My new Big Haul

[luxtce]

Just pick up my first part of off road gear and am getting a little excited



Got it for $324 not a bad price from my knowledge, looking forward to using it or not having to use it either way

[suzuki boy]

Your not really looking foward to using it are you?

Would only use one as a last resort because there hard work but every 4x4 should have one because they come in handy in some situations!

Pretty good price i think!

[ozy1]

i say hand winches have their situation, but if your really stuck, good luck,

we busted a sheer pin in out 5t turfor, pullin a GU, out of soft mud, rear axel only in it, un upto hub depth, steepish bank

[MART]

below

[MART]

I have a brano handwinch,still do,used it on my 2.6 ton v8 shorty,sheered the 3 brass pins in the handle easy as,I think it was due to winch banging arround in the back of the car,also didn,t help being ejected out the side window when i tipped it on its side,anyway once i put 3 steel pins in it it worked fine. Bloody hard yakker when handwinching,just setting it up is enough to fark you,let alone winching,first time you use it you will see. Take it from me,MAKE SURE YOU MOUNT THAT WINCH TO THE FLOOR OR IN A METAL BOX BECAUSE IT COULD SEVERELY DAMAGE OR KILL SOMEBODY,I don,t mean to scare you,just think about it.

Once we had my mates shorty bogged from front headlights to rear bumper after the floods in sydney at our local trek,yarramundi,closed now,Bastards,anyway there was atoopy with a pto,he hooked to a tree at rear,started winchen and sheered his pins,troopy stuck there as he couldn,t release his winch,so out came the trusty hand winch,would not move it at first so we put a couple of snatsh blocks and it came out.
Good luck and be careful,unlike a electric winch you can,t stand to the side when winchen Cheers Paul.

[luxtce]

Cheers everyone for the advice, I think the point about securing it properly is very handy.

As mentioned I am not keen to give it a try but might setit up one day for fun just to test it out

[RoldIT]

Smart buy. I've used them, they work a treat.

They might be hard work but so is walking 30klms back to town to try and muster some help.

Get yourself a snatch block and some extra shear pins and make sure to use a tree truck protector.

[Ezookiel]

I'll second the damned hard work, and change it to DAMNED HARD WORK ! ! ! !

I drove my zook into two sets of ruts so that it was sitting on it's diffs at front and rear, on an uphill stretch. There was nothing behind me for miles, and very little in front of me (I pulled out 3 small tree stumps) so had to join every single item I owned to reach a boulder at the top of the hill - deep inside the blackberries of course. And that was just in the setting up.
Then came the work.
Remember, it's between 41, and 44 strokes per metre depending on brand - mine's a Tirfor - and I had to pull mine about FIVE metres to get free.
I started to think that dieing would be a pleasant relief, and that was back when I was a whole lot fitter than I am now.
If my Patrol ever gets stuck, I think I'll just go buy a new one, and not because of the mechanical issues it has, but because it would be far nicer than the thought of handwinching the B______D out.
Doing so with the Zook is definitely not a pleasant memory, the Patrol would be worse.
However, having said that, it sure gives some sense of confidence knowing that unlike a bar mounted winch, you can pull in any direction, including pulling it back up onto all 4 wheels if need be. It's nice having it there.
Good to see you've bought yourself one. And that sounds like quite a bargain. Well done

[daveo]

I'll second the damned hard work, and change it to DAMNED HARD WORK ! ! ! !

Remember, it's between 41, and 44 strokes per metre depending on brand - mine's a Tirfor - and I had to pull mine about FIVE metres to get free.

a whole 5 metres? try pulling a troopy 40m across a gutter at which the deepest spot left about 5 inches of the roof above water. now that was f.....ing hard work! boroke about 6 pins, using 2 tifors at the same time.

[MART]

They should throw two zuks in a bog hole and make the biggest losers pull em out,as stated 40m shoud do it,watch the kilo.s come off then,Cheers Paul.

[Mark2]

As said above get a snatch block to go with it. Even though it halves the speed, you can winch faster because its easier. Also less likely to break shear pins. Without a snatch block, it will knacker you if properly stuck. Also 3 or 4 rated D shackles. Winch extension strap is good too because the snatch block will halve your effective cable length.[/b]

[the gun]

We, meaning me and my family and a mate and his managed to be in the on the wrong track in the vic high country a few years back and had to use a big haul to make the top of a nasty hill. We were stuck so long we camped there. Any way one of the first things I did when I got home was the purchase of a brand new warn electric winch. I WILL not be stuck like that again. But the big haul did a great job and we would be still there if I hadn't packed it.

[Ezookiel]

As said above get a snatch block to go with it. Even though it halves the speed, you can winch faster because its easier.

Yeah, problem was, it was SOO far to the nearest anchor point, short of trying to bury my spare in the middle of a firetrail, that I had no choice but to run EVERYTHING I HAD, including my spare trunk protector out in a long chain, just to be able to reach my anchor point, there was no spare length to put through a snatch block and back. How I wish.

[baggers]

They are worth their weight in gold.

I strongly suggest 2 snatch blocks.....should get you out of just about any trouble, and they dont' cost much. Also make sure you have shackles that are big enough to take both ends of a tree trunk protector as well as hook up to the hauler.

Jimmy

[luxtce]

Thanks again for the advice.

You can not beat experience.

definetly add some more to my list.

Planning on an electric winch also but chose a hand wincg for the mean time due to the mentioned fact that they can pull any direction.

Got some shackles and a snatch strap already just needs really a tree trunk protector, some snatch blocks, and an extention strap and I should be covered .....I hope!

definetly be gaetting a couple of extra shear pins also, I was very surprised that at least one spare wasn't included

[the gun]

check in the handle for a spare shear pin, thats where mine was. U have to pris one of the plastic gromets out.

[patrol42]

Hand winches are the BEST recovery gear you can get.

Why......

Because once you have used it once, you make sure you never have to use it again

I always carry mine, good incentive not to get stuck lol But seriously they do have their uses, but they are hard work.

[gill]

Can't believe so many people coplain about how much fun they are to use.

2 days, F150 fully loaded upa hill. Now that was FUN!!! We usually got a break though as the truck would make it about 20 meters, get stuck have to be winched 50, drive 10, get stuck......

Where did you get the winch at that price? I'll be getting myself another one soon, enjoyed it so much the first time....

[RoldIT]

What a bunch of fuggin sooks.

Shit yeah it's hard work but 9 out of 10 times it'll get you home, end of story.

Harden the fuk up!!!

[luxtce]

check in the handle for a spare shear pin, thats where mine was. U have to pris one of the plastic gromets out.

Thanks it rings a bell now you mention it. I saw that in the manual the other day when I had a glance. I will check it out otherwise I would have probably bought to many spares

[luxtce]

Where did you get the winch at that price? I'll be getting myself another one soon, enjoyed it so much the first time....

They are $360 at the 4WD Service Center in Taren point (Sydney) and they gave me a 10% discount, most likely as I had problems with a fuse box they ordered, it was cracked in the post, not their fault. But they would probably do a similar price if you asked.

[just cruizin']

Got mine from Ryano, a 3200kg unit for $440. It's a Tmax and my mate had to use it first time out even though he had to pull my car out. I gave him the choose winch or wheel and from the angle the car was on he choose winch I just had to climb back into the drivers seat and pull the door up to close it.

I rather go through a couple of hours of real effort once every couple of years then drag around a winch in the front of my bar 400km a week. Little maintenance, no electrical problems and can pull me the direction I need to go.