Winch power - 9,500 lbs or 12,000 lbs?

Four wheel driving. Vehicle modifications. Off road driving and recovery techniques. Towing and miscellaneous vehicle topics.

Winch power - 9,500 lbs or 12,000 lbs?

Post by heeple » 16 Nov 2017, 3:38 pm

Hi guys,

Wondering about the typical 2 winch power ratings that are on offer, 9,500 lbs and 12,000 lbs.

(4300kg and 5440kg for us metric folk)

Given that no 4WD(?) is every going to weight that much, is there any point going with a 12,000lb option?

Just seems like overkill as I'm thinking it.
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Re: Winch power - 9,500 lbs or 12,000 lbs?

Post by Bent Arrow » 16 Nov 2017, 3:45 pm

That is an artefact of how winches are rated rather than a true reflection of their capacity in a vehicle recovery situation. You need to make a decision based on what you are going to do with your vehicle, will you be towing a camper, types of terrain etc, running the cable through a winch block or direct pull.........
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Re: Winch power - 9,500 lbs or 12,000 lbs?

Post by Daddybang » 16 Nov 2017, 3:48 pm

Gday heeple
Ya right no SINGLE fourby will weigh that much but if ya add in a fully loaded up camper plus quad roof top tinny and some of the other gear people seem to think they need to go bush these days the weight can get right up there add in some deep sticky mud or sand etc and the power needed to the winch rises as well. :thumbsup: :drinks:
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Re: Winch power - 9,500 lbs or 12,000 lbs?

Post by Bigjobss » 16 Nov 2017, 7:27 pm

Daddybang wrote:Gday heeple
Ya right no SINGLE fourby will weigh that much but if ya add in a fully loaded up camper plus quad roof top tinny and some of the other gear people seem to think they need to go bush these days the weight can get right up there add in some deep sticky mud or sand etc and the power needed to the winch rises as well. :thumbsup: :drinks:


This.
Dont under estimate the suction power of mud. Your ute may only be half the weight of your winch rating but what if its up the axles in a bog?

Throw a snatch block in your kit and watch a few videos on how to use them, in a double line pull you effectively halve the load on the winch, it is slow however.
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Re: Winch power - 9,500 lbs or 12,000 lbs?

Post by Baronvonrort » 16 Nov 2017, 10:55 pm

heeple wrote:Hi guys,

Wondering about the typical 2 winch power ratings that are on offer, 9,500 lbs and 12,000 lbs.

(4300kg and 5440kg for us metric folk)

Given that no 4WD(?) is every going to weight that much, is there any point going with a 12,000lb option?

Just seems like overkill as I'm thinking it.


Is the rated load a maximum working load or a breaking load?

If it's a breaking load then you only want to use half at the most to have a Factor Of Safety of 2, if 12,000lbs is the breaking load and you're pulling 6000 lbs then it has a FOS of 2, with 4000lbs pulling load then FOS of 3.
The higher the Factor of Safety the longer it should last, the cable will be thicker and stretch less on the 12,000lbs model.

Another thing to consider with winches is pulling 6000lbs on flat ground takes less energy compared to pulling 6000lbs uphill, what are the consequences if winch fails and no mobile phone coverage?
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Re: Winch power - 9,500 lbs or 12,000 lbs?

Post by AusTac » 17 Nov 2017, 5:15 am

Just go the 12, rather have that extra power and not need it rather than need it but not have it, i have a 12,000 lb on my jeep use it allllll the time on mates and when i get stuck ( nissan patrols are the greatest jeep are s**t, your the best driver in the universe, you never get stuck, Toyota! heard it all before ) rather than bore you with all the mechanical crap, just be smart use a dampner/s and rated gear and you'll be fine, one of the best bits of kit i've ever bought
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Re: Winch power - 9,500 lbs or 12,000 lbs?

Post by Gamerancher » 17 Nov 2017, 8:29 am

When you are bogged up to your ar$e, the "weight" of your vehicle can triple. I've had a 20t rated tow sling snap trying to pull a 10t truck out of a bog.
What ever winch you choose, make sure it is mounted correctly and the tow points are actually strong enough to pull on. More attachments points fail when loaded up than anything else.
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Re: Winch power - 9,500 lbs or 12,000 lbs?

Post by Dunxy » 17 Nov 2017, 11:15 am

Whats the vehicle weight?
You want to do serious offroading with multiple winches up extreme terrain covering a few hundred metres?
I had a old USA 9500 warn on my cruiser (2200kg+ barwork etc) and i had to rest it on a couple of gnarly hills due to temperature, it wasn't my winch and i wasn't about to thrash it, so if it i couldn't hold my hand on it id stop and let it cool. I imagine it would be fine on a lighter vehicle like thailux, ford danger etc etc

Ive got a 12000 (Aldi, i recommend)on the cruiser now and its never gotten to body temperature let alone too hot to hold hand on, and ive given it a lot harder time than the warn, its not far from 3 years old now.
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Re: Winch power - 9,500 lbs or 12,000 lbs?

Post by Aster » 17 Nov 2017, 1:28 pm

You also need to remember also that winches have different power ratings depending on which layer of rope you're on at the time.

Realnick and Blackened covered this in another topic, read the first 2 posts here:

What is winch capacity by layer
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Re: Winch power - 9,500 lbs or 12,000 lbs?

Post by Wobble » 18 Jan 2018, 9:35 am

Baronvonrort wrote:what are the consequences if winch fails and no mobile phone coverage?


An excellent work out (the walk home) :lol:
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Re: Winch power - 9,500 lbs or 12,000 lbs?

Post by wanneroo » 19 Jan 2018, 1:24 am

You always have to remember "tire mire". A good rule of thumb for mud up to the wheel is you will need the pulling power of twice the vehicle weight, mud up to the axles, three times the vehicle weight. Add in winch capacity in terms of how much line you get off the drum and other factors like the angle of the pull and that's why having a "12000 lbs" winch is a good idea for an average SUV.
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Re: Winch power - 9,500 lbs or 12,000 lbs?

Post by Bourt » 19 Jan 2018, 5:05 pm

Easy fix, throw in a snatch block and you halved the weight on your 9500 lb ;)
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Re: Winch power - 9,500 lbs or 12,000 lbs?

Post by wanneroo » 20 Jan 2018, 1:34 am

Yes I'd say if one was going to lug around a winch in or on their vehicle, having a snatch block and the mounting hardware is essential. Not just for running it back to the vehicle to get that mechanical advantage, but also for doing off line or indirect pulls, which I have had to do at times.
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Re: Winch power - 9,500 lbs or 12,000 lbs?

Post by tom604 » 20 Jan 2018, 9:07 am

12,000 and get dynema (spelling?) rope its a lot lighter and a couple of trucking strap sleeves for the rope,it can fray if dragged over sharp rocks, not sure where you buy the sleeves i just grab them from worn out straps :thumbsup:
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Re: Winch power - 9,500 lbs or 12,000 lbs?

Post by Blr243 » 24 Nov 2018, 3:41 pm

Remember the snatch block
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