What are some good winches

I was just wondering what are some good winches that are going around. I no that there are some cheap and nasty ones but i also no that there are some that are kind of cheap and are realy good. what do you guys reckon are some good winches?

I have an Aldi one fitted to mine. It's not seen any real recovery work yet, and thinking about it I should actually give it a go before I say it's good or bad - so I won't offer an opinion on its quality, except to say that the bolts were too short - I had to buy 2 that were 5mm longer and 2 that were 10mm longer. Other than that, fitting was just common sense and not difficult at all in my Nissan-badged steel bullbar.

What I WILL say is that the Aldi, Ironman, Tigerz and several other winches all look exceptionally similar - so much so that you'd think they were just rebadged items coming out of the one factory. And having consulted in the past to companies that rebadged goods, I know this particular practice is rampant across a great many industries.

There are plenty of winches on the market that look very similar externally....then you pull them apart and you find interesting things like parts of soda cans used a shim material... Looks can be deceiving.

Reputations are hard earned when it comes to recovery gear.

My thoughts are this - how long do you intend to keep it for, and do you really want it to work when you need it to. If you intend in keeping it for a long time, then you want to be able to get spare parts for it in years to come. A minor brand may not be around in years to come so your money may be wasted. Similarly, if it fails to perform when needed, then the money you saved may not really be money well spent.

My two cents - take it or leave it.

Check out Tigerz11, they have some good ones available.....

I have heard of the tigerz11, how good actualy are they

I have a tigerz11 12000 lb, It has recovered myself once and used about a dozen times to recover others. Still going strong although starting to rust.

I would have preferred a Warn but the Tigerz was 1/4 the price at the time, They have gone up a fair bit since then because of their popularity.

Do you no how much the tigerz winchs are

Nobody's said it yet, I should have in mine. One of the better winches available on the market today in Australia is the Warne series. Available from ARB, you'd have to call them to see how many smackeroos they want to extract from your nose for it.

That alloy bar on the front of your rig won't tolerate any brand of winch, so you'd also have to factor in either a new steel bar or a winch mount behind the alloy bar - IF that can be done, not sure if your bar allows that.

Christ on a bike, I'm sounding more and more like an walking advertisement for ARB every day, and I don't own even a single share in the company.

it not actually for me if for a mate for his navara

You can buy Warn from plenty of places, not just ARB - just happens that ARB are probably the largest seller of Warn winches in the country and stock all the spares etc.

Hi Fellas

I have a warn winch fitted to my navara.It was fitted to my navara when I brought it.

Shane

Maybe true elsewhere, but here in Newcastle if you ask them in Repco it goes like this:

R: "Can I help you?"
T: "I'm looking for a Warne winch"
R: "Mate, we only sell brand new stuff"
T: "That's great. Could you sell me a brand new Warne winch?"
R: "Mate, if it was brand new it wouldn't be worn. Piss off."

I think somewhere before I've noted that their collective IQ is lower than the number of balls you need to use to get a strike in a bowling alley.

Has anyone used/seen/bought one of the Ironman winches? Tend to think they may suit my purposes i.e. occasional use - thoughts?

Nakedape

Re; the Ironman winches - Seen them on the shelf. Never seen one used in anger.

They seem to have changed their design and specs twice since they started selling winches. Not sure what that means for after sales support.

Again, pay your money and take your chances I guess....like most cheaper products.

nakedape said:

Has anyone used/seen/bought one of the Ironman winches? Tend to think they may suit my purposes i.e. occasional use - thoughts?

Nakedape

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You may say only occasional use, but that one time when your trucks about to roll down the side of a cliff, the last thing you want is a failure.

My preference is the tigerz 11 2speed winch with the dynema rope. Heard Nuttin buy good bout them and they are fair priced. I haven't got one but its on the to do list

Lots of people rave about dyneema rope too, but forget the maintenance requirements...

It looks flash, and is worth great "bragging points" with your mates - but don't forget that anytime you use the winch the rope must be completely unspooled and cleaned thoroughly to ensure there is no grit in the rope. Any dirt, sand etc in the braid of the dyneema fibres will weaken it due to abrasion.

Of course, that is a whole other subject...

The latest and hippest product might not always be the most suitable for occasional users - there is a reason why steel winch cables have been around so long. They tolerate a lot of abuse and tend not to fail unless you absolutely monster them.

yeh see for some ppl pulling the rope out completely isnt an issue cause if ur like me when u go 4x4ing and clean it up u pull everything off and clean it thoroughly to make sure u dont have unforseen damage etc. but u can also get the tigerz11 in wire rope its up to the purchaser. i dont know if weight would come into it aswell, my guess would be a winch with wire rope is going to be heavier then a dynema rope winch?

Yes, a wire rope will be heavier than a dyneema rope....but that is why you specify the correct suspension for the front end of your vehicle....to handle the wight. We're not talking huge amounts of weight difference.

i have a magnum bit cheaper that your Warn XD, XDC, and XP but keep in mind they are still made by warn , just older tecnology havent had a prob with it yet, as long as your not intending to abuse the hell out of it will do most people, as for dyneema rope or dynamica rope for that matter have herd rumours that while spolling out under load ie. going down a steep incline the brake inside the drum causes a hell of a lot of heat which affects the synthetic rope and can cause failure