Terracan:

I would recommend buying a winch with temperature indicator, this is merely a thermistor in the winch which interprets temperature into an electrical resistance, it then powers an LED in the winch control and allows you to stop winching if the motor becomes too hot and the LED is lit.

The greatest problem with electric winches is thet most people overwork them and burn out the motors, the motors only carry a LIMITED WARRANTY irrespective of brand, and the limited warranty is for this very reason. If you are a newcomer to winching then i would suggest a winching course, they teach the basics of winching and the foibles of winches such as overloading as more layers are wound onto the winch drum, a good course will save your winch, considerable expense, and possibly your life.

The cost of a winching course? often less than a replacement winch electric motor.

Hi all been watching this thread, and taking in all the advice and comments, all good,
so just to throw a spanner in the debate, what are peoples thoght on a good make second hand winch, wich could be a bit cheaper than new.

this winch debate could go on forever ,at the end of the day it all boils down to personal choice/cost ,what might be perfectly adequate for one might not suit another ,my winch cost me just over £ 300.00 ,and has always been perfectly ok for my needs ,i don't use it every weekend or even every month,but it is run occasioally just to keep moving parts moving,spending over 1k on a winch that isn't going to get used much ,to me is just a waste of money,my 300 quid winch pulled four trucks out of a 3' deep washout without problem .

No, very few actually shut off as it could be dangerous if the vehicle is in a precarious position and you have to stop winching through heat build up in the motor, which could leave you and your vehicle exposed with it hanging on the internal braking mechanism.
In such conditions it is better to continue winching, and burning the motor out than risking your life or others lives, and your vehicle.

This is the reason many are fitted with thermal detection, plus it is a nice option for winch manufacturers to include as an expensive and profitable option. The last one i saw charged £50 for the LED indicator, the parts cost less than 50p so we can see the profitibility.

Buying a secondhand winch? dubious, ask a simple question, why is it being sold? over the years i have seen countless winches for sale and they nearly always have problems, overheated motors on their last legs, internally worn and corroded from years of immersion in water, and general lack of any maintenence. Many of the issues do not manifest themselves until the winch is working at the upper end of its rated limit, by then you are stuck and it is too late,; although i have seen the odd bargain, but they are very rare, and generally i would not recommend buying secondhand, especially off the common or popular sales sites.

Assassin i see your point, would not buy from online site, was thinking maybe at a LR show, someone who is upgrading or stoping. Then have it serviced by someone who knowswhat they are doing, or do you think that would work out dearer.
thanks yoda

I can only think of two secondhand winches that were any good, one came from a friend who fitted it and used it once, and the other one which came of a vehicle which had been rolled and was a write off, this was only 6 weeks old and according to the driver had never been used in anger.

In every other case the winches required many repairs and spares, with the combined cost of the secondhand winch and the spares needed often exceeded the price of a new winch with a full guarantee. So on balance i would not suggest people buy a secondhand winch, and everyone i know have found pretty much the same thing.

ok and thanks for your input, have to save a bit more

I have seen synthetic winch lines snap and some of them have 'flown'.

It is obvious from certain photos some people have no concept of a 'safety zone'

I treat all lines under tension with the greatest of respect.



Brendan

The best option is to go for a demonstrator from a show, you will get al least a reduction equivalent to the VAT as this is reclaimable as demonstrators are legally classed as secondhand items and sellers can offset the VAT through their books every quarter.

You may have a winch which is secondhand, but it will have been used properly by people who know them, and you know what it has done, and that it has not been abused.

On the subject of flying ropes, i agree with 4X4 Overlander as i have seen similar things, and yes he does know what he is talking about.

Assassin thanks for that info, will look at the shows wewill be atending

Out of interest has does anyone use wireless handsets for the winch instead to the usual plug in? Are they reliable? Do you have to buy a seperate control reciever to plud in to the winch?

And is it possible to wire the winch controlls up inside the cab like a dash mounted switch line in/out? Instead of using either plug in or wireless controler.


TJ

first rule of winching, the operator keep an eye on the winch.

You can have either or both, the wireless winches are considerably more expensive and not without their own specific problems, mainly down th the electronics employed in them, and if there are a number of people winching in the vicinity you may get signal problems due to their working frequency.

Ask yourself a simple question, a winch with either a hand control or cab mounted controls is simple, wireless ones contain electronics, and with the best will in the world it is virtually impossible to waterproof them entirely, and water is a common feature of mud and does electronics no good.

This leaves you the options to consider and form your own opinion as to what is best for you.

I prefer to have both the cab mounted switches and a seperate long plug in control, this is done by buying another plug and hard wiring it to cab switches, thus giving you hard inside wiring. Having the seperate lead means you simply unplug the internal wiring plug from the winch and plug your hand held lead into the winch and use this, giving the best of both worlds.

One other point worthy of mention is that most plug in leads are long enough to reach the cab from the winch as they are trailed over the bonnet, so you may decide not to have internal switches.

one option is to move the control box up under the bonnet away from all the water and mud . i moved mine the day i fitted my winch . its wireless controller hasn`t been any problem at all . i also have the wonderlead plug on the front grill and a second one on the control box ,just in case .

I used to remotely mount mine also, it is another variant of what can be done to make the systems more reliable.

All good ideas, when i fabricate my hidden winch mount i will put the controll box in the engine bay and look to wire up the winch in cab or wireless controler. The only problem i can think of is accessing the freespool lever. - Suppose ill have to have a hole somewere.

There are electrically operated freespool assemblies available, but why bother as it is not an issue as someone has to get out and pull the rope out and connect it anyway.

The solonoid packs being mounted under the bonnet is a good idea, but many mount at them at the front of the vehicle as close to the winch as possible to keep cable runs short, these are often open to the same types of conditions as being mounted directly onto the winch, so in many cases it is not worth doing. I prefer to mount them high on the bulkhead, they are out of harms way from water and mud, and more importantly, away from any potential accident damage, and much better if a remote transmitter/receiver are being used, i mount mine in one of the excellent waterproof boxes for additional protection.

If you follow this route your cables will be longer, the longer they are then the larger they need to be because of their current carrying capacity, if it does not recommend a minimum size for your length of cables then refer to the manufacturer for their recommendations.