Winch needed for winter emergencies

I need to get a winch and then mount it to the truck. So far I have not gotten stuck, but I know my time is coming. I offroad a few times a month, mostly around my own property doing yardwork or hauling firewood.
I've currently got BFGoodrich KO2's. 265 70 16. Couple months old luckily, as the half mile drive to my house is covered in ice (sunlight only on first quarter). I am going to need a winch at some point to unstuck myself.
I know a 9,500 lb winch would be sufficient, but I like overkill and am looking at 12,000 lb options. Badlands brand most likely, with steel rope (I don't mind maintenance). It's the mounting options that are getting me. The ideal would be a full brush guard with winch mount. Replace the front bumper and cage the headlights. I've got to save up for that.
Until then, do I just get a universal mount and bolt it to the frame (whatever instructions say)? Let's go with "cost effective" instead of "cheap". I'm also considering adding a front hitch receiver that a winch cradle could be attached to. Mobile winch sounds nice. I think that'll interfere with the eventual brush guard though.

In short: I only need a winch for emergencies. 9,500 lbs would suffice but 12,000 lbs leaves no worries. I just need a simple, cost effective mounting option until I can afford a brush guard mount. What should I purchase for mounting? I don't care what it looks like, it just needs to work. Thanks

 

Overkill is rarely a bad choice. For the few extra dollars, I went with 12,000 rather than 10,000. Mounting?? There are so many options I wouldn't know where to start.

 

Why do a brush guard and a bumper replacement? Why not just get a nice steel bumper?

Edit: I did the 4x Innovations hidden hitch and portable winch cradle with the badlands winch, so I'm happy to answer any questions about that if you end up leaning that direction.

 

I like that this could be used in front or rear. Many times the quicker way out is back.

 

How are you guys running power to the rear? Heavy gauge wire to the front? Spare battery in the bed?

 

I've got 22 acres that was previous cow pasture. The silverberries are ruthless, despite semi yearly cut backs. The encroachment means I can't avoid scratches at times, so that's why I was thinking Brush Guard.
I am open to suggestions. Bumper replacement is an attractive option too. I can cage the headlights separately I reckon. It's just cosmetic damage from the branches anyway. I'll take sturdy and workable over looks nice but is questionable.

 

Eventually (money) I'll replace at least the bumper and front skid plate for a nice hitch. Probably hidden for UV and other protection. In the mean time: can you just mount the winch directly to the frame? Do you need a universal mount? I worked at Fastenal for three years in inventory so I'm comfortable with fastener requirements and limitations. I don't however know enough to start cutting/drilling the frame safely.

 

depending on how handy you are, there's also portable winches, or you could make your own portable winch, if you'd like to only keep it stowed in the back of the truck for the emergency instead of hard-mounted to a specific part of the truck.

like this one that's rated to 4500 pounds. double up the line with a pulley and you're at 9,000 pounds pulling. triple the line with another pulley and you're at 13,500 pulling power.

$316 RUGCEL WINCH 12V DC Electric Portable Utility Winch 4500lb/2041kg Single Line Pull with Steel Mounting Plate, Integrated Hawse Fairlead and Synthetic Rope,Wiress Remote, Black

https://www.amazon.com/RUGCEL-WINCH-Electric-Integrated-Synthetic/dp/B0D12TXRVR

but that's really not any more than a fancy mounting plate and a plastic case with some strategic holes cut into it. the winch is a bog-standard 4500 pound winch, just in a special case.

the idea is there if you're handy. that's just a bog-standard 4500 pound winch on a different type of metal plate, with a fancy box around it-- you could easily re-purpose a 12,000 pound winch in the same way with a hitch receiver plate and a two longer soft shackles to the front a-arms. it would mean the winch plate would drag in the snow/mud once the line tension drops, which might mean more cleaning later, but would give you options for front and rear pulls without hard-mounting anything. and with a good number of soft shackles, you'd likely also find it useful for other movement opportunities with downed tree's.

but the other factor no one likes to talk about is the wraps of wire/line on the drum. the taller the wraps/less line pulled out, the lesser the pulling power of the winch.

for instance, the '12,000 pound' apex winch, on page 2 of it's manual indicates that it's only good to 6,732 pounds pulling power on the 4th wrap of the drum.

 

I have 2/0 wire and Anderson style connectors for everything. I have a run of wire coming off the winch (rewired direct to the winch to ensure everything is 2/0 because I'm not sure of the original wire gauge) to a connector on about 4 feet of wire, long enough to get to the battery where I have another connector on a disconnect switch wired permanently into the battery. I also have a 20 foot or so run of wire with connectors on each end that'll reach the back. I just lay it over the truck roof and bed if I need to run it to the rear. I may eventually mount the long wires under the truck, but they are so thick they would end up having to run close to the exhaust in a place or two, and I'm not sure about the heat or heat shielding options. Also hot wire conducts electricity less efficiently as I understand it, and keeping it unmounted just ensures it doesn't get harmed by the elements.

