What Winch?

Hi to all , my query..: what would you guys recommend for a winch?
I am looking around and i really don't see why anyone would fit, 9000lb..and 13500lb electric winches, i don't see why this would be necessary.as a standard ragtop jimny comes in around 1050kg..or about 2450lbs...surely a 4500 to 6000 winch would be sufficient..granted my knowledge on this subject is limited, but i am only considering fitting to get myself out of trouble, if necessary...so any advice ..reasoning would be appreciated..
Thanks folks.

Depends what you intend to use it for.

But for any kind of Mudding I'd go for a 9000-95000 lbs winch. Remember it's not just the weight of the car, but also all the mud in front of it.

TDS goldfish winches are really good, properly waterproof and have decent gearing at a affordable price tag. Not the sexiest to look at but get good reviews. advertised as made in the UK, but not sure if than means 'assembled' rather than 'made'

I have one of the laughed at winchmax 13500lbs ones and it does what it says, but to get that line pull rating its been geared differently, meaning its slow compared to others. The wireless remote also eats batteries at a scary rate (it can be plugged in however). It is however a case of get what you pay for and the winchmax is a cheap winch.

To run a 13500lbs winch properly requires a 660cca battery, which isnt something you can fit in the standard battery tray. I use a 400cca which is the biggest i could find to fit in the standard place. No option for a second battery under my bonnet as its full of ARB compressor where that could go. For what little use i give the winch the 400cca batt is fine, but for competition or using up to the max it would need a bigger battery. Eventually this winch will be relegated to spares or rear winch duties and a much faster goldfish 9500lbs will replace it :evil:

The Goodwinch TDS Goldfish is the best on the market but at a price too. If you don't need the Rolls Royce of winches there's plenty of cheaper ones. Wichmax and others seem to please many people on here.

Don't go less than 9000lb though as the suction and weight of mud plus inclines is why you need that much.

Kirkynut

Just to clarify a few things .. Hope you don't mind

Goodwinch TDS winches are all made in China by KingOne.
They're not the best winches available. But definitely one of the best winches you can get on a budget. If money's no issue, there's Warn XP, Red Winches Explorer, Viper etc.

When it comes to amp draw. Most big winches +9000 lbs, have 4.5-6 hp motors. So at full load they draw about the same amount of amps. This means that if you're on a budget, a 13500 lbs winch could actually do with smaller size cables than a 9000 lbs winch as it's a higher ratio gearbox

As for batteries. Unless you're actually building an overlanding vehicle. Avoid using any kind of split charging relay and just install to decent batteries in parallel. Or if space is not available, one good quality battery as big as possible.