The weight of a winch should be considered, cause it can load down the front end causing loss of lift (though not a lot). Also some winches can protrude in front of your Jeep decreasing approach angle. And third, some bumpers will only accept certain brands or sizes of winches.

You also need to consider getting a spriral cell battery, or a deep cycle battery. I would go with an Optima. Spiral cells can be discharged and charged more than lead acid batteries, and still perform well. And they take less time to charge than lead acid batteries.

If you need a winch for work i.e. on a farm where you will be using it almost daily, you might want to opt for a hydraulic winch, as they can handle repeated use better than electrics...but the engine must be running to operate a hydraulic one.

AHH, we can,t forget that the engine must be running. Any winch will drain a battery, always leave it running and you might want to rev it a little too. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

Well, you usually don't want to be winching dead weight. Someone should be in the vehicle being winched, giving it some gas to help the winch along.

Also when using a steel cabled winch, something like a rag or a shirt should be wrapped around the middle of the cable in case it breaks. Just something to absorb some of the recoil. Synthetic ropes will not recoil.

Brown starts the accessory list when purchasing the winch. Correct winching procedures recommend having a sandbag placed somewhere in the extended cable to help slow the whip of it should it happen to separate. You should also have a nylon strap rated 10K or more to put around your anchor point. Dont ever wrap your cable around the anchor and hook back to it. Use a big D-ring to pull the strap together and provide the hook point for the winch cable. Another great item is a snatch block pulley which will double the effective capacity of your winch but will shorten the length of your cable by half as you have to tie it back to a hook on the winch vehicle. This really helps if you are glued in a bad mud hole to break the suction on your truck. A pair of gloves and a shovel are useful items too. Just some other things to think about. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/notooth.gif" alt="" />

Buying a winch only a tough decision if you don't plan to use it. When I go wheeling I try lines and obstacles that can leave me stuck or broken, some times both at the same time.
If you buy a winch to have "just in case", pretty much any of them will get you unstuck, in which case buy the one with a good warranty and has enough pulling power to do the job. (That does not mean helping your friend with a 3/4 ton pick up who's stuck) For your frames sake never try and pull a rig that is bigger than yours, you will damage your frame or you/bystanders if you break a cable. (a 3/4 ton+ truck should have a 12klb winch on it). No having a 12k winch on a TJ won't solve that, it'll tear up the frame sooner.

Now, if you plan to use the winch line speed is critical.

Only people who don't know much about winches or have not been around a bunch of recoveries will argue this. But line speed makes the difference in a winch being helpful or being a major pain. Listen to the cussing when a slow ass Ramsey/MM/or Harbor Freight JUNK is barely moving. I'm not saying they stall or stop pulling, no, they work, but too slow. Gosh it sound like I'm in a hurry or something, not really.

A warn winch uses a electro magnet motor, all the rest use a permanent magnet. The difference is that when fully loaded the warn is still faster than the others, but when unloaded...(this is the key) they spin about 6-10 times faster. So here you are on White Knuckle Hill in Moab, you have made 3-4 good attempts, and are sitting on that huge rock face, you get your cable out and start winching, the winch alone could pull you up that 60 degree obstacle, but rather than making the winch do that, you start to "help" it by driving while winching. Just as you gain a little ground on the winch (with a warn) the cable is reeled in a back to tight in a second or two or less, with others have to stop, apply brake and depress the clutch waiting for the winch to "catch up". With the warn you are up the obstacle and with in a few seconds the cable is back in and ready to go, with the others it will take 5-10 minutes to reel 80 feet back in. No contest. Warn, if you plan to use it.

SD

Hey, SD! Always look forward to Sundays when you post! How's it going, buddy? <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Line speed is certainly an important issue, but Warn isn't the only winch that has series wound electric motors for frequent use, integrated solenoid mounting, and ft/min line speed equivalent to the renowned Warn XD9000i. I only quickly perused the comparison field test results cited above, And, I could only question if similarly rated winches were used with similar features. I'd put my Ramsey Patriot 8000 against the XD9000i any day even though the Patriot 9500 might be more comparable ... the Warn's 3 ft/min (1/2 in/sec) line speed advantage doesn't mean even a hill of beans when winching up a rockface under power. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" /> All have life time warranties and the Patriot 8000 is $200 less expensive than its comparable XD9000i! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" /> Seriously, either winch will be more than adequate and worth the $750 to $1000 spent.
SD, You were there when my Ramsey REP8000 went belly-up, but the little permanent magnet motor had done well for over 10+ years, although on trail climbs the Warn guys complained ferociously concerning its deplorable line speed.
See you soon.

REminds me of the Ford guy and the Chevy guy! Me I'm a Chevy guy...If you are a Ford guy...shut the hell uP... Mine is better than yours!
Big JIm <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/pfft.gif" alt="" />

BigJim, you missed the point, again! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/scared.gif" alt="" />

Let me "splain" it to you: They're all good. Some will last longer than others. Frequency of use is the main determining issue when selecting a winch. If you winch other Jeeps a lot when four wheeling, go with the HD expensive winches. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

I'll add my standard perspective: buy the winch your buddys have. In other words, if your friends all have Warn (hopefully), buy a Warn.

We had a guy really stuck/broken on Fordyce Trail. There were three of us winching on-and-off, but the Jeep in best position to do the heavy winching needed a few spare parts before the day was done. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/shiner.gif" alt="" /> If we all didn't have interchangable parts, it would have been a bummer.

That's what I always thought until my friend gave me a Warn 8274 that was on a truck he just sold. I just bought a Warn mounting kit so I can mount the 8274 on my 80 CJ-5 and am surprised that the winch plate is basically held to the Jeep by 4 grade 5 7/16" UNC carriage bolts. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif" alt="" />