Virginia Gun Owners Forum - VGOF

I finally got my winch installed. I got a Warn mount to use with my factory bumper. It is a great mount. Its rated for a winch up to 10,000 lbs in pull. It bolts to the fame with 14 bolts spread across 4 locations. Came with a couple new front hooks too

The winch is a basic 8000. Should be good enough for anything I will get into. This is my first winch. Hopefully it will do well. Does anyone have any experience with this brand? I am wondering if I should buy a cover to protect it from rain/snow or if its okay to just leave it uncovered?

I would definitely buy a cover for it. Good equipment deserves protection.

Covers are about $35-$40 for this unit. I guess its probably a good idea.

Cover it, and when I sold aftermarket automotive back in the late 80's/early 90's? Warn Winches were tops! Good purchase!

I've had 4 Warn Winches and always got great service out of them. Always kept them covered and protected from the elements. You may want to get an open sided Snatch Block....it will double the pulling power and will give you options on cable direction. Sometimes you can't pull in a straight line.

I appreciate the advise and glade to heard about the good quality of the brand.

Randy, I've been looking at those pulleys. Most companies seem to be calling them snatch blocks. It looks like a great tool to have and pretty affordable. I am going to try to go off-roading for fun every month or so for entertainment. I may get a couple since they aren't that much. Any advantage to get myself out of trouble.

I have been looking at Warn winches for my F150. Not so much to pull my truck out of the muck, but to cross winch a carcass into the back.

There are a ton of brands out there. I was reading that Warn and Mile Marker are two of the better brands. I went with the Warn since it seemed to be the one most widely used.

I'll find out how this unit works this weekend. Me and a buddy are going to an off-road park in Tremont PA. I'm sure I'll be yanking one of us out of something. LoL. I'll let you know how it goes.

For what you're looking for, a little ATV winch that's good for 1,500-2,000 pounds might be good for what you want to do. The are light, can mount on a trailer hitch, and are much less expensive since the pull limit is so much lower.

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One thing about Warn is you can get parts for them....And they are easy to work on. I had a 4000lb. WW on a car hauler trailer that developed a dragging noise like two parts were rubbing together. We took it completely apart , found nothing wrong and reassembled . Sometimes it made a noise and sometimes it didn't. I've got a 2500 lb. "Super Winch" that came with my John Deere Gator....just haven't installed it yet. Now that we have finished our Cabin I may get it installed pretty soon.

That's a good looking rig. Time to go play in the dirt.

Snakester wrote:One thing about Warn is you can get parts for them....And they are easy to work on. I had a 4000lb. WW on a car hauler trailer that developed a dragging noise like two parts were rubbing together. We took it completely apart , found nothing wrong and reassembled . Sometimes it made a noise and sometimes it didn't. I've got a 2500 lb. "Super Winch" that came with my John Deere Gator....just haven't installed it yet. Now that we have finished our Cabin I may get it installed pretty soon.

Glad they are easy to work on. I figured its an electric motor and a gear set. I've read that some folks had their winch act up due to rust after being submerged and they got rebuild kits for them. I thought that was pretty cool. Makes sense that you can fix them given the price point. Tossing a $500-$1,000 tool in the trash when it acts up is not acceptable.

Glad to hear the cabin is done. I'd love to check it out. Maybe now that the weather is getting better, we can get together.

Did you end up getting the pond bank graded and leveled off to a beach front?

OakRidgeStars wrote:That's a good looking rig. Time to go play in the dirt.

Oh yea. I'll be taking pics and video. Can't wait.

It's a good idea to bear in mind that when you hook that much winch up to something and start winding it's pretty easy to tear up something on one end or the other of the cable.

Oh yea. I have seen guys completely destroy their vehicles. My goal it to use it as an aid. Most of the pro's I have seen will put the vehicle in gear and keep driving, using the cable to put them in a place where they can drive out of. I've been told the spinning wheels/tires should be doing most of the work with the winch as a supplement, unless you're on a level roll. Seems reasonable.