Why I opted for a 5,000lb Winch.

With winches you do get what you pay for, and many of you will likely need a 10K or better winch. I've been in situations with off roading groups (willing to take much more risk as recovery isn't hard with 10 other people there) where it took a 12,000 winch to get me out (and he had to deadman off a Subruban). Keep in mind, I was in a light FJ40 albeit top of the tires deep in mud.

In my case, I look at it like this:

1) Cost versus need, number of uses, likelihood of failure.

If you don't have a quality winch there is a likelihood of it not working when you need it. I see this as 10%, I'm only willing to invest so much into something I can't feel I can trust with my life to some degree. The winch I got was on a warehouse deal which are currently an additional 25% off, I could have gotten a nice Hi Lift for the same price but this is more versatile.

2) Weight.

If you need it a lot, it really doesn't matter but if it's something y ou will rarely if ever use it's a different thing to think about.

3) How stuck are you planning to get.

4x4 gets you stuck 25 feet further down the trail, a lift will get you another 25, rear locker will add another 25 and a front will add another 25 as I see it. I'm locked in the rear and lifted meaning I can get myself 75 feet deeper into trouble than a car. In my case, I mostly stay in 4 high for what I need, if I have to I will switch to 4 low, if I need my locker it means I'm already in recovery mode so the winch is just another option in the tool belt.

4) Versatility.

Sometimes I need to pull something out of another place, a beam from a pile, lift something with a pulley and so on. My winch will be used 20x for something else for every 1 I might need it to try to get unstuck. It's a tool I want access too, not just for recovery but for pulling things onto, into, and out of other things. Also, for getting other things unstuck that are lighter.

5) Location.

I'm in southern AZ, there are times I have good anchors but where I'm going to get stuck it's unlikely. So I may be using a rock climbing cam in a crack, maybe a spare tire burred in the sand, maybe the base of a shrub. Rarely will I have a tree or anything solid as an anchor. So in reality, my anchor point will be my weakest link 75% of the time.

6) Having some ability to assist.

Most of the time, if I'm stuck it's likely I can still get my tires moving. So I'm not totally dead weight, I just need "some" help versus being a sitting duck.

Final thoughts:

I'm not telling you to get a 5,000lbs winch, I'm not telling you it can replace a proper, quality winch. What I'm saying is the with a 5,000lbs winch and the right recovery gear (snatch block and so on) you can not only do A LOT with it but you can also potentially get yourself out of a bad situation in a pinch.

If you're needing it for recovery as the main goal, it would not be ideal. I'm often just in very rural spots alone or with my kids so I keep my risks very low and I feel a 5,000lb winch is a good supplement to the level of risk I'm willing to take.

 

Snatch blocks for a less powerful winch increase pulling power but I like the 12K winch for our Tacoma's. Final wrap on the drum equates 56 percent of power (6720lbs) for a pull.

 

How many blocks would you need to get a 5000 pound winch to 12k

 

Are we doing this again?

 

Its not the block count.

Its the parts of line pulling. 1 dead man + 2 parts pulling will get 15,000 lb from a 5,000 lb winch.

Cranes use this concept of multiple parts of line pulling.

This comes at a cost of distance. Pull 3 parts of line with 3 inches on the winch, the load will move 1 inch.

 

Took the words right out of my mouth.

 

2nd'd

 

"How many snatch blocks should use?"

https://www.instagram.com/p/CQR0MNLH2bA/

"Yes"

 

This horse has been beaten to death for so long and hard it's been pulverized into hamburger meat.

You do you and NOBODY CARES!

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/that-8-000-lb-winch-is-a-waste-of-money.682105/

 

In truth, the military trains on recovery using only people power.

Theoretically, 1 people could pull an M1A1. Gonna need a big pile of rope and many blocks, but it is possible.


BTW, I like hamburger. Especially when BBQd. Really tasty with a package of onion soup mixed with the meat. Need to fire the grill tonight.

 

I like the tone of OP much better than the prior debacle of a thread. I think there are some good points in there. Also, a 5k winch that is wired and works in much more effective than a 12k show winch that was never wired (or a fairlead, hook, and 2' of cable for looks).

So go on OP and do you. You prove yourself right everyday you don't need a bigger winch.

 

This is the internet and so I know it's the job of most to not read a post and go straight to disagreeing with it. I get it, lack of attention span, ADHD, hard headed, don't want to change your thinking, aging, the list of reasons goes on and on and they're all equally valid. I think if you go back, actually read my post and see my reasoning you will find there was more than a title you could quickly disagree with. I'm a HUGE fan of human nature so I know why these behaviors take place but keep in mind, this post wasn't meant for you. It was meant for the person trying to lift an I-beam onto a trailer, the guy that needs to pull a friend with a quad out of a bind, the guy trying to pull that old CNC out of a half falling down workshop. My post was no different than somebody posting in a construction/gun/boating/sewing forum about why a 3lb sledge hammer/.380/canoe/Singer is more than enough for their needs. Of course over there too, some guys with four letter names (Mike, Jeff, Carl, you get the point) wouldn't read the post and would proceed to tell them why they're wrong. You can change the forum type and the object around, the same people always have the same responses.

All I'm saying is I gave articulate and valid reasons for using a hitch outside of recovery and included that it may also be viable for recovery in the right situations. Anyway, I didn't need to make this response so long but wanted to make it longer than your attention span so I left the key parts as the first and last line which is likely all you'll read anyway. I look forward to you telling me you read it all and I'm still wrong but not expanding on it are articulately telling me why a 5,000lb winch isn't enough to pull a 2,000 Civic out of the sand.

 

You do you because reasons The exasperated gasping and facepalming is because the other guys thread that bashed winches with "too high" ratings

 

This makes sense if the winch is mounted to the rear of the truck.

 

My name isnt Mike, Jeff or Carl.

And i did read your post, twice actually. I see your reasoning, but in my humble opinion all of your justification for this 5k lbs winch is based on best case scenario. " ill never be that stuck, ill always have some type of traction just need the extra nudge " etc.

You can own and use whatever you want, but my response to your thread was based on the fact that every so often this forum is blessed with a thread such as yours that states "x amount of winch is all you need, if you bought anything more than this you wasted your money"

And then when the OP gets anything but rave reviews they resort to defense and discreditation of the "nay sayers"

Its a public forum, your entitled to your opinion as am i. But there like ass holes and all smell like shit. The only difference is, is how far down wind you are from said ass hole.

 

It's OK. People like to bitch a lot on those forums too. Since F = m x a there are times when a 3lb sledge is plenty. There's times when a 12lb comes out(it's actually used the most on my crew) and there's times when the 20lb comes out. Like the saying goes.

 

5000 lbs is lighter than I'd go, but I don't think most people need nearly as much as they think. I've seen 1.5X the vehicles curb weight as a recommendation many times so about 6000 is the minimum. If I were buying for a Tacoma I'd go with about 8000lbs. I put a 9500 lb winch on my F150 which is more than 1.5X curb weight.

FWIW I've been off roading since the 1970's and been stuck quite a few times and seen others stuck even more often. Especially when I was young and dumb. Always managed to get out without the aid of a winch. But I'm getting older and looking for an easier way out next time. Even an underpowered winch along with other recovery techniques will usually be enough. I've used a 2000 lb come-a-long more than once.