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UTV winches on light weight rigs

TrikeKid

TrikeKid

Junk Hoarder
Joined
May 19, 2020
Member Number
246
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1,783
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Spana-graham, WA
Looking at swapping my Willys over to an electric winch to save some weight and declutter the underside of the rig. Also swapping transmissions and not sure my current PTO setup would even work with the new setup. Currently has a Ramsey 8,000lb PTO winch that was narrowed to set down in between the passenger frame rail and the steering box. Rig is roughly 3,000 pounds, 4 cylinder flat fender on a D30/44 and 31" tires. I don't have the budget for a new 8274 and the mythical $100 used ones don't exist in my area. My options are put a modern lay down style winch up on top of the frame OR, stuff a 5,000 side by side winch down in where the current PTO setup sits. SXS winch is a ton lighter, most are cheaper, more compact, won't look like ass perched way up in front of the grille. I'm also not looking to be skidding logs all day with this rig the way my old man used to.

Hoping maybe Track/Kick and Samurai guys have done this and have some input on if it's worth the $$$ or do I just need to buck up for a "real winch"?
 
TrikeKid said:
Looking at swapping my Willys over to an electric winch to save some weight and declutter the underside of the rig. Also swapping transmissions and not sure my current PTO setup would even work with the new setup. Currently has a Ramsey 8,000lb PTO winch that was narrowed to set down in between the passenger frame rail and the steering box. Rig is roughly 3,000 pounds, 4 cylinder flat fender on a D30/44 and 31" tires. I don't have the budget for a new 8274 and the mythical $100 used ones don't exist in my area. My options are put a modern lay down style winch up on top of the frame OR, stuff a 5,000 side by side winch down in where the current PTO setup sits. SXS winch is a ton lighter, most are cheaper, more compact, won't look like ass perched way up in front of the grille. I'm also not looking to be skidding logs all day with this rig the way my old man used to.

Hoping maybe Track/Kick and Samurai guys have done this and have some input on if it's worth the $$$ or do I just need to buck up for a "real winch"?
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My rig is 3000lbs and I have an old warn 6k. Its adequate and a lot better then no winch but in no way works as good as a budget 9k.

With that said if its for accasional use just to have and assuming your not getting stuck in crazy spots (your on 31s) id think a modern 5k would be fine with a snatch block.
 
The warm 2500 pro on my wife's was sort of disappointing when I tried to use it one time. The cart was wedged between two trees and high centered but still it wouldn't pull and stalled out.

That's a 2500 on a sxs with a sxs battery but I was not impressed, maybe that's not fair to for your use?
 
CarterKraft said:
The warm 2500 pro on my wife's was sort of disappointing when I tried to use it one time. The cart was wedged between two trees and high centered but still it wouldn't pull and stalled out.

That's a 2500 on a sxs with a sxs battery but I was not impressed, maybe that's not fair to for your use?
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I have a basic Warn 2500 on a Honda Rancher that seems to work good on that, probably wouldn't go that light on a SxS. It'll drag me and that quad right up to whatever heavy ass thing I'm trying to move if I let it.

I know the big 4 door side by sides are pushing up on the same weight as my Jeep, and I don't see guys putting truck winches on them yet.
 
I have a Rough Country 4500lb on my rig as a suck down, I’ve used it a time or two to help with recovery and it’s surprising. They also make a 6k that that is damn near the same size. I wouldn’t hesitate to stick one on a lighter rig.
 
For many years, the only winch I had was a 1000 lb. pull super winch. I used it on two Scouts and two full size Broncos. With the help of a pulley block, it got me out of many stucks. Can it pull you up a tree, no. But think of how many times a couple guys can help push you out. Do you think they can push 2000 lbs?

Now a days, they make 5500-6000 lb. winches light enough that you can carry them pretty easy to the front or back of your rig. So you don’t have to install it. Nice because you can use it for other stuff too. I love the look of a nice winch bumper up front, but more times than not, when I got stuck, I had to go back.

I guess the perfect solution is an 8,000 lb. front and back, but a lot of money and weight for something I don’t want to use. To me, a winch is an emergency tool like a shovel or high lift. I only use it in a last resort. Your driving style maybe different than mine. If I’m looking at an obstacle that I know can’t be made without a winch, I’m not going that way.
 
Had a 6k lb Viper sxs winch on my samurai for a few years and it works fine. Know someone with a 4500lb on theirs also. I've also seen a Polaris 4500 stall out just trying to winch a 2 seat rzr out of some snow. In general, a 4500-6k winch will be just fine on a little flatty. Possibly lighter than some of the loaded down 4 seat sxs's.


CarterKraft said:
The warm 2500 pro on my wife's was sort of disappointing when I tried to use it one time. The cart was wedged between two trees and high centered but still it wouldn't pull and stalled out.

That's a 2500 on a sxs with a sxs battery but I was not impressed, maybe that's not fair to for your use?
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2500 and 3500 winches are for quads. Except maybe a little rhino or 500 pioneer. Not sure what you thought would happen there? :flipoff2:

I remember the rule used to be get a winch that was ~1.5x's the vehicle wieght. I lean towards 2x's, but I also do some shit in deep snow and ask a lot of winches.
 
I think the Rough Country 6500 is going to be the one. Should tuck in behind the bumper nicely and I bet the whole setup weighs less than the PTO and driveline for the current winch.

WaterH said:
I guess the perfect solution is an 8,000 lb. front and back, but a lot of money and weight for something I don’t want to use. To me, a winch is an emergency tool like a shovel or high lift. I only use it in a last resort. Your driving style maybe different than mine. If I’m looking at an obstacle that I know can’t be made without a winch, I’m not going that way.
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Exactly, I have no desire to run trails that I have to winch every obstacle or every other obstacle, just not my idea of a good time. Not being on tons and 40's gives me about twice the line choice around here anyway.

