If you have a winch - In a normal year, how often do you use it?
Daily?
Weekly?
Monthly?
Currently have a Warn 9500ti, and i’m thinking about downsizing to something smalller/cheaper like a Warn M8000-s, or potentially running without one and adding back a set of MaxTrax instead for desert work.
I’ve had a winch on the past handful of 4x4’s we own and i have to say, i’ve never used one off-road even with lots of trail time in Pismo, Moab, Anza-borrego, and several 7-8+/10 socal trails under our belt.
On our last rig the biggest use was to do work around our place, moving trees/logs, etc. a couple years ago after a big storm.
Can of worms topic like running a spare tire vs. carrying tire/wheel stem patch kits, i know, but i’m interested in what works for you in your area?
I would say our rig is very well built/capable(TJR, longarm’d, armored, etc) and our intent is to stick to 5/10 or less trails, BUT we usually DO run solo or with one other mildly built rig, so trying determine our actual needs.
I Grew up in rural oregon, and the mud there is fierce. Ive been in rural vermont for 6 years now, and the mud season only lasts one month, its great, hah. My wife is not real confident on icy roads, so im building the redneck version of one of those iceland overland rigs, hah. 31-32's, winch, lots of side slope here, so cant go too tall, its gonna be a log skidder, pulling wind blown sugar maple down the hill to my mill. So a winch is a must, tow pig f550 gin pole truck that i use to drag jeeps out of blackberry patches has a worm gear winch on front bumper, and a hardly frightening 12k winch on the back, going to the the gin pole setup.
$1000 04 tj got a $20 warn winch plate, gonna throw the 12k harbor freight on it for now, but will be on the prowl for something lighter, its just gotta pull a subaru out of the ditch once a month, give my wife confidence she can self rescue, and winch heavy stuff around the farm for me. Im only 43 but im a little bit broke down from M.S. and working the trades since i was 13, hah.
I actually used mine 2x on my last tj, in texas, in the big city, they get these flash floods and people try to drive across fast moving water...1x just saved the dude from having expensive tow bill, other kept it from swimming away.
But tl/dr, my offroading mantra has always been, have at least one xtra trick to get out than you got stuck with, could be lockers, airing down, 4x4 low range, traction mats, a winch etc. If you have to use the last resort, you should be using it to get out instead of farther in, but im like 95% solo rig when i go out.