I bought a new 2006 Jeep Rubicon a few years back and I decided to put it through the paces. I bottomed out in the thick mud. at the time, I didn't have a winch. I called a friend who I will only call James) who had a Ford F250 and a Warn 9000 mounted on the front to come and pull me out.
I hooked up the line to my jeep and he started to pull... because of the long expanse of mud, it really took a toll on the electric Warn. After about one minute, he noticed smoke coming from his engine compartment... his battery had caught on fire. Woops! I decided right then and there to be self sufficient. I read mand winch reviews and looked at the PRO's and CON's for both electric vs. hydraulic.
The downside of hydraulic is that it doesn't run if your engine is not running. But this is not an issue for me, because the Warn draws about 500 amps/min at load, which will kill the battery very fast if you are not running the engine. If the motor IS running, operating the electric at full load for extended periods time will overheat it, causing it to draw far more power and slow down.
The Milemarker, however, will run forever with a running engine at full load at full speed and it does not hurt the power steering pump in the least. Yes... you can pull 10,500 pounds at the same speed you can pull 10 pounds. When dealing with mudand the long pulls that are associated with such, the attributes of the hydraulic winch are far better than an electric winch.
I settled on the 10,500 Milemarker winch.It took about two hours to install... an electric would have been a little faster, but not by much. The only other thing I did was to go by a hydraulic shop and have my hoses cut and crimped to the proper length so the install looked nice. This cost me about $15 and20 minutes.
I took my rig to Corbett to try it out. I stuck myself in the longest, sloppiest mud pit I could find. I had my buddy there with his Warn (and new battery) just in case.
After getting the Rubicon stuck to mid doors, I went to the winch. Stupid me... the winch was submerged in water, so I could not see what I was doing. Because I hadn't used it before, I had to fiddle with it for about 15 minutes to figure out the settings for freespooling and then for Low.
After this, I was able to hook to a tree (using a tree-strap that Mile Marker provided with the winch). I hit the button... convinced I would have to either use a pulley OR get assistance from my friend... I pulled right through the mud. In fact, I pulled through 50 feet of it and didn't have to stop a single time, except to adjust the way the cable was winding on the spool. I don't remember a time when I made a purchase and was so thouroughly pleased with the money I had spent.
After getting my Jeep out, James tried going through in his F150 (with 35" tires) He was completely stuck where I had been. He went to use his winch (which was just barely under water) and it didn't work. I said, "I don't know if mine will pull you out." I hooked up to his truck and my Jeep began to slide. I chocked the wheels, but the Jeep pushed the chocks into the dirt. Finally, I tied my back bumper to a tree. I winched James' F150 through 50' of thick mud without hesitation!
That week, James dismounted his old winch and purchased a Milemarker Hydraulic 12,000 lb winch. LIke my winch, his had not failed him yet. I have, on order, a 2008 Rubicon Unlimited. I have already purchased another Milemarker hydraulic winch for it!!!
I work in the outdoors and routinely drive in horrible terrain. I use my winch several times per month (though last month, I used it at least a dozen) to freemyself andother stuck people.
Perhaps in the mountains where you may roll and have to right your non-running vehicle, you may need an alectric winch. But for the southeast that contains lots of mud, I don't believe there is a better winch for the money.
Mark - Extreme Terrain Management, Inc.
Rating: 10
Product Details: "Mile Marker H10500 Hydraulic Winch" by Editor - posted: Mon February 12, 2007 - Rating: 7.44
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