Thread: Ridge Rider (Supercheap) Winch any good?

If it's anything like the one Aldi sell, go right ahead and buy one, because the Aldi one is pretty bloody good, we used one in our High Country trip that was on one of the vehicles and it was brilliant, still working perfect after winching a D2 and camper up a steep grade for 4hrs, I'd buy one.

Baz.

Originally Posted by Redback

If it's anything like the one Aldi sell, go right ahead and buy one, because the Aldi one is pretty bloody good, we used one in our High Country trip that was on one of the vehicles and it was brilliant, still working perfect after winching a D2 and camper up a steep grade for 4hrs, I'd buy one.

Baz.

Ive had 1 on a while, 9500LBS
plenty of use, in the bush & recently in the sand at Robe S.A.
so far so good.



Great to have some back up when there is no-one else to snatch you out.
Pic from when fitted new

I have one of these winches and for some time only used it to pull a few shrubs out of the garden - then came the "ill fated school camp on Fraser Island". The D1 spent most of the late afternoon winching 11 vehicles through the soft sand onto the access track to Dilli Village camp. One was a brand new V8 Sahara with the fully loaded camp kitchen double axle trailer bogged up the the floorpan in soft sand. We were desperate and if the winch burned-out then I was prepared to let it just to get the Sahara onto the boards to complete the recoveries. It only cost 400 bucks and the camp cost way more than that, so it was a calculated sacrifice. It was a single line pull with winch extension strap and only 5 turns left on the spool - only just made the distance but the winch didnt give up or make any smoke - in fact it continued to pull through the remaining 7 troopies (yes 8 x Toyotas so far ) and 3 various other vehicles with fully laden trailers. I have no hesitation in recommending this winch - however ----- It was fully disassembled and re-greased with marine grease when new - single line pulls are only recommended if the bogged vehicle has some drive. (that goes for just about any winch dont you think?) and yes good advice - double it up with a snatch block whenever you can. The worst part of this epic which took about 4 hours in total was not one of the perhaps 50 cameras there took a photo of the recoveries (so it didnt really happen)! The Sahara driver said he would delete the shots anyhow if he found them - go the Landies!

I've got one but as I don't trust its waterproofing I have mounted it up high near the top of the bull bar and the cable then feeds vertically down, around a 3" diameter pully and out the fairleads which are housed in the bullbar as usual. Will try to post some pics shortly. Dragged me about on a single line pull around 5m along clay on the diffs until the wheels touched solid ground again. Didn't even flinch during that operation. Only problem was dodgy contacts in the remote rocker switch which was fixed in seconds. I also regreased it.

Here's a few pics (not good due to light contrast) of my bracket. It's a simple post and lintel setup on top of the alloy bullbar. Underneath the allow bar I have made a steel frame from 100 x 100 x 6 angle which I had laying around. So the alloy bar is effectively sandwiched between the steel frames and plays no part in resisting the winching loads

Gerald I hope thats removable for rego checks But i suppose its no worse than having a spare wheel on the bonnet

Hi Geoff, yep! 4 bolts and out she comes. I had a read of the RTA rules regarding bull bars and from memory it doesn't really cover objects protruding above the bull bar but mainly is concerned with objects protruding out in front of the bull bar. I am aware that there is a rule about objects extending more than 50mm I think above the bonnet but I don't know where this is measured from and the winch isn't connected to the bonnet, is it? so I think I may be able to get away with it on a technicality (hope anyway - any RTA gurus on the forum to confirm?)
Yes, I was thinking about the obstruction a spare wheel would produce and the winch is far less.