Outer Limits 4x4 Board

im looking at buying a winch before the woodpecker challenge, obviously i would like a warn hi mount, but at this point in time my budget wont allow it, ive been bidding on a couple on Ebay but have been done in the dieing minutes. im willing to consider a low mount type winch to get me by until i can free up funds for a hi mount. what brands do people recomend? i plan to steer clear of the Ebay super cheapies. what are peoples thoughts on brands such as milemarker, ironman, Tmax etc?
Also is it possible to use rope rather than cable on low mount winches? ive heard that low mounts get too hot to be able to run plasme style rope, is this correct?
and one final question, in relation to fairleads, with cable do you have to use a roller fairlead or can you use the other type,?

I'll vouch for t-max, I got a 10 000 on a hilux and it drags it up steep ass hills single line pull no worries. A mate has got a 9500 on a gq, had it about 2 yrs and still going strong, ive seen it get a good floggin.

But don't know how they would go with rope heat wise cause ive had mine that hot u cant hold the motor. Would hate to put $450-$500 worth of rope on it and it buggers it when u do some serious winchin.

Search for a Premier winch.

Bazzle

I've got Brawn, which is a rebadged Tmax. It's got Tmax stamped on the inside of the gearbox. Done heaps of work pulling a GQ wagon and recovering stuck vehicles at Navnite events, etc.

I recently burnt out the 5.5Hp motor and bought a 6.6Hp motor off ebay for $150. Pulls noticably quicker now.

link for seller who sells rebadged Tmax winches at a good price and has replacement parts quite cheap too.

http://www.thiswotidonow.com/ebay/accessories.htm

I would highly recommend an Albright solenoid pack. Beretta on here sells 'em under his trading name, Titan, for around $200.

Never tried running plasma. I'd like too though and i've heard you can without melting problems??? As for fairleads, i beleive wire rope will destroy an alloy hearse fairlead. Whereas i beleive you can run plasma through rollers no worries.

T-max fairleads destroy plasma rope, there is to much of a gap between the bottom and the side roller

http://rockstomper.com/catalog/recovery/ropes.htm

What about heat from the winch drum?
Heat is generated in planetary winch drums (Warn laydown-style, Ramsey planetary winches, most Superwinches) only under "Power-Out" condition. This type of use drives the winch motor against the brake (note references by winch companies about "Automatic Load-Holding Brake"). This is similar to driving your vehicle with the parking brake engaged.
Doing so will generate heat if you were to use it extensively in this mode. Similar to driving your vehicle with the parking brake engaged, you can drive out of a parking space without causing problems, but if you drove for significant distance, you would quickly wear out the brake. The same is true for your winch. The "Power-Out" function should be used for relieving tension on the rope, not for extended distances, nor for lowering a load--4WD winches are not designed to be used as hoists. Our testing has shown that powering out for 10-20 feet is not a problem, but will cause excessive wear to the winch brake, so we recommend using the "Power-Out" to relieve tension only.
No winches currently made, if used correctly, will heat the drum on "Power-In" use.

But the cone brake in the Premier / Come-Up works the same in both directions so doesn't generate heat either way.
I seen a lot of low mounts and if I was buying one I'd get a new style so either the Premier / Come-Up or the Superwinch EP9 (which is a rebadged Premier!) or the new (and expensive) Warns. I haven't seen anything else last as long or pull the same.

Madmac, I'm not a world authority on winches but I can tell you a few things from experience. Personally I would try to buy a second hand Warn or Premier low mount off ebay if you want to go that way, then you can also put it on the rear later on if you want to? My father has a Tmax and it has been fantastic, its been up the Cape and all over the place and never missed a beat, pulled a F250 off the beach up the cape, so personally I would have one.

Ironman seem to be good, I had the opporuntity to play around with one at the Outback Challenge and while we didn't winch with it, I had a good look over it and the detail on a few things externally impressed me, but again I haven't put it to work personally, but I would give one a try at the price they are going for.

You can and there are many people using rope on lowmounts. The heat is definately an issue and can lead to the rope binding on itself. However I have a friend running Dynamica rope and he just has to be more careful not to let the rope double over when spooling and make sure it is always wound on tight and neatly. So you can do it, but you need to look after the rope more than normal. Personally if I were in your shoes I would stick with cable until you can afford a decent set highmount etc. If you were doing winch challenge comps, different story.

Personally I wouldn't waste my time using a roller fairlead with rope as it tends to get caught in the corner of the rollers and wrecked, for $100 you can buy either a alloy or cast hawse fairlead (ebay), alloy is best IMHO, however Coighty off here has run a cast hawse fairlead for as long as I have known him through some big comps and it works fine with rope for him, but I argue alloy is easier on the rope due to less abrasion. You can use cable with a cast fairlead, argueably it mihgt be harder on the cable, but I assume cable will cut through alloy.

Purely my opinion on it, hope that is some help anyway.