Hiden Winch. Well, Sort of...

Really I am not sure why you would say it was over kill.

By that same premise there is no reason to ever get any engine over the 4 cylinder so the 3.4 is over kill ?

Always better to have extra then not enough

 

I was trying to draw the second image there. I should have just used Google and made my comment more clear.

 

I've got a 10k Warn, which is also "overkill", but there are many advantages to a larger than necessary winch, with the only disadvantage being cost (though not in your case), and maybe a couple extra pounds.

Mainly they just don't work as hard because whatever you pull isn't going to be as close to its limit as a smaller winch. All things equal, it should last longer as a result.

 

You are correct, more is better but only if the rig can handle it.

I think the Warn 10k is a good size for our trucks. More is better most of the time when the rig can handle it. My concern is, can the structure handle a full 24k pull assuming that one snatch block is in use. Probably, and it may not matter at all but I am just using what the winch manufactures recommend based on our trucks GVW. I'm not saying anyone is wrong, if you want to put a 15k winch on I say "treat yourself".

 

The winch manufacturers use a 1.5x the GVWR of your vehicle as the MINIMUM winch you should get.

I doubt you'd ever need 24k worth of pull, or even 20k. If that's the case, you're bogged to the frame in clay mud, lol. You're going to need to dig that out no matter what.

So for me it's not about needing to use 20k worth or pull strength, but when I'm only using 5k pull on a single line, I'm only at half capacity, vs ~2/3 for an 8k winch. Or for a 12k winch, you're only pulling ~40% of its capacity. In other words, it's not working as hard which has a positive effect on longevity and reliability.

 

Only time I've seen people use more than 1 pulley for a recovery is to redirect a pull, or to self recover backwards with a front winch (3 pulleys, two in the back, one in front). But that's not to increase line pull, but to pull backwards harder than you're pulling forwards.

Pretty cool, really:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxP-Mjk23HA

Only time you're realistically need more than double the weight of your truck is if you're trying to pull out a deuce and a half (lol), or your truck is stuck in dried concrete.