good and is 1/10th of the price, why not? I have not specifically used their winches but have used a fair number of the electrical tools and have always been amazed that they can even make this stuff for what they sell it for, let alone that it seems to hold up well.

[BajaSportsmobile]

Any competent fabrication shop can add a second receiver tube to your existing front and rear hitches and then build or modify a winch mount to uses both.

The 12,000 lbs HF Winch is a great winch for the price and won't let you down.

Originally Posted by rob_gendreau

I do have a front receiver, however. It's not only bolted to the frame where the leaf springs also bolt on, but welded on as well. The receiver tube is welded on with the addition of some gussets. Basically the frame will pull apart before this thing fails.

[Gnarvan]

Originally Posted by witoke

Rob,

As for HF, I used to diss their stuff until a few years ago when DeWalt started making crap that breaks down after a few months of serious work. Since the HF stuff is at least as good and is 1/10th of the price, why not? I have not specifically used their winches but have used a fair number of the electrical tools and have always been amazed that they can even make this stuff for what they sell it for, let alone that it seems to hold up well.

They can sell it for those prices because the people who make the stuff manufacture it in a way that slowly poisons their employees and all the people who live around the place where the products are produced. They also only pay their employees pennies to make the items.

[jage]

Originally Posted by charlie56

Going back to the original statement, are you still going to get a CHEAP winch?

I've found that inexpensive means slow and low duty- perfectly suited for the once in a lifetime stuck but not at all for winching 7 buddies in a row up an obstacle. I've run a Warn 9500HS to death on my wheeling rig, and gotten some good use out of a "half-the-cost, 1/4 the speed" mile marker on my TJ. Because the TJ winch is sufficient for what I did with it, I bought a Rugged Ridge 10K with synthetic line for the SMB- again, for me now line speed and duty cycle are not an issue otherwise I'd go Warn every time.

Harbor Freight can be another matter entirely- if they are rebranded major label winches, I might be OK with it; but if they are Chinese copies I wouldn't. For me there were good enough deals on name-brand winches that I wouldn't go HF just to save an extra little bit in the inexpensive/deal category.

[rob_gendreau]

Should have said "inexpensive" I guess.

I am gonna use my favorite fab shop (Any Seven Offroad in San Leandro, BTW). They've made some good stuff for me before on that Tracker I built up. We'll go all KOH on it. Building a platform using the winch plate about the existing front receiver should work; probably will require some flanges and a bit of reinforcing (after all, if you double the pull it's up around 20k lbs of pull under ideal conditions). And we'll make sure the whole thing is sturdily connected (my leaf springs weld up there, so it's stronger already than just a bolted-on bumper).

We'll probably cut a hole through the chrome bumper and ditch some of the plastic under the bumper, but won't need to do much.

Here's the front:

[rob_gendreau]

Originally Posted by jage

I've found that inexpensive means slow and low duty- perfectly suited for the once in a lifetime stuck but not at all for winching 7 buddies in a row up an obstacle. I've run a Warn 9500HS to death on my wheeling rig, and gotten some good use out of a "half-the-cost, 1/4 the speed" mile marker on my TJ. Because the TJ winch is sufficient for what I did with it, I bought a Rugged Ridge 10K with synthetic line for the SMB- again, for me now line speed and duty cycle are not an issue otherwise I'd go Warn every time.

Harbor Freight can be another matter entirely- if they are rebranded major label winches, I might be OK with it; but if they are Chinese copies I wouldn't. For me there were good enough deals on name-brand winches that I wouldn't go HF just to save an extra little bit in the inexpensive/deal category.

The HF was designed by a Mile Marker guy, apparently. Pretty well regarded and durable, but you're right: what you're sacrificing is duty cycle. But I have the same use plans as you; on the Tracker I mentioned it was a different winch because in that kind of four wheeling it's part of getting down the path. There are lotsa reviews of the HFs out there. One reason I waited is to let others beta test them. We'll see how it goes; with any luck I'll rarely use it. Got by all these years without one, so I must be doing something right.

[BroncoHauler]

I'll use HF tools for things I don't frequently use, or for tools that are going to get damaged or detroyed in what I'm using them for.

Knowing a winch will work 6, 12, 24 months from now, especially if exposed to the environments? I'll stick with a name brand, though I do realize that's no guarantee.

FWIW, if someone does want to go with a HF winch, this weekend is the time to buy. With a coupon (can get online) they're selling the 12,000lb winch for $299.99 through this weekend.

http://www.harborfreight.com/#


Herb

[rob_gendreau]

Yeah, it's so true that a name brand is no guarantee any longer, if it ever was. I suspect a lot of the components of winches are made overseas, even if assembled here. And you get the reverse of what was mentioned earlier: rather than a copy, turns out the US-sounding product you just bought is identical with one you see on aliexpress.com NOT because the Chinese copied it, but because the US company re-branded it. For more $$. Not that being made overseas is necessarily bad; I've got tons of stuff made overseas that's great. While there might be some reasons to buy American, a guarantee of quality isn't one of them.

I checked a Warn winch against the HF one, their low-end brand. Specs not as good as the HF, and missing things like exactly what the duty cycle was, IP rating, etc. Used more power too. And since it was over 2x as much, I passed.

And what's a "name" brand? I recently installed a Superwinch and it seemed to have components from all over; I know they have plants in the UK and US, but I'm not sure about the one I installed. And it would be devilishly hard to see where all the parts came from; Superwinch certainly didn't make them. I think the Smittybuilt XRCs are the same as the HF winches, probably ditto for everyone but Warn and Superwinch ('though their LP line looks to be the same one).

And as one wag on pirate4x4 cracked, that Chinese kid making the HF knows math better than we do, so perhaps it's better its made there than in South Tweakerville, OR.

In any case, good idea to keep testing it. And I live in Oakland, so nothin' gets left out in the elements very long. And I don't consider a winch essential equipment, so I don't wanna invest much in one.