 

That's a fantastic idea. Portable winch shackled to the frame for self recovery. That's exactly what I'm after. Glad you mentioned the rope layer spec too; seemed counterintuitive to me at first that you should pay out a certain amount of rope to optimize power.
I've worked with riggers and cranes/booms as a commercial diver, but was always the sucker in the water attaching the load/guiding it in. I'll refresh myself on using pulleys as levers for increased power, and other wire rope tricks. I've learned a healthy respect for machines and their limits; manuals are great sources of knowledge.
Soft shackles just for maneuverability I assume? I like the ease of front to back mobility. I reckon that also means I could fasten the winch to darn near anything substantial for self recovery and others Tree fall control is huge bonus as well.
Once again, fantastic suggestion and thank you very much. I'm going to pursue that path.

 

so i haven't done a ton with recovering anything, but end up watching lots of youtube video's on recovery. as i'm sure you know with rigging-- half the battle is the knowledge to understand how to use the gear.

all but the heavy-recovery guy's have all mostly switched to soft shackles because they're just less risky and easier to use. but a big part of that is the difference in the heavy-recovery guy's lifting things is that they're intended to be lifted, with dedicated attachment points, where all the smaller recovery guys are generally moving vehicles/equipment by points that a steel shackle can pose a constant risk of damaging the customer equipment, and usually vehicles/equipment that doesn't have any sort of attachment points built into the design.

one of the big reasons i really like synthetic line and soft shackles is the reduced risks. the least amount of metal that can be placed in the winch line, and the least chance that it'll kill someone if it goes wrong--it's always best to plan for things to go wrong.

but if soft-shackles fail with synthetic lines, there's less mass in the system to cause major issues.

to be fair, most of those links are casey ladelle talking specifically about yankum products, but there's plenty of Amazon soft shackles that aren't as crappy as the one he had fail, and are closer to the yankum, but without the price point.

soft shackles are just dead simple to use with only two hands, compared to steel shackles really needing a wrench to tighten to maintain full load capacity. and because soft shackles are just rope, so they can be stored anywhere, with any other gear, carry minimal weight penalties, even compressed on top of each other, and also pose minimal risk of damage to the gear they're attached to. while steel shackles tend to be bulky, fit only so snugly anywhere, rattle, and wear everything they touch--in storage, or on a recovery.


the synthetic vs. steel cable for the winch is a little less straight forward-- the benefits of synthetic are more side benefits. if you're going to be lugging the winch around, the synthetic has a significant lesser weight advantage. it's also easier to pull/place the cable anywhere because the line itself doesn't add as much weight. neither of those things matter for an occasionally-used, hard-mounted winch. but if portability and long pulling distances are a potential, synthetic wins. for more industrial uses, where things are getting used and put away wet, i think steel cable has far more advantages. but in this case, you'll be using it for yourself, so you'll tend to take care of it more...

 

Honestly I kinda assumed metal would be stronger, but I'm all for soft shackles after hearing from you and looking into it. I'll take safer anyday; less mass in the system is a good point.
So far I'm leaning towards steel rope. Synthetic gets abused too easily by dirt and oil for my liking. I dont mind taking care of steel rope either. On dive jobs we'd always keep a bucket of oil on hand to dump tools after dive use for rust prevention. Used motor oil mostly. Sometimes even just vegetable oil. Seems odd at first but it scares off all the water so no oxidizing. Yes, it's messy but you're taking a long bath so your fine by the end. Not so feasible for topside applications, but could make for good storage.

 

I finally found a digital version of my recovery smart card. You won’t be uprighting overturned vehicles or dragging tanks, but the fundamentals are here.

https://asktop.net/wp/download/GTA09-14-002.pdf

Rope is safer than chain or cable, but what’s at the end of the rope is what kills you (or not) if there’s a failure. Think in terms of a master lock at the end of a hank of rope, or a bean bag. Is somebody is swinging them around, which do you want to get hit with?

 

I have a 2022 SR5 4X4 and installed a stubby front bumper and an X-Bull winch 10,000 lb on Amazon for $411, but also comes in 13,500 lbs for $463. Like you, I bought it for emergencies and not necessarily for frequent use. I have used it twice and it worked fine.
There are of course better brand named winches, but are also twice the price. Be aware that if your bumpers winch plate is recessed (like mine), the winch will be installed inside the engine bay behind the grill. In my case, there was a center support bar behind the grill that interfered with the control box install. The control box on my winch was removeable so I had a bracket made from aluminum for the controller to sit on. The bracket was 6W X 6H x 6D which I pop riveted to the winch plate to the right of the winch (passenger side) then set the control box on top of it.

 

Curt front hitch receiver with a winch mount receiver. Most cost effective way to add a winch I found.

 

Do you know the dimensions where it mounts to the front?

Im trying get a front hitch together on the cheap on my 2008 to mount a removable winch and thinking to mod a 2" receiver to mount the winch to.

 

I'm not sure of the dimensions but the Curt front hitch attached using existing holes. I did have to remove the front tow hook and was a pretty easy install on third gen off-road trim, as it doesn't have the front air dam. I never had a problem with front clearance. I did some pretty hard pulls with it.