Denk

So, do the masses believe that the hand winch, such as a come-along, is more versatile than a power winch, such as the warn line, or that the benefits of a power winch greatly outweigh those of the hand winch? I believe that the hand winch can be used in a lot of situations where a bumper mounted winch may not be able to position for. But the power winch definitely has greater pulling power and does so quicker. Draining the battery compared to draining your own physical strength. I say eat a power bar and strap up to the challenge. And here we have it: power versus versatility. I guess its all in how you look at it.

Next question: who makes quality hand winches?

MNBOY

I'll give this a try, at the risk of ridicule from the rest of the board. The hand winch is more versitile, in that you can hook it to any strong point on the rig, front or back, to get you out of a tight spot. It also doesn't take power from your battery, and doesn't add weight to the front of the vehicle. it's also cheap, you can get a usable model for about $50. The down side is going to be strength. Most hand winches are rated for 1 or 2 tons, much less than a power winch. Anything with a higher capacity is going to be geared such that it would take days to get the cable in under load. A compromise would be something like what I use, a power winch mounted to a platform that slides into a 2" receiver. I have it set up so I can use this off the front or back of the rig, now that my second battery is installed in the bed. Mine is home built, but WARN is now making the same thing in a pretty nice looking package. The only down side to this set up is that you may have to swap the winch from front to back after you are stuck, and I'm guessing it wouldn't be nice if that end of the vehicle is under water or burried in mud. I'll be sure to take lots of photos if this ever happens to me, as I'm sure it will be funny to look back on.

rimpainter.com

I dont know much about winching, but wouldnt the hand winch be kind of unsafe? Or are the risks the same with both as far as a cable snapping or something?

doink

i think no matter what, when you are winching, its still dangerous, either with a hand winch or power one. when you deal with heavy loads and a wire, that sounds pretty dangerous to me

MNBOY

Maybe others have had different experiences, but I've never snapped the cable on a winch, hand or power. The failures I have had involved using a strap to extend the winch cable (strap broke) or pulling parts off the vehicle that should never have been used to hook a cable to, both stupid ideas I should not have tried. I think most of the guys on this forum that have switched to synthetic winch line did so for the weight savings, as I know the lines aren't any more or less safe than a cable of equal strength. That said, when something does let go, it is a scary and very dangerous situation, but it's like anything else these days, the bad stuff doesn't happen very often, but when it does everyone talks about it and we come to think it is an everyday occurance.

92 Toyota

If you use an electric winch correctly and it's mounted right the cable isn't frayed or damaged they are safer then driving down the highway.I've had an electric winch on two trucks I've owned in 20 years and never had an accident(warn8274 & x8000i)you just can't be stupid or someone will get hurt.With the mud here in Fla i've had my winches bogg down, overheat and cut off long before any cable would snap.Of course a hand winch maybe cheaper(if stolen you may not be as mad) and maybe more versatile but you can bet the guy behind you on the trail sure is going to wish you had an electric one while they wait for you to hand crank yourself out.

44Runner

yes, i think they are very unsafe. I wouldn't use one.

They aren't very practicle either. I mean they take forever and a day just to go a single foot.

When I go wheeling, I make sure I go with someone else that has a winch. In a wheeling group ideally there should always be at least 2 people with winches and all the needed gear to get the most out of them (snatch blocks, tree savers, d-rings, straps, blah blah blah). The second winch takes care of the things that the bumper mounted winch could not deal with. That is the only way to go.

lunatic14r

both winchs have safety concerns but if used correct and the winch is in good shape you should not have a problem always put some thing heavy on the cable like a coat or a blanket even a floor mat so if the cable breaks it will take some of the hit. some time you can use a power or hand i have hade to use both one time and it suck bad.

cCrunch

These guys have some really nice (read: expensive) hand winches...

http://www.extremeoutback.com/Recovery_Gear.htm

Robinhood150

Actually, I think that most people have switched to synthetic because they are so much safer than steel cable. When a synthetic breaks, it just drops to the ground. That's why steel cable has been outlawed in most, if not all rockcrawling competitions.

As for the original question, I think an electric winch is more versatile because if you are really stuck then a come-a-long isn't going to move the truck at all. For minor stucks, then sure, the come-a-long should work fine. I believe the part that fails in a come-a-long is not the cable, but the mechanism itself.

I don't know if they're any good, but Costco has a 2 or 3 ton come-a-long for $20.

DuB

I don't know anything about winches, but here's a line from the link cCrunch posted...

MNBOY

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Robinhood150
[B]Actually, I think that most people have switched to synthetic because they are so much safer than steel cable. When a synthetic breaks, it just drops to the ground.

I'm not familiar enough with the synthetic cable to know for sure, but if it is the material I think it is, then it will still snap back if it breaks, it just won't have the weight behind it like a cable and would therefore be safer. I sell and use the same stuff for a different application. There is no such thing as a line that doesn't stretch to some degree, and if the line is under enough tension to make it snap, it will snap back, and not just drop to the ground. the problem is that it is usually something else that fails, and if the tow hook pulls off the vehicle, still attached to the line, it will be a dangerous projectile no matter if you are using cable or synthetic. If the line broke, synthetic would be a lot safer because it is lighter, but again I've never seen cable fail.

Robinhood150

Yes, I'd have to agree, everything stretches, that's a function of the modulus. I've never heard of anybody mention what happens when the attachment point fails...that's a good point. My guess is that it would indeed fly back just as hard as a steel cable then. The modulus of steel is pretty high compared to composites such as kevlar etc, so steel should not stretch as much as synthetic.

If the cable itself fails, then it has been proven that the synthetic cable does drop to the ground, although as you stated, I'm sure it does fly back somewhat, just no where near that of steel. That's where the added safety comes in.

Excellent points MNboy.

Steve