which winch?

was gonna post this in the range rover section but everyone in there seems to have there motors sitting highly polished in there driveways. i don't and it sits in a council carpark! i'm looking for a winch (well 2 winches) for the front and rear. i want to do the argyll forest challenge next year which is pretty extreme. went to watch it on saturday and it was feckin awesome. i need a winch that will be capable of pulling or lowering my range rover up or down near vertical cliffs. i've been looking through my landy mags but don't really have clue what i need. there's so many different makes and pulling powers. can someone please advise me as to what power and make to go for. i was going to call some companies tomorrow but don't want to be fed a loada ****e and ripped off into buying the most expensive one they have. cheers chaps.
oh iye. does anyone know of anywhere that does external roll cages for my rr?

i think as far as manufacturers are concerned its down to personal choice, i am a fan of supawinch but others swear by warn. i have heard good reports about the britpart ones but i'm not a great fan of britpart on the whole. as for size, it depends on what you want and what you can afford, the bigger the better but remember the bigger the winch the more strain on yer battery.look into the spares back up with different makes, there are loads of cheapo ones on the likes of ebay but if they faulter where are you gonna get the bits from. hope this helps

was just looking at ones on ebay but as you say parts could be a problem.
cheers yella.

T-max, champion, britpart, superwinch, warn. You cant pick a bad one from these.

M

Without getting into the whole winch debate I would suggest a Milemarker H12 Hydraulic winch with high flow pump with plasma rope.

Under load the Milemarker is faster than most electric winches - at high load even faster than an 8274 which is built for speed.

You won't cook your batteries etc.

I'm sure that you'll want to use plasma rope - using heavy wire rope and rigging in this sort of challenge will be arduous.

All the electric winches will cook themselves and a plasma when lowering out unless you use a warn 8274 (which has a brake outside the drum).

Widget said:

Without getting into the whole winch debate I would suggest a Milemarker H12 Hydraulic winch with high flow pump with plasma rope.

Under load the Milemarker is faster than most electric winches - at high load even faster than an 8274 which is built for speed.

You won't cook your batteries etc.

I'm sure that you'll want to use plasma rope - using heavy wire rope and rigging in this sort of challenge will be arduous.

All the electric winches will cook themselves and a plasma when lowering out unless you use a warn 8274 (which has a brake outside the drum).

Click to expand...

everyone in the challenge was using these plasma ropes. they seem the business. are hydraulic winches cheaper or more expensive than electric ones?

what about an external roll cage? i can't find one anywhere. might have to get one custom made. thanks to everyone for there replies so far.

Hydraulic tends to be a bit pricier - but consider the whole costs and benefits.

Plasma rope is going to cost £200. An alloy fairlead will cost £50.

Let's say £550 for an electric winch but you'll also need to budget for a second battery and split charge system which can add £150-£200..

The hydraulic with high output pump is more expensive at £999, but has a higher output (12,000lb) than many electric winches and won't cook itself, a hydraulic motor just stalls when overloaded. The benefit of the extra capacity is that you have to 'double-line' less often (double-lining is when you run the cable to a tree for instance, through a pulley block and back to the bumper. It takes extra time to rig/de-rig and cuts the line speed of the winch dramatically).

Yer pays yer money...

Check out the companies and websites and talk to people. Make up your own mind. These two sites contain some good info.

http://www.4x4winches.com/
http://www.dborc.co.uk/goodwinch/

I personally wouldn't buy Bertie's dyneema bowrope though, and would use Plasma 12 instead. http://www.firstfouroffroad.co.uk/winch_line.htm

Good winching bumpers from First Four - I personally wouldn't deal with Scorpion Racing if they were the only company in buisness - but that's just my view. I personally rate these for build, strength and looks. http://www.firstfouroffroad.co.uk/bumpers.htm

I hope you've got lots of money!

loadsa money..........er no, not really. will be buying something each month until i've got the lot. thanks for all the info. very helpful.

Widget, your a star matey. Been enquiring about getting a winch myself, you've just helped me to scrap the elec winch idea and go for the more reliable hydraulic ones.
Cheers.