Ok, so I think it's high time to add a winch to my Zuk.  After almost getting stuck several times and wishing I had 33" tires, I decided it would be cheaper to just get a winch than to do all the mods it would take to accommodate such tires .  I understand the sidekick is light so what poundage rating would need for the winch?  I have seen anywhere from about 8000lbs to 12000.  Right now there is a 12000 pound one at Harbor fright for $299.  I has gotten pretty good reviews but I'm thinking maybe I should spring for a better one like a Warn. 
    Also I am currently running the stock front bumper without the cover.  I can weld.  What are the basic mounting requirements?  Do they just bolt on after drilling a few holes?  I could fab something up to make the stock bumper accommodate the winch.

What are some of your experiences with owning and mounting winches?

Thanks

Jon

I have a harbor freight 12000 on my samurai, love it.It always get me out. I'd say go for the wireless remote, I like it. To mount it I bought the harbor freight mount and put a 2" receiver hitch on the front end. Now I can slide it out and use it for  other things also.

I have a 8000# smittybuilt on the front of my 2002 alittle much for the truck but if I need to pull someone else out its good, but for self recovery I would just go with a 6000# just cause the weight of the 8000# and I build my own bumper

No real need to go more than 8,000 on a rig like these. I've heard stories of people putting 12,000 and 15,000 capacity winches on rigs only to ruin the frame because the truck just can't take that kind of force. This would happen when a little rig tries to pull out a stuck one-ton truck or something, or if you're trying to winch out a tree that just won't budge.

With all my modifications, my 2 door Tracker with me in it weighs 3,020 lbs.  Technically a 6000# winch has twice the capacity to lift my Tracker off the ground.  That capacity is only at full spool, then the capacity drops with each layer of line off the spool. 
Consider that 3,000# on four 1 foot pads (exaggerated) probably doesn't have half that resistance. The only way that  you can pull more weight/resistance than your rig is to anchor it to more weight/resistance.  When stretching your rig between two or more points it is easy to tweak the frame if done improperly.  More is not always better (if you have it then you will be able to use it).
The real advantage to larger rated winches is spool size.  The smaller spools means the less distance it will pull without straps, ropes, cables, or chain.  Which means more gear needed.
A slower winch is slow (not that we are impatient, it is just slower), and slow is only what we want when things get critical, until that point faster is always better (right).
A winch is only used or needed when things go wrong (rarely if we are doing a good job of driving, or once a year).

I have a 8,000 HF winch and have used it lots of times.  It was used and cheap (cheap is bonus points), and seems a very capable winch for me.
This is installing the first of 5 30'-40' bridges that we couldn't disturb the creek when installing.

Thanks for the advice everyone.
Brdhunter- I went with the Smittybuilt 9500lb winch.  With the synthetic rope it weighs uner 50lb.  I was looking for one between 6-8000lbs per the advice given in this thread but this was by far the best deal with synthetic rope.  There aren't many options between 6-8000 it seems. I will be mindfull that its overkill for my truck and not to pull anything too big.

Thanks

Jon

 Now trying to figure out the mounting.

The "rope/cable layer" point brd hntr makes is significant.  You normally get the full rated pulling weight capacity of the winch off of the first layer of rope/cable on the winch spool and then the pulling weight rating steps down progressively for each additional layer of rope/cable on the spool to about a third of the winches actual rated pulling weight on the last layer of cable on the spool. 

For short distance pulls having and using a pulley block adds back some of the pulling power you lose during a short cable pull, depending on the angle of the pull.  Using a pulley block causes you to pull more rope/cable off the winch to reach the anchor point (whether it is your vehicle's bumper or another tree or anchor point) so you have more pulling power coming from your winch and then the pulley block further increases the power of the pull.

.  That capacity is only at full spool, then the capacity drops with each layer of line off the spool. 

I think you have it backwards...greatest pull
 capacity comes with least wraps

sent from an anus from an asus

ok weight per pull is about right , my question is what cca on battery you running ...just cause my battery wont recharge after winch use so im thinking bigger cca and bigger alternator for 2nd gen tracker 

I run a Smittybilt XRC 9500 comp winch and i had to swap the stock alternator to a GM 12si type and replace the battery.I went with a PowerMasters 150 amp alternator with a smaller pulley(as these alternators come with their own dyno output card) because it putout 154 amps at 7500rpm...!!! on the low end it did 94 amps at 2400 rpm,which they called idle.()Anyway I figured the smaller pulley got it putting out around 80 amp at 1000 rpm(idle) and max out at 4500 rpm.Plus these alternators are the one wire type so,there isnt any wiring nitemares.LOL
The battery i went with is an Optima  blue top marine(870cca) with duel top terminals which made hooking everything up super easy and clean.I wanted to try the Odyssey PC1500 duel terminal dry cell battery as its lighter and has a awesum warranty but it was nearly $145 more than the one i got.
 This setup works great. I run all the rope off the winch ,turned headlights, radio,and lightbars on.With engine at idle the winch never slowed  like they do when starving for power nor did the lights dim. Almost ayear later and everything still work'n great.

I run a GM 2 wire and and interstate deep cycle marine battery. ...xrc8

sent from an anus from an asus

what does it take to run a gm alternator (I.E ,bracket different wiring) I was think of running dual batteries and run the winch off just one battery and lights and everything else of main. was just going to run battery cables to other battery so that it stays charged. like + to + and - to -. I think my battery is ony 650 CCA so im thinking higher would be better

You're going to need to do a lot more research on dual battery systems...

Very briefly - if you parallel the batteries, which is what you are proposing with the positive~positive & negative~negative connections, both batteries are connected to all the loads, so the winch will be running off of both batteries, and so will the lights & everything else.

There is a lot more than meets the eye to dual battery systems, and unless you're going to isolate them and use some sort of DC-DC charger, you'll need to use batteries of similar chemistry & capacity, or risk reduced battery life.

Quote from: BRD HNTR on October 31, 2015, 03:49:09 AM

.  That capacity is only at full spool, then the capacity drops with each layer of line off the spool. 

I think you have it backwards...greatest pull
 capacity comes with least wraps

sent from an anus from an asus

You are correct.  The greatest pulling strength is the first layer on the spool.

Nprecon  a snatch block will only increase your pulling strength if it comes back to your rig.  Otherwise it will only change the angle of your pull. 

You are correct.  The greatest pulling strength is the first layer on the spool.

Nprecon  a snatch block will only increase your pulling strength if it comes back to your rig.  Otherwise it will only change the angle of your pull.
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Agreed Brd Hntr.  I coulda/shoulda worded my thought 'more better'.  The point I was trying to make was that using a block requires you to pull more rope/cable length from your winch (increases the length of cable/rope needed)... which restores more of the rated mechanical power of your winch because you will be pulling from less layers of cable/rope on your spool.  Which supports the other point of: less layers of rope/cable on the winch spool = more of the winch's rated pulling power.