For those of you who run a winch, what size do you run? I'm pondering installing one on my buggy.

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A broken clock is right two times a day.

i gota 3500lb.

warn 4000lb.......pricy but worth it

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**********"A fear of weapons is a sign of retarded sexual and emotional maturity."
- Sigmund Freud **********
**********"The problem is not the availability of guns, it is the availability of morons."
- Antonio Meloni **********

I run a 4000 # Warn however I recently purchased a 4500# SuperWinch (made in USA) for my Commander. I have never used one however I have heard good things about them and I got mine for less than half what a Warn 4K Cost.

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Water cooled Dry Sumped Subaru Powered Turbo Charged Fuel Injected 2500CC Tank. Oh Rah! He who dies with the most Toys not only wins, He also wears them out!

I've bought a few of the Viper Max winches from Moto Alliance off of Ebay....put a 3500lb on the four wheeler, a 5000lb on the last buggy we built, and a 9000lb on the latest Jeep project.
They start as a run of the mill China winch...then Moto Alliance breaks them down and does a few upgrades and markets them under the Viper name brand.
So far I'm fairly impressed with the quality vs the cost.....sure, it's not a Warn or a Ramsey; but they are fully sealed units and so far have proved to be reliable...for less than half the cost.
The four wheeler and buggy winches have been submarined, covered in mud, and power washed quite a few times and so far no problems.

I'm installing a 3000lb. Rule of thumb is go at least twice the weight of your vehicle. Here is link to some winch tests.
http://www.expeditionportal.com/resourc ... -test.html
There was another test rating the Harbor Freight brand very high. Next to the Warn and Ramsey, Go figure????

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When in doubt pray harder!

I have a 4100lb warn super winch it woorks good but I will get in to spots where I will stall it. the last time I road with giveitagallon we had that winch smoking. now I carry a snach block with me.

lol first im stuck then i get you stuck getting me unstuck lol what a weekend thanks again dave
snatch blocks are amazing and a must i believe not only double your power when you return cable to your buggy but use it to turn corners when your in a real bad bind !

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Theirs no replacement for displacement !

3500# superwinch. A winch is worth every dime. Would recomend snatch blocks also. Spent 8 hours on one trail from begining to end on mem wknd in southern ohio. I'm the only one in my group that ever has recovery equipment (i hate being stuck!) we used my winch 3 times,my chainsaw 3 times and my high lift jack twice.

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Turbocharged Ecotec,vanogon midshift,Berrien WoodsBuggy wagon.

Snatch blocks are a must. I also carry a 8000lb come a long. We got separated by a crazy guy with a shotgun one time. My buddy made it out to the road. I had to go back across the mountain by myself. The come a long was a life saver. Seriously.

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When in doubt pray harder!

i have a cheap 3000lbs it works but probrably should have gone with a 4000 lbs

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Hey,can you hand me those zip ties and that roll of duct tape?!

Thanks for the feedback... I'm looking!

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A broken clock is right two times a day.

im down with the harbour freight!! just ride with me and you dont need a winch, cause i'll pull you out

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ANTI- antifreeze!!!!!!

IMO, you dont need a winch! if anything buy one for chunk! Thats alot of weight on the front of a buggy, and thats a HUGE no-no! Ya already have a coil-over front end! And a friend with a winch is much better!

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Maybe you should chug on over to mamby pamby land....

I found 2 good deals on winches..

This one is a 3500lbs from Amazon for $191
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003COTFS4/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B0000AX6SI&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0Z9RD5PX9JX6V98PZ53B

This one is a 4000lbs on clearance from SuperWinch.com for $199
http://www.superwinch.com/products/productdetail/UTV4000+-+4%2C000+lbs/part_number=1140200/4377.0.1.1.11406.0.0.0.0?pp=12&

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yeah one for chunk would be much cheaper than a trans You should make it down for the open ride...

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A broken clock is right two times a day.

This is the one i got for 209 shipped from Amazon.com:
http://www.superwinch.com/products/prod ... 0.0?pp=12&

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Water cooled Dry Sumped Subaru Powered Turbo Charged Fuel Injected 2500CC Tank. Oh Rah! He who dies with the most Toys not only wins, He also wears them out!

That Winch is £209 Sterling here in the UK, thats $400!!

good thing i had my cheap harbour freight 3000lbs winch cuz you and ray were SCARED to come down and get me.....and could have used at least a 4000lbs one!

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Hey,can you hand me those zip ties and that roll of duct tape?!

give him hell

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Air cooled forever,i hate rusty tools!!!!!!!

u guys come walkin down the trail like a couple of hand holdin tree huggers

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Hey,can you hand me those zip ties and that roll of duct tape?!

u guys come walkin down the trail like a couple of hand holdin tree huggers[/quote]
i think your confused

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Air cooled forever,i hate rusty tools!!!!!!!

i think your confused[/quote]
nope not confused drunk or high...i got stuck in some nastiness and instead of couple guys in buggys drivin down to get me, they come down on foot,said it was too bad to drive through....i didnt think so

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Hey,can you hand me those zip ties and that roll of duct tape?!

I've had a couple of cheapo winches off Ebay, a 3000# Viper, then a 3500#, and finally the 4500# I have now. The main thing I would say about a winch is make sure it has a STEEL spool, NOT a cast aluminum spool. The spool is the part that the cable winds up on. Both of my previous winches had the cast aluminum and both spools broke, trashing the winch totally.

When I bought the 4500# that is on my buggy now I was almost ready to give up on the whole winch idea after breaking two of 'em with cast spools. I actually bought this 4500# steel spool winch on clearance for 120 bucks from Viper because it was not "submersible" so they said and had been discontinued. I've had it under water at least 10 times in about three years, not to mention all the times I have flooded it washing the buggy, still works great. Hell, best winch I've ever had! Finally took it apart to inspect, clean and lube it earlier this year.

Also, I have had several of the "Amsteel" winch cables. This is the deal that looks like a rope you would use for water skiin'. The problem with these things is they always break where the hook eye threads into rope. You can rethread it but it always seems to fail again at the most critical time. Finally went back to the standard steel cable, no problems.

I like having a winch on the buggy. The weight sacrifice is well worth the riding confidence gained by knowing that you can always "winch out" of just about anything.

Awiiite then?

Dale

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Lets RIDE!