Thread: How much use does your winch really get?

I have two winches the one on the 110 has never been used and it has been on the car for 3 years in fairness though the car has been in the dealership for 2 of them

the one on the 90 was used twice to recover other people.....and the rest of the time ripping up the unwanted bushes in the back yard.

A winch is one of those things that you would kill to have one when stuck high and dry..but the amount of times you stick yourself in that situation would be few and far between.

I dont have a winch on my disco I have a bar to take one..but I put the money in to reasonable tyres and now lockers....that should be enough to get anyone anywhere reasonable.

mine has been on since the 60th in cooma 08?, nearly three years

have used it twice 1st recovering a mate up a hill and the second time a self recovery (damn happy i had it as i would have been digging for a long time

mine is a tourer therefore i don't go looking for trouble but its handy to know its there, oh and it a pto so no electrics to worry about

i grabbed it cause it was cheap

If you spend any amount of time wheeling on your own you need a winch... if you spend all your time with others the necessity lessens somewhat.

If you don't use it it is simply a deadweight you take for drives...

I wheel alone 95% of the time and use mine for self-recovery and firewood. this time of the year would be the busiest time for winch use. Virtually every day I go out I am either using it or considering it for use one way or the other...

it is one more thing on the truck I have to maintain...

I used mine three times on trees,
then once for self recovery,
then tried and it died when I really needed it
Used on two more trees and one self recovery since repaired.

If it wasn't on the Disco when I bought it I wouldn't have repared it.

If it was my money I'd buy a "Turfer" type hand winch(you can winch in any direction, not just foward).

I had a warn on my Pootrol and only used it once for self recovery

I put one on the D2 and never used it.

I agree depends on where you go and who you are with. As long as you can self recover in some form.

realistically an electric winch is probably the last accessory you need. There is probably more important things but after winching for hours with a tirfor whislt in the high country many years ago I will be putting one on my next car

We have winches on both our rangies, mines been fitted since late last year but hasn't been needed offroad as yet.

The one on my fathers rangie gets used more for moving stuff round the yard/house than for 4wding, but still extremely handy to have. Would have well paid for itself in the 25+ years that he's had it fitted.

My 101 has been on the road for 18 months and used the winch twice - to pull another 101 up a dune to get out of a hole and the other when I was out by myself and got stuck in a mud hole. I have been stuck at other times and been pulled out by others.

So if you travel by yourself a lot, I would definitely consider it but if with others where you can usually be snatched then no. Also winches are mounted on the front but most winch situations are really pull you out of a hole rather than through it so not as helpful as they could be.

Garry

these guys got by without a winch so unless you are doing more deep poop driving than these put the money into other stuff.

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