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

Roof top tents did not work well for me and my family. Ground tent for us.

 

My Engo 12K has been used a lot more then your average winch. I've never had a problem with it. It has been submerged more then a few times. For the price point I think it's an excellent winch for the money.

 

I was ready to buy an XR10S, but the guy at my local shop gave Warn a pretty good endorsement. Between his comments, and the better warranty, I went with the Warn. If I ever have problems, I may switch to ENGO.

 

The problem with heavier winches comes when you want to be able to mount them either front or rear. Moving it from on hitch to the other might need two people.

 

I've wondered myself... a good portion of their lineup was built overseas, so I'd think that they probably haven't changed at all. Then again, Westin doesn't exactly have a reputation for high quality, so hard to say if things are still built to old standards, or if cost cutting measures have commenced.

On my last jeep I had a Talon 12sr, and was by far the best winch I've owned. Everything always operated smoothly, it has an external drum brake so it doesn't get hot and melt your line to the drum, the remote and connecting cable were heavy and felt like high quality (not like a cheap toy as so many others), and the pull speed was fast, even under load. It also got me and a couple others out of a really bad situation once... middle of the night, tons of fresh snow sitting on top of old snow sitting on sand, sub zero temps... we were making yards instead of miles, then feet instead of yards, then next thing we know, all three of us are buried and going absolutely no where. After several failed attempts at digging, or winching off each other to make tracks, we ended up stringing a few long straps together in addition to my winch rope to reach a very distant tree up on higher ground (it might have been pushing 100 yards). The Talon dragged me through the snow and up the berm without any hesitation. Flipped myself around, and winched the other two up as well. Were able to make our way to a more recently used trail from there and out.

Needless to say that I disagree with the OP's MA solution, lol.

I would have bought another Talon in a heartbeat for my Taco or 4R, but not confident on their quality post-buyout; and also the Talon is a wide winch (due to the external brake), so not sure how well it would fit into a hybrid/slimline style bumper.

 

then there are these: https://sherpa4x4.com

 

The names are stupid. Are the winches any good?

 

Holy crap, I’m digging the high speed 10k one. 50 pounds and 10.5 feet per min at full load.

 

The 12k is just as impressive damn aussies always getting the cool stuff first that may be my new winch when the X20 dies or before.

 

We're getting close guys! Two weeks is this upcoming weekend!

 

Partially an off-topic question/looking for recommendations from the forum.

And thanks to 0xDEADBEEF for the ^ link about the Winch Database...

OKAY. here it is I am a super newb, to owning a Tacoma. Literally just bought my 1st 3rd gen in February. It's a DCLB TRD Sport.

My first mods are:

• tri-fold tonneau cover - done
• long range remote starter - booked for Sept 29
• rock rails - coming in October, from Greenland Off-road
• full skid plates - coming from RCI in early November

Now with my short list of mods going ahead, I'm working on building my budget for a front bumper and winch. As I live up north in Alberta Canada where winter is a frosty -30 Celsius [-22F] on a good day. I'll be spending time researching, reading reviews, etc and will be looking to install in early summer 2021.

I'ver heard in another post, its best to go with a Synthetic cable line for a winch due to the extreme cold here in Central Alberta. Which is dully noted in my budget.

What I am curious about, after reading the above Winch Database, and still being the newb that I am... which winch is best? what would you recommend to a newb?

I like the slim line / hybrid bumpers due to their lighter weight, lighter cost and because it keeps 70% of the original front end aesthetics. Also 75% of my driving is in the city and 25% is backcountry roads, fire roads and mountain driving. Plus most of my off-road activity is fire roads/ logging roads etc, leading up to base camp for backcountry hikes/camping. And an occasional fishing trip. I'm less prone to driving into a mud bog or over an 80% grade. Not saying this might not occur, but I'm not really looking for those situations any more. That's what my 20's were for.

The question in all this information is... What winch would you recommend? What is the better brand? Better warranty? Better customer satisfaction?

Warn vs Smitty Bilt vs Tuff vs Superwinch vs Other brand

I started this thread >>> https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/new-member-in-central-alberta-canada.685229/#post-24176387 it has some examples of the front slim line bumpers that I am considering.

- SSO Slimline bumper
- Body Armor HiLine series
- Greenlane Off road stump front bumper

Recommendations are greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time.

cheers
Aaron

 

I use my winch constantly.
I would not do things like this with an ATV winch

Uprooted tree... Not anymore


2-3' thick logs...get out of my way

Actually I would love to see how long it would take and how much trouble a person would have to go through to move stuff like this with an ATV winch.
It's like using a squirt gun to water your lawn...

Maybe I should be using a hand saw to cut up all this wood too....

 

You are cheating and using mechanical advantage

 

I can't exactly pull from the neighbors yard.
And that uprooted tree was wanting to drag my truck off of 2 snatchblocks

 

I'm just hoping you were joking,
If not you have know idea how much weight there is... And it's not on wheels!

 

That thing is ridiculous, I want 1
No seriously what the hell am I going to do with that.
Have you seen the size of my trees!
I'd have better luck moving the truck

 

Shit my dead grandmother moves faster than that!

 

AAron, I can only speak from my personal experience (about 40 years of it) but I prefer Warn. I recommend having it set up to be moved to either front or rear. Once installed, practice with it. By that I meant learn how to rig it and actually pull a vehicle. The vehicle doesn't need to be stuck to begin to learn the basics. Also, don't be afraid to get inventive. Sometimes it takes just that kind of thinking to unstick things.

 

Which brand of Winches has the best Customer Service in your area Local Warranty Service is even better.

I have not read the warranty statements of each manufacture but in most cases the equipment must go to a warranty vendor something to consider if it needs to be shipped to the USA.

Even the best manufactures have a bad one get through now and then.

I just happen to like my Warn Winches so far so good with my 2 twenty year old units

I also like being able to swap back and front Then I am not looking to get through a obstacle but to get out of one more time then not in my driveway .