Fitting a Winch to Puma 90 Standard Bumper

[JimR]

Hi, a couple of weeks ago I found myself in a perilous situation of being stuck in a ravine (self inflicted as I drove down into it) and due to the muddy conditions I could not traverse up and out. Fortunately I was able to navigate an alternative exit and went on my way.

Got me thinking about fitting a winch on the front bumper and what that might involve. I also thought it might be easier to get an old school hand winch and strap it onto the rack. The thing is those Tigerz11 winches looks pretty affordable and if it simply bolt on and wire up I may do that. The other potential issue is I have the geniune LR A frame protection bar bolted on which I'm planning to fit some driving lights to. Any thoughts and ideas much apprieciated, I hope this is the right place to post.

[nonimouse]

20 years ago winches weren't anywhere near as available as they are now so we had to try other ways
Might I suggest before you buy a winch - which should be the last thing on your basic shopping list you look at other options...
Tyres/tyre pressures
Driving technique
Route checking
Traction aids
Once you've done this and if you still need a winch then it would be best to comply with the rules/law, as to what you can or cannot use to mount a winch. Over here in the UK we have more grey areas than the dark side of the moon as to what you can and cannot do; with the deciding factor being what happens when you get in an accicdent. I use a Bikini mount that fits over and on the standard bumper. It's a generic design as used by Land Rover SVO to fit smaller hydraulic winches. I like it because of two reasons. It's light compared to my old ARB mount (lets face it here, even the Titanic is light comapred to that) and it allows me the room to fit my modified winch...

[JimR]

hey thanks this first time I try lower tyre pressure on the 90 including for beach work. Its not likely I'm doing anything dodgey on my rig as I like it stock and I'm limited with electrics anyway so would be done proper. I'm leaning towards a heavy duty handwinch to bail me out of tight spots if I'm on my own. I'll just strap to the rack and hopefully not need it much. It takes a fair bit to stop it having driven up near vertical ascents, rock gardens and the like but this occassion was more the mud causing traction issues with the conti cross

[nonimouse]

They are amazing vehicles out of the box and as the factory intended

Have a look round for a Tirfor 516. As Hand Winches go there is nothing better. If you put the cable inside an old motorbike tyre it'll sit nicely on the rack.

Worth chucking on some jate rings though

Have a browse through Tom Shepperds 'Quiet for a Tuesday' - he's taken airing down to a science.

[dullbird]

personally I think a winch on a solitary vehicle is a good accessory and if you can afford one it will pay you back if you ever need it.

traction aids are all well and good but you can also get your self in to strife with them also if your on your own and not picking your lines well.....and apart from that you possibly wont get a traction aid such as a locker (depending on what sort of locker you want) in for less than a winch anyway.

I dont have a winch on my vehicle but I dont go out alone in it...I do on my other two vehicles which both have been out alone. and once was in the UK and we were glad we had it as we had come across a track we were not expecting with rock steps that proved a challenge and no amount of re choosing lines and using sand ladders to help us climb was helping.

I personally think if your own your own the safest and possibly quickest way to get your self out of a predicament is winch yourself out in a slow and controlled manor. Of course not putting yourself there in the first place would be more ideal.

but mistakes are easily made and things just dont always play out like that.

You might be able to get a winch cradle that fits up between the chassis rails to hold a winch (hidden one) I dont know if anyone has done this yet either that or get a haymen reece tow point placed on the front and have the winch in a removable cradle then you can just place it on the front or the back if and when you need it.