I am looking at picking up a winch for when I go hunting and camping. I do not do much heavy duty off roading as my truck is only 2wd. However, during this time of year I am constantly in the woods hunting and camping. I am wanting to pick up a winch just in case I hit a trail and get stuck. I have looked at many different kinds and I like the Warn, but they are expensive. I do not wanna pay a fortune for something that I might not ever use.

I found this online and want to know what yall think about this one?
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...7EDMWQTBSQW8YM

I have a 2002 Dodge Ram QC. I will get a ranch hand grill guard to mount it on, but I saw this deal and thought it might be good. What are your thoughts?

 

You may never use it, but if the one time you need it. You'll be sorry. Warn is the king of winches. I dont see a problem with a superwinch or a milemarker winch. I would just keep it covered and uses it ever now and then so it dont rust up.

 

Warn is King when it comes to winches. I've got two and my old man has had the same Warn 8274 he's had since I was in junior high (and I'm 43 now).

That said, Warn is high. Superwinch is a good winch though. In most "hard core" winch tests I see, the kind where they literally over-work winches till they burn up, Warn always comes out on top, but of all the other brands, Superwinch seems to fare second best. A good second choice to a Warn.

Not a big fan of MileMarker electric winches (their hydraulic winches seem to hold up well though) . Personally seen them burn up and the solenoids seem to not hold up to heat well. Ramsey used to be very good, but has gone to Chinese made components. Can buy a Chinese branded winch now for half what Ramsey sells for and basically have the same winch.

Another option is a Warn Tabor Winch. Entry level Warn, same basic components, still made in USA but with not as strong of a warranty. Pricing is about half what a comparable Warn is.

Of the low cost Chinese made winches, Smittybuilt and Chicago (Harbour Freight) tend to get better reviews...

 

i had a tuf stuff brand winch for a little while. i bought for the purpose of flipping because i got a great a deal on it. it seemed designed fairly well and uses the same style motor as a warn and when i looked at the reviews on the jeep forums they seemed pretty good. BTw you can find them online for around 350 and there 12,500 pound capacity.

 

My portable winch mount for the Jeep is a Tough Stuff brand. Quality is pretty good. I've heard their winches are pretty good for the money...

 

The Warn tabor is pretty good. I have had a 12,000 on my tilt bed trailer that I use to pull cars on after the demolition derby. Litterally not rolling at all, even digging into the bed of the trailer really hard. Doesn't grunt. I had it double lined when I pulled an f-250 that I ran in the 4x4 class demo, broke in half dug into the trailer so bad it went all the way thru the 2-1/2 thick pine deck boards and bent the 1/4 thick wall cross member before I knew what was happening. Dark, raining, muddy and 11:30 pm will do that, though.

 

I'll probably take a beating over this but I use a Chicago Electric from Harbor Freight (yeah I know) on my Jeep Cj 7 and it has served me well. As a matter of fact it survived a torture test by MoabJeeper . I wouldnt hesitate to put one on my Ram. The worst thing I can say about it is the line speed is a little slow. This article also speaks highly of the Superwinch

Here is a link to the article:
http://www.moabjeeper.com/articles/g...?articleID=353

 

Thanks guys. The one on Amazon is 10,000lb pull which I think will be plenty for my dodge. The price was just so low $400 that I wanted to make sure it was a good brand. Like I said, it will be for the occasional getting stuck on a hunting trail in the middle of nowhere. Like I said it won't be used for any serious off-roading as I am just 2wd.

 

Yeah, I posted the "Winches in Hell" test in the Outdoor section a while ago. The Superwinch running right with the Warn didn't surprise me as much as the Ramsey burning up almost right away and the Chicago Electric making it to the end.
I think Harbor Freight read the tests too, they upped the price of the 10k winch by $100 within a month after the article came out...

 

My vote is also for Warn because I used to have a full setup. I miss it sometimes but never used it but once. They are super nice but as said, not cheap. Check around or CL for some good deals.