Lightweight Winch & Recovery Gear Setup

[syreeves]

Hear me out here..... I've had a winch on my FJC for ~10 years now, and wheeled a lot. I've been stuck a lot. I've never used the winch once. Digging out, getting pulled out, moving rocks, whatever it was, I've always been able to get free.
You know what we used to get un-stuck with when I was young? An antique Wyeth-Scott Power Puller, with a shredded, rusty, muddy cable, and a logging chain... and Dad got us stuck a LOT while getting firewood in the Ozarks.

It takes a little more time, a lot more elbow grease, but you just keep it under the seat for a true emergency. Your battery goes dead, cables get cut or chewed by critters, solenoids freeze, etc etc,

Wyeth Scott More Power Puller 3-35-A-SLT 3-Ton AmSteel-Blue Synthetic Rope Industrial Hand Ratchet Puller/Hoist, 35' - - Amazon.com

A more sensible, modern version will also work just fine.

Neiko 02256A Heavy Duty 5 Ton Come-a-Long Power Puller, 3 Hooks and 2 Gears - Come A Long Winch Neiko - Amazon.com

I have never had to use my winch to get myself unstuck. I don't do any serious crawling - mostly logging trails, mud etc. But I have used my winch dozens of times to pull others out of a ditch on snowy days, getting buddies out of deeply rutted trails etc. I also used it to hoist a deer up a tree so I could swing it onto the roof of my old landrover. Wish I had video because I was by myself and I'm pretty sure I looked very stupid in a virally entertaining kind of way.

Anyway - my suggestion for a lightweight setup is a stubby ARB bondi, Smittybilt X20 with synthetic line, soft shackles and a couple of aluminum recovery pulleys. If you want something hanging from the rear I'd to a hitch mounted 4,500 ATV winch. Probably a lot more capability than you want but that is what I am working on. Powerpuller (one of the suggestions above) is also a good portable idea if you don't want any winches. Just make sure you have the afore mentioned soft shackles, some extra synthetic line (put loops on both ends) and definitely have a kinetic recovery strap. For what they weigh they are a great, simple and effective choice that limits the risk of too much damage.

Just my $0.02. But I drive a Rubicon - different philosophy from Mojaves...

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[DanW]

Hear me out here..... I've had a winch on my FJC for ~10 years now, and wheeled a lot. I've been stuck a lot. I've never used the winch once. Digging out, getting pulled out, moving rocks, whatever it was, I've always been able to get free.
You know what we used to get un-stuck with when I was young? An antique Wyeth-Scott Power Puller, with a shredded, rusty, muddy cable, and a logging chain... and Dad got us stuck a LOT while getting firewood in the Ozarks.

It takes a little more time, a lot more elbow grease, but you just keep it under the seat for a true emergency. Your battery goes dead, cables get cut or chewed by critters, solenoids freeze, etc etc,

Wyeth Scott More Power Puller 3-35-A-SLT 3-Ton AmSteel-Blue Synthetic Rope Industrial Hand Ratchet Puller/Hoist, 35' - - Amazon.com

A more sensible, modern version will also work just fine.

Neiko 02256A Heavy Duty 5 Ton Come-a-Long Power Puller, 3 Hooks and 2 Gears - Come A Long Winch Neiko - Amazon.com

That modern version is exactly what I had for my 93 YJ before I put a winch on it. I was at Turkey Bay ORV area in Land Between the Lakes Kentucky on a VERY rainy and muddy day. there was a muddy hill that my little YJ just could not climb. It would get about halfway up with momentum and then slide right back down. So I winched it up, resetting and winching some more. It was hard as heck but I was a young 24 or so years old, so I gave it all I had and eventually got it almost to the top of the hill after about an hour of work. I went to reset the winch and the Jeep didn't hold. It slid all the way back down that bleeping hill, so all the blood sweat and tears was for nothing! That's when I forked over the money for a Warn M8000 for that little Jeep, soon after I got home. What's even funnier is that I never wound up getting stuck once I had that Warn! LOL! I did use it to pull other Jeeps out of messes, so it wasn't a total waste.

Funny how I've gotten stuck so much less since equipped with electric winches. The two big times I've been stuck in my JL required winching it out from the rear using the winch off another Jeep. I've not once had to winch my JK or JL from the front.

