Hand winch

[GQ snail]

Hay hay.

Am looking at getting a hand winch.

Chasing what brands people have used and what ones are recommended. Had a look around and am thinking "mean mother" or "tigerz11".

Let us know your opinions.

Cheers gang

[Bigrig]

Haven't used one, but saw a tigerz11 being used and appeared to be decent enough - they are hard yakka no matter what you go for, but with those two brands, I couldn't see you going wrong ..

Hopefully others have first hand experience to offer comment on mate.

[f40]

I have one for sale if interested let me know.

[Silver]

Mine is a Tongda brand - sheet metal rather than cast body, had it for years.

Back when I bought it the name brands were Tirfor and Elephant Looper. Qld Forestry issued Elephant Looper - at least the local forest ranger had an Elephant Looper in his ute.

They are a bit of work, and snatch block is well worth having.

They also have to be stored somewhere in or on the vehicle, along with the cable and handle.

That said they are relatively cheap, and are more versatile than a vehicle mounted winch when it comes to direction of pull etc.

If dragging the cable through mud, wipe the excess off the wire before it enters the winch.

[GQ snail]

I have one for sale if interested let me know.

I'm interested for sure. Feel free to flick an email with info. Email: nathan_coe 85@hotmail.com

Cheers

[chester]

My dad has a Tirfor hand winch i have used it a lot of times in some horrible spots,and yes as said Its hard yakka.

It has always worked well and never let us down,he has had it for about 17 years.

[f40]

I'm interested for sure. Feel free to flick an email with info. Email: nathan_coe 85@hotmail.com

Cheers

Just sent you through an email now.

[GQ TANK]

I have a turfor, and have used it a couple of times.

I hve a super cheap winch on the front of my truck - but still carry the hand winch, as I have been stuck where i had to extract the vehicle from behind. As there where no anchor points in front of the truck.

The hand winchs are back killers - but can get you out of trouble.

[BLKWDW]

Have u got a high lift jack? They can also be used as a hand winch

[the evil twin]

Have u got a high lift jack? They can also be used as a hand winch

I agree... the best method by far is to find someone with a Hand Winch and ask 'em if they are interested in a swap :wink:

Sorry BLKWDW, couldn't resist.

Technically they can but it has to be almost life and death. Very very difficult to get enough tension into the rigging for the jack to actually move the vehicle rather than just take up slack. Then holding the vehicle for any gains while repositiong the jack at the end of travel is a real challenge.

The couple of times we have tried it as an exercise have been pretty much total fails but I must admit our heart wasn't in it and done as a "survival" demo more than anything.

About the only tips I can offer are...
Make sure you are using a 60 inch Hi lift, the 48 inch are pretty hopeless (not enough travel), and
Drag Chain gives the most promising result but is difficult to seize without the correct links and claws or a tensioner, a short length of Dyneema will prob be OK too but we weren't comfy in being able to get the knots out and forget about anything with any stretch at all.

[Tank]

I vote for the High Lift but you have to have the right set up to go with it. Before I got my Safari with PTO all my self recovery work was done with a shovel and then a high lift and winch kit (5m snig chain, 6 link length with grap hock and socket for the jack foot, another 6 link lenth with grap hook and lug link) it wasn't fast but it got me home every time.