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As more XK/XH owners start to use their Commanders off road more are adding winches to their vehicles. Do you have a winch? and if so what are your thoughts on a good winch for the commander?
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I have the Warn Powerplant HP and it is a great winch as it comes with on-board air for inflating the tires after the trail run.
http://www.warn.com/truck/winches/powerplant_hp.shtml
Well I do have a winch listed on my build sheet its not far off I'm hopping by next summer. I can't see for what I would use a winch for spending that amount of money. I know you get what you pay for but considering that I'm not in competition so cable speed not an issue. I might maybe use my winch a few times a year so overheating and all the stuff those big expensive ones don't have issues with won't bother me either I guess. So in my opinion I'm probably looking at getting a Chicago winch when the time comes. Think about it really the winch will not be in use 99% of the time. So 99% of the time it just catching bugs. Huey stores his and only pulls it out when its needed. Just my two cents but a $500 winch I'm guessing will be fine for my use.
I think that a winch permanently mounted looks cool and is more readily available. However I have several reasons to prefer to use a cradle mounted and transferable winch. First it is not exposed to the weather or theives. It can be used in the front or moved to the rear or even to someone else's vehicle by using the 24 foot extension power cable. One drawback is that you do need to either give up some space inside or better yet have a dedicated storage space that is out of the way.
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It always made more sense to me to have a winch/wench on the BACK end anyway. You get stuck, and you're going to what? Pull yourself in FARTHER by the typical front mounted winch? :) Yes, a front mounted winch makes sense to pull others out, but get stuck yourself, it it's endless pulleys etc. to try and reverse the cable's pull by running it underneath.
By the way... years ago, I got chased around by our receptionist here at the shop. We bought a boom/bucket truck. We were all out looking at it, when she sat down on its big front bumper. She said ''You know what this truck needs on it? A winch.''
So...
I said...
''It already has a wench on it. At least it has one until you get up and walk away.'' It took a few seconds for it to sink in, then everyone started cracking up. She gets it a few seconds after that, and started chasing me with murder in mind. :D
I too like Bills front & rear cradle, I agree that there may be times when the rear winch is the only answer. I like what I have but if I had the funds for a second winch I would throw one in the back with all the other recovery stuff that is colleting back there.
I'm a huge proponent of going the portable route, for the reasons Huey mentions plus one more: Weight. It makes no sense to me (other than rugged looks!) to permanently add weight to the front end components when a winch-and-cradle setup will do the job better.
My recommendation is for folks to add a receiver hitch to the front -- I happen to know one product that will do that quite nicely -- and then get a reasonable (don't go overboard) synthetic line winch. It's cheaper, lighter, cleaner, and more flexible.
I like flexibility. If I knew what bad thing I was going to get into in advance, I could plan for it. But that wouldn't be 4 wheeling.
Following up on El Cid and Huey's posts, as you can see in my signature, I am using 4XGuard's front reciever hitch. In that I have mounted a Warn 9000I winch in the cradle that came as a package with the winch. I have the rear power cable, which is plenty long enough for me to just drape over the side when needed as opposed to permanently mounting under my rig. This cable now lives in the gear box in the jeep where I know it is safe from branches, mud, or anything else roadside that may choose to reach out and eat the plug or wires. This also gives me a spare cable to use in the front in case the one have mounted there goes bad.
Yeah, I know most of the time you only need to pull one way, but hey that one time you need to pull the other way, you probably reeeallly need to pull the other way.
I haven't had to use the winch as a rescue yet, but I have used it around the ranch. I also used it to "rescue" my Jeep from some mud at the house before going to Camp Commander to make sure it was functional and strong enough. I found the 9000lb winch to be more than strong enough to pull my XK uphill, through the mud, unassisted by the engine. This may be overkill a little, but again I believe in planning for the unexpected. Most of my 4 wheeling is done in a area that would require a specialized 4X4 tow - and an all day use of the tow rig to get me out, so a little extra money up front is a good investment.
Also along the lines of versatiliy, I like being able to take it off and store it in the garage when not in use to prevent weather damage. I plan for this winch to move to my next couple jeeps.
I bought some drilled out hitch pins on the net. They have a hole big enough for a padlock. I have had several padlocks made for use around the ranch, all set to a master key (that is also my house key). I also use these padlocks for the hitch mounts on the Jeep, and use those to keep my winch secure from thieves.
I do wish my winch had air. I borrowed some air from Knappster in Colorado, and that sure was nicer (read faster) than my $10 walmart compressor.
I'd like to get me one of these models!
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Originally Posted by Knappster