ATV Winch on a light 4x4 ?

[rcx132]

Today at Devil's Pitt 4x4 site near Luton I saw that some of the small cars were fitted with ATV winches. Does anyone have experience of this, and does it work?

This isn't about being cheap. My buggy has 2.0 shocks which are near their weight limit, I can't fit a full sized winch at the front. My choice is rear winch and cable routed to front (which was the original plan but there's no easy cable route), or alternatively an ATV winch.

 

[Migmac]

Today at Devil's Pitt 4x4 site near Luton I saw that some of the small cars were fitted with ATV winches. Does anyone have experience of this, and does it work?

This isn't about being cheap. My buggy has 2.0 shocks which are near their weight limit, I can't fit a full sized winch at the front. My choice is rear winch and cable routed to front (which was the original plan but there's no easy cable route), or alternatively an ATV winch.

I’ve got a winch on my quad, I’ve used it to pull my
pickup out a ditch. It wasn’t a hard pull by any means but it was working hard. Wouldn’t want to use it to pull a really stuck vehicle out of anything.

 

[Tinbasherdan]

What does your buggy weigh? You’re going to effectively at least double the weight when you factor in suction from the mud which should give you an indication of required pull. Personally I’d find a way to get a bigger winch on there. Don’t discount rear mount, it’s often better to winch out the way you came than further into the mess

 

[rcx132]

What does your buggy weigh?

Local weigh bridge has closed down so I don't know for sure, but definitely under 1000kg.

 

[Agroshield]

If you need to use the winch, does the 'action' need to be fast or just achieve the task of extricating yourself? Can you carry other things (snatch blocks) to enhance the winch's capability?

I was always impressed by what they did here with a small winch:

The disadvantage is that it was slow, needed more than one setup and needed a lot of gear.

If you want a fast, long, single line pull the smaller winch may be a challenge.

 

[Migmac]

If I was looking for a capable winch that could be used front rear of a vehicle, I’d look at a portable capstan. I have a Honda one and it’s mighty impressive. The Chinese clones aren’t far behind either. The rope guides need squashed to stop the rope jumping out, other than that they are fine and a lot cheaper

 

[rcx132]

If you need to use the winch, does the 'action' need to be fast or just achieve the task of extricating yourself? Can you carry other things (snatch blocks) to enhance the winch's capability?

I was always impressed by what they did here with a small winch:

The disadvantage is that it was slow, needed more than one setup and needed a lot of gear.

If you want a fast, long, single line pull the smaller winch may be a challenge.

This is what i was thinking. A 45000lb ATV winch could get you out of 4 out of 5 situations? And other times use a snatch block which gets the pull up to 9000lb?

In that video I hope the other end of the winch line, after it goes thru the tackle, was connected back to a tree and not back to the ATV. Otherwise the ATV chassis is taking the full x4 multiplied load!

 

[winchman]

Why not have a rear mounted demountable winch that can be fitted to the front if required?

 

[rcx132]

A 20 ton winch should recover most vehicles, let alone a 1 tonne buggy! With a snatch block it would recover most lorries and likely enough to pull many lightweight ATVs apart.

Sorry I meant 4500lb

 

[hotponyshoes]

I've got an atv winch mounted in the rear of a van (mostly for loading a Hog roast machine)
It will drag a pallet across concrete and up the ramps but it's not got the power for recovery.
You could use a pulley but the winch won't last long.

I'd mount a tow ball/pin on the car (or something to the tow eye point) and put an anderson connector next to it
Then mount a bigger winch on a plate that you just pop in place when needed.
You can put mountings front & rear then.

Or, if it's only for emergency use, one of those ratchet types with the long handle and make up a storage box/tube so it can live in the car permanently

 

[Robotstar5]

I'd mount a tow ball/pin on the car (or something to the tow eye point) and put an anderson connector next to it
Then mount a bigger winch on a plate that you just pop in place when needed.
You can put mountings front & rear then.

You can buy the mounting plates ready made - link

 

[rcx132]

Why not have a rear mounted demountable winch that can be fitted to the front if required?

This is a good third option.

 

[hotponyshoes]

You don't even need to weld anything,
Bit of plate, bolt the winch to it.
Leave enough sticking out each side.
Replace the 2 upright fairlead roller bolts with some longer ones and mount it by bolting them through the plate.
Either put a hole through the front of the plate to use with a drop-pin hitch, fit a d-shackle, or use a bit of box section to stop crushing and bolt a tow hitch on.

I've done a few like this, 6mm steel or 10mm alloy is plenty for an atv size winch.
I've probably got a bit of plate if you need some..