Looking at winches and recovery. How many pounds do you all recommend? We own a few 3500HD and 2500HD trucks that might need to be pulled out, will 8,000lbs do it or should I go bigger?

Is Warn even made in the USA?

 

one thing to remember is the pull rating is with only 1 wrap of cable so if you have 3-4 you have way less pull then 8k .when I bought mine It wasnt that much more for the 12,000, alot heavier but it has come in handy a few time now. my .02

 

8000 is pretty small for what you want, 12k would suit you better. I would stay away from Warn too, unless it's a 8274. The new warns are junk

 

The 8274's are great winches, even though they are rated lighter, the length of cable is what works great beacuse it can be doubled up using a ****** block and then it has much more pulling power.

 

Any other options? I was reading about the new warns and they're china made. Assembled in usa, are their better options? This is my first time buying a winch so I would like to get something good.

 

I've read that 1.5 times the weight of your truck is a rule of thumb for the rating of the winch. I'll keep an eye on this thread too, I'm also interested in what 'other' winch brands people have had good luck with.

 

As much as people may laugh I've had great luck with viper winches. Sold by motoalliance. I used to be a diehard Warn guy but after burning through 3 of them I developed a hatred. I still have 3 8274's in service but wouldn't use any other Warn even if it were free. Like stated above they are only 8000lb winches though too.

Have 2 elite vipers in 12000lb ratings and they have been nothing but good. A guy at work has a 12000 keeper and he has had great luck with it too

 

Minimum 1.5X truck weight, ideally, at least double. Four tires, two axles, bumper deep in sticky mud, will quickly multiply the amount of drag.

 

I run a Milemarker hydraulic 10,500 on my old '72 Powerwagon on 38 swampers with a 318 gasser.
It has worked very well over the years.
Sometimes the powersteering pump has a hard time dealing with winching and hard steering at the same times - like winching out of deep ruts you are trying to steer out of them at the same time.
I have thought of using a extra 12v hydro pump as being a great solution for really heavy use.

 

I have a 12.5 k super winch and a 12k smittybuilt and a 10k champion the only thing that I have done was install a new drive shaft in the superwinch (Broke it) but it is used almost everyday and sometimes 4-5 times a day to its maximum cap. and is 7 years old now all three have been good tools.

 

1.5 to 2 is what I have heard/read as well.

Is hydraulic (PTO driven) an option? The winches on our wreckers have always done well for us.

 

I'm digging the smittybuilts, are these made in the usa at least?

 

my Smitty built says China

 

Smittybilts along with most others are china built these days. I have a 8k Smitty on my jeep though and its never skipped a beat. I've gotten my money's worth out of it for sure.

 

The Warn VR series are "Assembled in USA" all of their other winches that are branded as Warn are Made in USA. I think Ramsey is the only other manufacturer that builds winches in the USA. Most of the others come from China and most are based off the same couple of models, then rebranded for the individual company selling the winch. Basically, if it's less then $1000 new, it was made in China.