Gotcha! I respectfully suggest simply waiting a month or two until you can purchase a better winch for trails here in Colorado. This is not an item where you should go cheap. The difference between the two products you mentioned is $100. As you probably know, I have the Patriot 8000 on my rig. I can speak well of its reliability. I also suggest that many times the winch pulls are for extented periods of time, especially when using the winch to pull your Jeep up a step inclined trail. Yes, you only use the winch occasionally, but when you need to use the winch its almost always for extended pulls. Rarely will you be winching in this country to get unstuck from a quagmire.
I should also mentioned the long illustrious service I experienced with the Ramsey REP8000. Yes, it was a permanent magnet type, but it got me through just about every difficult trail here in Colorado and Moab: in Montrose, the REP8000 winched my YJ up at least a 2o to 25' vertical canyon wall in Calamity Canyon where the Jeep was actually suspended several feet off the canyon floor by only the wire rope; while an old Warn winch frizzled and ignited in flames attempting the same feat. Only in hindsight, I can laugh about it. I think leaving the winch exposed w/o a cover finally brought on its demise after 10+ years of service. The REP8000 now sits in a box in my garage until I need to resurrect it. I suggest taking a look at this winch if dollars are an issue; its about $400 (if dollars are the major consideration). Take your time, the trails don't open up until about May, at least on the sunny side on the mountains. Whatever you decide will be fine, I can only suggest what I know from experience. Plenty of good winches on the market these days. A Warn badge these days can be misleading, however. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />