I need a winch, but why?

[Summitsearcher]

Used a winch to help pull the top of a tree away from falling on a house, when it had been torn off in the middle of a storm... Literally the day after I installed it.

Have since used it to pull an SUV up a ravine (lady missed her exit, and went down the embankment into a run off), and pull a couple of idiots out of the mud at local parks... Have also used it to reposition a dumpster at the office, when some yahoo decided to drive thru the lot at 60mph, and slammed into the dumpster, sending it skidding across the lot about 200ft. Turns out when rescue and EMS show up to help said idiot, they don't move dumpsters back into place.

Also used it right a small boom lift that tipped into a local building. (Boom lift had too much weight, they didn't put the legs out, and it tipped into the building, sitting on two wheels.)



So yeah... Have used it for much more than the trail.. hilariously, have never needed it for self recovery, yet


~ Casp

Superman! It that you? You’re a good man Casp, always at the right place at the right time.

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[Summitsearcher]

I used the winch on my Power Wagon to pull a big ass 60 gun, gun safe up the steps of a basement. Helping my brother in law move. Yanked out tree stumps, hedge. Moved a neighbor's shed. Pulled a bunch of cars after a snow storm. Got myself unstuck a few times, and a few others.

This! Y’all proving I need it more at home than on the trail. I need to re-think my decision.

 

[Summitsearcher]

Meh, winch has more umph for such things. I used to use my tractor to pull brush, small tree stumps and such, once in a while I'd have to actually connect a come-along or small winch.

I'd go winch. Hey, wait - I did. And I've used it for CONTROL and real power. It's easier to pull and move things with a winch than trying to run that truck even in 4L to pull a small tree out.
Put a snatch block in the works and you can really get some pull and fine control over speed.

After the big derecho here a couple of years ago, the son of my wife's quilting friend used a winch on his Dodge to help remove tree debris and pull some stumps. You just can't drive and do that.

I've used mine to fine-tune the position of a generator on a concrete pad (only a winch gives that sort of control) and to pull another guy out of a snowy ditch.
I'll probably be using it to move a windmill this summer.

All great points. Looks like some of you, like me, use it for more than trail tools aptly so. When you have a property I’ve always used a tractor and a truck. I can see the advantages of other uses at home. I didn’t want a bumper ornament.

 

[Mr._Bill]

Curt has a front mounted receiver and a winch platform to fit it.

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/slredir...657293239947485&widgetName=sp_search_thematic

https://smile.amazon.com/CURT-31010...id=1653824095&sprefix=curt+win,aps,159&sr=8-1

https://smile.amazon.com/31005-Hitc...id=1653824095&sprefix=curt+win,aps,159&sr=8-2

 

[Summitsearcher]

Curt has a front mounted receiver and a winch platform to fit it.

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/slredirect/picassoRedirect.html/ref=pa_sp_search_thematic_aps_sr_pg1_2?ie=UTF8&adId=A05936052ZB48SM2C5AVC&url=/Curt-Manufacturing-31086-Custom-Receiver/dp/B07CC2RTZ3/ref=sxin_15_pa_sp_search_thematic_sspa?content-id=amzn1.sym.bdb62de4-4445-472f-a46c-4743abbcf384%3Aamzn1.sym.bdb62de4-4445-472f-a46c-4743abbcf384&cv_ct_cx=curt+front+mount+receiver+hitch&keywords=curt+front+mount+receiver+hitch&pd_rd_i=B07CC2RTZ3&pd_rd_r=cec9299a-bf6d-436f-86f9-9f11602a7e30&pd_rd_w=5ACQO&pd_rd_wg=oywuL&pf_rd_p=bdb62de4-4445-472f-a46c-4743abbcf384&pf_rd_r=1M8V9GPS9A8GQZ4EF53N&qid=1653824154&sprefix=curt+front%2Caps%2C190&sr=1-2-8acce81c-1022-4788-a21d-98553f7388f3-spons&psc=1&qualifier=1653824154&id=8657293239947485&widgetName=sp_search_thematic

https://smile.amazon.com/CURT-31010-Hitch-Mounted-Winch-Mount/dp/B001GMX3GE/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3P4TVHE9WZMWH&keywords=curt+winch+mount&qid=1653824095&sprefix=curt+win,aps,159&sr=8-1

https://smile.amazon.com/31005-Hitch-Mounted-Winch-Mount-Handles/dp/B0009YE1KW/ref=sr_1_2?crid=3P4TVHE9WZMWH&keywords=curt+winch+mount&qid=1653824095&sprefix=curt+win,aps,159&sr=8-2

Thanks Bill!

 

[ShadowsPapa]

All great points. Looks like some of you, like me, use it for more than trail tools aptly so. When you have a property I’ve always used a tractor and a truck. I can see the advantages of other uses at home. I didn’t want a bumper ornament.

