I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with manual winches? I'm looking at the Black Rat, the ARB Magnum, and anything that may be up to snuff. Essentially, I want to get an idea of the pros/cons as I'm considering getting a bumper/winch setup, or, save weight and haul around a block and tackle.

any input is welcome - thanks for giving a newbie a hand!

 

If you can go with the winch/bumper its a lot easier to flip a switch then crank a handle but to carry both of them with you too won't hurt either.

 

Both would not be a bad idea if you can afford it. I would not reply on a manual winch because there have been times trying to recover a truck that I was so dead beat from shoveling and wrenching. Plus when wheeling there is always the possibility you could be hurt and not have the energy to crank on a winch.

 

Manual winch:
Pro - cost, you get exercise!
Con - power/rigging (it will take a lot of snatch blocks), labor

Power winch:
Pro - plenty of power
Con - cost

 

so, if I went with a manual (for now), what's a good one to get?

 

depending on what type of wheeling you plan on doing then a hilift jack will double as a winch. its got me out of stuck a few times, then you can always get a tirfor manual winch(had one of them aswell) but i would go with an electric winch.

mtm

 

good idea - that probably is the cheapest option available. Thanks for the beta, I appreciate it all. Oh, and if you have some winches or jacks that you want to get rid of cheap - lemme know! (ha)