But it seemed that when I had the come-along winch with the YJ, I was needing it all the time. It did the job, though, while burning many calories.

This all just goes to remind us that God does indeed have a sense of humor!

Btw, the M8000 on my YJ was portable. I had a front bumper with a Reese hitch, so I could mount it up front or rear. It had Warn's quick plugs front and back, so it was easy to quickly mount up and use. It also kept it out of the weather, so it looked brand new after it was years old. I didn't have to carry it around when I wasn't off-roading. Plus, I had another quick plug wired on the back of my old Silverado, so I could use it there, too. I pulled stumps with that because the truck was so much heavier than the little YJ. Those stumps would have just pulled the YJ, LOL!

 

[DanW]

Just put the Smittybuilt H20 10K Synthetic into my RR Arcus bumper and added the RR Arcus Front Skid Plate. Everything looks great and while the extra weight on the front is noticeable right now it doesn't really seam like its much. I think the Winch is 60+ pounds and the skid plate I couldn't find the weight listed but seems like its in the 20+ lb range. The bumper was 68 lbs and replaced the factory plastic bumper.

That's a nice lightweight winch/bumper setup, overall. And it is strong, too! I did a couple hard pulls with my JK last month with mine. I've got a Smitty XRC9500 in mine. Love the setup! My brother has got a Harbor Freight 12k winch with a Bestop bumper and it has to weigh 70 to 100lbs more than the Arcus setup, I'm sure. I don't want all that extra weight to carry around every day. The lighter you can keep your Jeep and still get the job done, the better, IMHO.

Let's see some pics!

 

[BAT]

That's a nice lightweight winch/bumper setup, overall. And it is strong, too! I did a couple hard pulls with my JK last month with mine. I've got a Smitty XRC9500 in mine. Love the setup! My brother has got a Harbor Freight 12k winch with a Bestop bumper and it has to weigh 70 to 100lbs more than the Arcus setup, I'm sure. I don't want all that extra weight to carry around every day. The lighter you can keep your Jeep and still get the job done, the better, IMHO.

Let's see some pics!

I'll try to remember to take some tomorrow

 

[BAT]

I'll try to remember to take some tomorrow

Here are some photos after the winch install

 

[Jocww]

Here are some photos after the winch install

how much did your mpgs go down with that bumper and winch?

 

[DanW]

how much did your mpgs go down with that bumper and winch?

I doubt it affected it at all. My JK didn't know the difference. It isn't really that much weight, overall. The bumper is very light and Smitty winches are among the lighter ones, too. The winch plate is not that heavy, either, but it is strong and well secured to the frame.

As heavy as the Gladiator is, it should shrug it off and not notice it.

 

[BAT]

how much did your mpgs go down with that bumper and winch?

I didn't see much change with just the bumper change and I haven't checked yet with the winch install.

 

[Jocww]

I doubt it affected it at all. My JK didn't know the difference. It isn't really that much weight, overall. The bumper is very light and Smitty winches are among the lighter ones, too. The winch plate is not that heavy, either, but it is strong and well secured to the frame.

As heavy as the Gladiator is, it should shrug it off and not notice it.

its not the weight... its the air flow. Thats why with the stock metal bumper you lose mpgs if you take the wings off. air hits the tires instead of being directed around them

 

[DanW]

its not the weight... its the air flow. Thats why with the stock metal bumper you lose mpgs if you take the wings off. air hits the tires instead of being directed around them

Mine jk still didn't notice it. And my JL has holes in the wings, so I don't think that'll do much. A Sport with the inserts between the bumper and fender might, though.

What it did notice was going from stock 32's to 33's and a lift. That probably cost me about 1 mpg, I would guess.

 

[BAT]

how much did your mpgs go down with that bumper and winch?

So I checked today after burning a tank and this is just general observation no accurate measurements. So far according to the truck computer, I am still at around 16 MPG. This pretty much all city/town driving as I have not be on the freeway recently. For me the biggest hit seemed to be changing tires to the Rubicon Take offs from stock tires. Perhaps the change in bumper, winch, skid plate is playing into it but I haven't seen a big difference. About the only thing I seem to notice now with all the changes in front is that when braking it noses down a bit more or so it seems to me

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