That >8,000 lb. winch is a waste of money.

Couple questions for you:

• What would you be prussiking with?
  • Synthetic winch lines are extremely slippery, and while I've never tried it, my guess is you would have an extremely difficult time actually getting anything to grab. I imagine the effect is also there with steel cable, though maybe not as pronounced as with the synthetic.
  • I haven't seen a wire rope grab that's rated for the 6k lbs loads you're talking about putting on it, and I don't believe they would work well on a synthetic winch rope due to its construction.
  • You'd need ~6mm cord to hold 6k lbs when its doubled up. This will not work well as prussik cord as the diameter of the ATV winch rope is only 4.8mm for synthetic and 5.5mm for steel.
• Did you account for the efficiency loss through the snatch blocks? Obviously it depends on what you buy, but I would guess the cheap ones are only 90%-95%. With 3 you're only getting 85% of your pull. There will also be losses in the progress capture device.
• How are you mounting the ATV winch? It still needs to be secured to the vehicle in some way if not placed in a bumper.
• Did you consider situations where a double line pull is necessary on the larger winch? You'd end up needing substantially more rope and snatch blocks with a smaller winch.
• Have you fully considered the cost differences? Here's some info on a Warn VRX 35-S (3.5klb pull with 50' rope) vs a VR EVO 12-S (12klb pull with 90' rope)
  • MSRP $480 vs $940 ($460 difference)
  • Additional rope (100') ~$105
  • Snatch blocks (3 min) ~$50
  • Portable power wiring rated for 200 amps. Probably need ~20' of 4 gauge if you plan on using it off the back of the vehicle like you said. ~$100 for wire and connectors
  • I'd argue that a tacoma only really needs the 8klb winch (and some pulleys), which is only $790. So the difference would be less than $100. I'd gladly pay that for not having to take 20 minutes to set up a complicated system every time I need to winch; It's annoying enough to do already.

You're getting a lot of flack as there's a reason most people run a 8-12klb winch; It works, and the alternatives are not worth the effort, time or savings. You're not the first person to have this idea, but you seem unwilling to accept that others have thought about it, evaluated it and determined it's not worth it. If you want to run it, go ahead, but accept that most others have come to a different conclusion than you regarding its utility.

 

Another thought - If you want a true no-load FPM to no-load FPM comparison to back up your equivalency claim, then its only fair to include the the MA system. Therefore, to have as fast of no load speed as the slower of @US Marine 's winches, an ATV winch with a 4:1 system would need to be pulling in line at 152 feet per minute at the winch. Better bring some extra batteries in series and a tank of LN2 to keep it cool.

 

You’re gonna start a civil war with all those bullets. How dare you bring facts to the equation!

 

Looking on warns website, the fpm for an atv winch under full load is comparable to a full size winch under load. Their cheapest atv winch, the VRX 25, gets 6.8fpm under its max of 2500lbs. The zeon 10k gets 4.8fpm under 10klbs. I'm not a winch expert by any means, I dont even have one yet, but I figured I'd look up some specs. I agree with you guys on everything between the practicality, duty cycle, actual line capacity, etc, but I wasnt expecting the fpm to be so low for a full size winch. That being said, I'm sure the zeon has a much heftier duty cycle than the vrx. That's just a guess though, all I saw for duty cycle on their website was "intermittent".

 

Or we could all do what you did and propose an impractical idea then gaslight anyone that disagrees. You provided no evidence that your solution was better than a properly sized winch while simultaneously insulting those who used 100 years worth of vehicle recovery data, physics, math and engineering to mount an impressive argument against your idea.

 

What really changes it though is due to the MA, that line speed gets cut by 1/4. So the atv line becomes 1.7. Then gotta bring duty cycle into play as well.

 

Letterkenny FTW

 

Duh, I forgot about that despite it being the main idea here.

 

Stop using math and science. It’s all made up by people who get paid to make up shit people don’t understand.

 

Since we're talking about winches , anyone seen this

73 feet per minute no load line speed and with 150 ft of cable , that's just under 2 min to spool in

https://www.warn.com/m827450-winch-38631

 

Man I wish that were a joke I could laugh at

 

I find this whole discussion moot. My auto club membership is supposed to give me four free recoveries a year. I think they will even change my flat tire and send out an extra five gallons of gas too.

Maybe I should get a group buy going.

 

How far off-road will they go? Some will go long ways, others stop where the pavement ends

 

I think he is joking around gents

 

That’s not allowed here, this is the internet

 

I got high centered behind the Dick's Sporting Goods. It only took them 90 minutes to come out.

 

Obviously, he didn't say anything about barbarians.

 

You could have set up a MA setup in that time and gotten it almost a full car length

 

Barbarians proved to be too expensive. They like to be paid in local craft maple stouts. 50 cans of local will break your bank.