Crazy, I'm up to about 7000# with all my mods (a suspension lift on an IFS truck adds a lot of weight by itself) and I've pulled my truck out of some pretty deep stuff up at the farm. The key is having a ****** block. Besides the fact that the ****** block itself increases pulling capacity, it also allows you to get into the deeper coils of the cable, also increasing capacity.
So yeah, I think you can get by with an 8k winch, provided you have the additional equipment necessary...

 

Cool! I just sold my Yamaha mortocyle. So I can aford something. Bills takes most of the money. I like that price $300 for 8,000lb. I think I will go for it. Thanks.

 

You'll love having a winch. Hell, I use mine a lot more on projects than for getting my or another vehicle unstuck. I use it at the farm to move downed and cut trees often. Hell I just used it a week or so ago to pull the weight of an oak tree that was hanging over my mother's house the opposite way as I cut it.
So there are even times it comes in handy around the house, even if you live in a sub-division...

But any of y'all who are getting one, they can be dangerous! My hunting club lost a guy some years back who knew the proper ways to use a winch but was just lazy one day, and it cost him his life.
I am on a lot of hunting/fishing/ATV and general off road sites and forums, and at least a coupe times a year someone posts a horrific story of someone getting killed or seriously injured using a winch. AND ALWAYS IT'S BECAUSE THEY FAILED TO FOLLOW SOME SIMPLE PRECAUTIONS! It's amazing that something as simple as throwing an old coat over the center of the winch cable could mean the difference between getting a vehicle unstuck or getting seriously hurt attempting to do so.

I've got a little off-road guide setup in the off-road section. There is a post about winches in general and another one about proper winching techniques, give them a read...

https://dodgeforum.com/forum/off-roa...oad-guide.html

 

Just don't pull the tree down on the truck.

 

Reckon you're a city boy, Rich.

The RIGHT way to do it is to find a tree in the direction you want the one you're cutting to fall and put a tree saver strap around it, attaching a ****** block to it with a clevis.
Then park your truck at an angle and far enough to be well out of harms way.

Go read that guide I made in the off-road section and learn sumthin', will ya???

 

for a 05 dakota crew cab laramie would 8000lb with synthetic line be good or should ?I get the 10,000lb rated winch?

 

I've read it already, I was just givin ya crap.

We usually just notch the tree with the chainsaw and if need be have someone tug on the rope.

 

IMO you can never have too much winch, but by the same token, I can not see you ever getting into a situation where an 8000# winch and the right accessories won't get you out...

And Rich, I shoulda taken a pic of this live oak hanging over the house. That's why I took it out. Wasn't no notch gonna influence this one enough. The only pic I took was with the tree down, cut up and in piles next to the truck...