It's funny how things like this can work - if you have a certain tool, you'll find uses for it without trying hard. If you don't have it, you find other ways.
Back on pulling and moving things (still sick, can't get over this fever) -
I have found after having multiple tractors, trucks, and other equipment, there are times when using a vehicle for pulling and yanking is inefficient and just plain hard on the vehicle. And even a small truck in 4L can only do so much. Plus, you or someone must be IN the truck operating it, in and out, in and out, unless you have help. I get sick of wearing out my seats, knees and hips doing that.
With a winch you can double-up, or even triple-up, and get amazing slow, STRONG pulls. Sure, these have xxx HP - but HP is the amount of work done over time. sometimes you need to slow it down and get that down-low torque or pull.
With a winch, I can be outside of the truck, watching things, keeping things moving the right direction, paying attention to my goal, when helping my neighbor, I was with him at the generator, two of us moving piles and bars and guiding that big beast into place while I ran the winch remotely. I could feather the movement. Can't do that easily sitting in the seat running brake and throttle to control movement to the Nth degree.
When pulling the hedge out shortly after we moved here, I still had a small tractor - the top speed of the tractor in high gear was about 2.5 mph so you can imagine low gear.......... and yet - it still struggled at times. Yanking was hard on the clutch not to mention there was the back of my head if a chain snapped.
If I would have had my Jt with winch then, I'd have used a snatch block and slowly pulled on the stumps while working to find the still stuck spots, and cut and dug, and slowly, evenly, pulled them out.
As it was, I found myself using come-alongs and winches (and a hydraulic cylinder setup I made to use with a porta-power pump) a lot even though I had that tractor because a really slow pull was often better in the end, got the job done with less work or effort. Sometimes the tractor was an anchor point to which secure the real pulling effort.

I think back to my days on the farm and the situations that would have been made so much easier with a truck-mounted winch.

BTW - if you go receiver-mount, keep in mind the max pull is 9,000 pounds on all front receivers for the Jeep Gladiator. You will want snatch blocks and other "hardware" to compensate - but that's a smart thing at times anyway.

I've so far used mine twice - and can already see other ways to use it this year. I told my wife - those two uses canceled out anything that winch "owes me". IMO, as far as I'm concerned, it's paid for itself.

 

[Iowafarm]

Before I had the winch I went down to the local shop that supplies local logging contractors with cables and snatch blocks , they were considerably cheaper than the fancy straps shackle and ropes that sell mainstream. They also handle 3 times the load. Mind you they might be a little heavier and cumbersome but I will never ever break them.

You can also go to a Ccrain rigging store, had them make me a 50 ft rope rated at 125,000 pds for pulling out stuck combines and tractors. When I was there I saw that they had I inch rope already made up for pickups. Reasonable prices. They will also fix rope for you there. My bud works for Mid-America and they messed up the rope they use for lifting and pulling high line poles. They just trow them away, he dug it out of the trash and gave it to me. Fixed it for $45 now 8 have a 125 ft rope for long pulls if needed.

 

[GOCAMPN]

There are a lot of responses and I didn't read them all so sorry if I'm repeating someone else's comment. They also make mobile winches, I have this one:

Amazon.com: WARN 101575 Handheld Portable Drill Winch with 40 Foot Synthetic Rope: 750 lb Pulling Capacity , Gray : Automotive

I've only had it for a month but I used it to direct a tree I was cutting down that was leaning in a bad direction, worked perfectly. I know it's not the strongest thing but it has good uses. I also have a 12K rated winch on my front bumper but I'm excited to have this extra option for light work.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

You can also go to a Ccrain rigging store, had them make me a 50 ft rope rated at 125,000 pds for pulling out stuck combines and tractors. When I was there I saw that they had I inch rope already made up for pickups.

Could've used that when I buried a tractor on a side hill one spring - everything was dry enough to work except for a spot not too far from the top of a hill and I noticed too late that it was still wet - actually water still seeping out from the side hill, making that spot really greasy.
We got my father-in-laws 2+2, and another tractor with duals, every chain we had, and it took a while but we got it out. Found the weak chains, too.
That field got tiled the following year.

I have a friend who does, or used to, work as a mechanic for Mid-American - I'll have to check with him, see if he's still there, and what he says about rope...........

 

[Iowafarm]

Could've used that when I buried a tractor on a side hill one spring - everything was dry enough to work except for a spot not too far from the top of a hill and I noticed too late that it was still wet - actually water still seeping out from the side hill, making that spot really greasy.
We got my father-in-laws 2+2, and another tractor with duals, every chain we had, and it took a while but we got it out. Found the weak chains, too.
That field got tiled the following year.

I have a friend who does, or used to, work as a mechanic for Mid-American - I'll have to check with him, see if he's still there, and what he says about rope...........

Yeah befor for I had the big recovery rope me and my bother got pretty go at making long log chains into two short log chains.

 

[Caspien]

Superman! It that you? You’re a good man Casp, always at the right place at the right time.

Sheesh. Don't tell my wife that.. she says I bring bad luck everywhere I go... Lol

~Casp

 

[Summitsearcher]

We’ll, I did it. I pulled the trigger and bought one. 30% off with the sale so it was under $500.00. Not the cheapest but I believe somewhere in the middle.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

 

[Summitsearcher]

Hey @ShadowsPapa, which bumper is that? Is that the Aluminum Chinese Rubicon Knockoff? I saw a thread about that one but can’t find it. Was the which plate separate?

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Hey @ShadowsPapa, which bumper is that? Is that the Aluminum Chinese Rubicon Knockoff? I saw a thread about that one but can’t find it. Was the which plate separate?

It's the steel version.
I wish it was the aluminum version!
I'd trade for one of those.

The winch plate came with the steel Rubicon bumper copy.

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