I'm not into playing tow-truck which seems to be the biggest argument I find on the internet for running an 8-10k winch on a light rig.
 
YotaAtieToo said:
2500 and 3500 winches are for quads. Except maybe a little rhino or 500 pioneer. Not sure what you thought would happen there? :flipoff2:

I remember the rule used to be get a winch that was ~1.5x's the vehicle wieght. I lean towards 2x's, but I also do some shit in deep snow and ask a lot of winches.
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1500 lb sxs x 1.5 = 2250 lbs :homer:
I get what you're saying though.
The 2,3xxx series winch's seem to have much smaller ATV sized motors.
 
CarterKraft said:
1500 lb sxs x 1.5 = 2250 lbs :homer:
I get what you're saying though.
The 2,3xxx series winch's seem to have much smaller ATV sized motors.
Click to expand...

Like I said it was an old rule and I lean towards 2x's.

I think the atv/utv winches are not rated very accurately. Some 4500s seem great for a 2500 lb rig and others struggle with a 1500lb rig.

I almost think the 4500 Viper I have pulls better than the 6k :laughing:

I want to replace the 6k chicom with 5500 lb warn axon, but need to hear more reviews to make sure it's actually an upgrade.

One other downside to the sxs winches is the line capacity. My 6k wide drum came with 65' and after blowing it apart twice when the line wasn't perfectly spooled, I cut it down to 40' and it still gets bound up.

A cut down M6000 with ~120' feet of line would be awesome.
 
Current setup probably has 100+ feet on it even after being cut down. Not sure you could get that much after narrowing a low-pro electric with the added width of the motor and gearbox. Then again you're not trying to stuff it down between the rails of a 40's Jeep either.

PXL_20221029_201910309 (1).jpg
 
TrikeKid said:
Current setup probably has 100+ feet on it even after being cut down. Not sure you could get that much after narrowing a low-pro electric with the added width of the motor and gearbox. Then again you're not trying to stuff it down between the rails of a 40's Jeep either.
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1/4 line is pretty small
 
Byro said:
Then an extra lasso of 50’ under the seat gets you where you need to be.
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Exactly what I did, but 100'

Then a 20' strap, a tree saver, and usually a 30' also. Used most of them the other day, although a few were halfed, it was actually nicer than waiting for the winch to spool in 100'.

Never know what's going to happen in the snow :laughing:
 
YotaAtieToo said:
Probably, but then you're just back to a fullsize winch, but narrower.

Now that you mention it, I'm honestly not sure the size difference between a m6000 and m8000 :laughing:
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Mine in my big samurai is a cut down m6000 with 50' of 3/8 rope.
I can get some measurements but I also have no idea of the difference between the 2.
 
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Biggest drawback on some of the UTV winches is they only have 50 ft of cable.
 
www.milemarker.com

PE5000 – 5000 lb. Winch

The PE5000 series winch is a mini-monster of UTV recovery power packed into a sleek, compact design. Featuring an all-metal, 3-stage planetary gear system, a submersible, 250-amp solenoid, and 5,000 pounds of pulling capacity.
www.milemarker.com www.milemarker.com

I've got this on my samurai. I bought it new with synthetic line from northern tool a few years back for a little over $300. The price was right and the specs were impressive enough. I've used it to pull a big downed pine out of the road and to move vehicles and trailers and shit around the yard a handful of times with no issue. Haven't had to use it on the trail yet, but I don't have any concerns for the typical unstucking situation. In a long duration pull situation I'd be more concerned for my charging system giving me problems than the winch.

pe5000 specs.jpg

pe5000 specs2.jpg
 
OHV Wildcat said:
Yep. Super easy to carry a 50’ extension, but that’s not nearly as handy as having it on the spool.
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I think so too, but also these little utv winches are so slow, spooling 100' in and out would take forever. It's much quicker to hook up a strap and extention. Between a 20' and a 100' you can make a lot of different lengths by halfing or 1/3 ING.
 
YotaAtieToo said:
I think so too, but also these little utv winches are so slow, spooling 100' in and out would take forever. It's much quicker to hook up a strap and extention. Between a 20' and a 100' you can make a lot of different lengths by halfing or 1/3 ING.
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Yep and its rarely neccessary to winch more then a couple feet.
 
I'd say that if you are in dirt/snow/rocks this is a good plan.
Mud? Suction adds pulling force. I'd run a UTV winch on my lightweight rig if the sticky brown shit wasn't a constant presence.
 
IowaOffRoad said:
I'd say that if you are in dirt/snow/rocks this is a good plan.
Mud? Suction adds pulling force. I'd run a UTV winch on my lightweight rig if the sticky brown shit wasn't a constant presence.
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Tough to avoid here completely but our mud is generally full of rocks and logs.
 
IowaOffRoad said:
I'd say that if you are in dirt/snow/rocks this is a good plan.
Mud? Suction adds pulling force. I'd run a UTV winch on my lightweight rig if the sticky brown shit wasn't a constant presence.
Click to expand...
Fair point, snow can have a lot of drag, but not usually suction. Plus you can easily dig to relieve it.

Heck I've seen a lot of mud sxs's with fullsize truck winches.
 
Narrowing is easy :D

irate4x4.com

Narrowing a Warn M8000

As as I always the smallest Jeep in the group, I had to get a winch. Found an M8000 in need of TLC and decided to narrow it. Took it apart (a good tip was to zip-tie the brake together): Next I mocked it on the winch plate, so that it will sit between the frame rails and allow mounting the...
irate4x4.com irate4x4.com
 
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