28 replies to this topic

[soobmater]

Has anyone used one of these. It is a 8,000# pound winch.
Heres a link http://www.harborfre...temnumber=40764 Are these ok?? relyable??The cost is great.
Just want a winch for when i get stuck in some pretty nasty mud that lives around here.

[RavenTBK]

Harbor Freight does some okay stuff. From my readings on other boards, that winch in the link is just a rebranded Mile Marker winch. Plenty of praise.

For your Subie, it will exceed your needs... therefore, I say go for it.

[soobmater]

Thats good I trust Mile marker. I'm in no hurry to get it but i will order it in probably a few months. Just wonderin if they are ok because the price is great.

Thanx

[soobmater]

Is there anyone else that has to say anything about those winches. I think... they are pretty good.

[chef_tim]

I may not be thinking of this correctly. But it has a 37.5 amp draw. That is almost everything a stock EA81/82 alternator has. I know you wont use it very long or very often but just something to look in to. Last month "4wheelparts" had Mile Marker winches, buy one get one free....... so bloody tempting!!! If you get it please let us know how it works for you. Tim

[RavenTBK]

But it has a 37.5 amp draw. That is almost everything a stock EA81/82 alternator has.

Thats very much correct. I didnt even pay attention to that. Good catch chef.

So.. thats when you do...
USRM>Electrical>100Amp GM Alternator into EA series vehicles

Problem solved. Winch all day at idle.

[Sweet82]

I was going to put one of those on the Buggy. I even measured it and built a space for it, but finally I decided it was too heavy besides drawing a bunch of juice.

I decided on the smaller HF #2000 winch with a snatch block.
http://www.ultimates...&cat=500&page=3
This one goes on sale for $39-49. Sold!

I'm not sure you really need a #8000 winch on a Subaru?

Good Luck,
Glenn
82 SubaruHummer
01 Forester

[diluded000]

Glenn,

Have you used that winch on the trail, and will they hold you in place if you cut power? HF has them on sale this week for $49 (USD) and I was thinking of getting one. When I wired a charge circuit for my travel trailer onto my truck, I used an automotive circuit breaker instead of a fuse and would prolly use the same thing to wire this into a subie. I haven't tripped one, but they are supposed to reset after they cool down so you don't have to hunt for a new fuse at a bad time.


- James B

[Sweet82]

The only thing I have done is the winch myself up my front lawn!

My winch says it has no brake but it does not slip back under load?
I have noticed the new ones are saying they have a brake?
(automatic load holding)

It has been my experience that they DO have brakes even though mine said it didn't.

With a snatch block your doubling your load so you should be ok with a Sub?
It's not the best winch, the #3000 one should be better but it was twice as much money.
I think for as much as I'll ever use it the #2000 will be just fine.

I admit it I got it because I thought it would be cool not because I thought I'd need it. Shhhhhhh! Don't tell anyone

[Forester_Ranger]

For $100 more I would go for the 9000# winch. It has a thicker cable and it wieghs over 20# less than the 8000# winch. It looks exactly like the Mile marker winches I've been looking at. I watched a video from mile marker the other day. They showed that the 5/16" cables breaking around 9000# of load where as the 3/8" cable would hold up over 12,000# of load and still not snap.

[thealleyboy]

I have been buying stuff from HF for years - from back when they only did mail order. I have noticed a big improvement in quality in the past few years. I wouldn't hesitate to buy an "occasional use" item from them, and if this your intent, the winch should be fine.

Watch for sales. Just about everything they carry comes up every few months, so there is no need to pay reg price (which is already pretty reasonable). If you use the winch alot, you want to consider an extended warranty if it is offered for that item. I have done this for some air tools I bough for peace of mind.

good luck, John

[soobmater]

How about the 3000# winch? Will this be enough for my soob.

[Forester_Ranger]

How about the 3000# winch? Will this be enough for my soob.

Probably not. find out what your gross vehicle weight with gear is and times that by 1.5. That is minimun winch load rating you should get. I'm thinking of getting 8000-12000# winch for my Forester. Overkill is better than having the winch burn out on you because you needed another 1000# of load pulling power. Plus you can pull those stuck trucks out that are in your way.

[soobmater]

heah it is better to overkill. What about the milemarker 4500#. I really like the price on the HF but the price on these aint to bad either. Do you think this would get the job done.

[soobmater]

heres a link of the mile marker 4500



http://www.milemarker.com/PE4500.html

[NVBigBlue]

Hey guys,
You should also remember that the "8000 lb" rating, or any max pull rating for that matter, is usually calculated with only 1 layer of cable on the drum, and pull rating decreases with each additional layer. So in the case of the 8000 pound Mile Marker ( http://www.milemarker.com/PE8000.html ), by time you get to layer 5, the max pull is down to 3900 pounds. But like Sweet says, add a snatch block and you'd be back in business.
Just my 2 cents.
NV

[Forester_Ranger]

For a Subaru I don't think you should go below a 6000# winch. that 8000# mile marker is a good choice since it will be able to pull 3900# on it's 5th layer.

[Mike W]

I temporarily owned a HF 3000# winch and was impressed with the overall quality just looking at it. However I didn't get a chance to try it out because I returned it and bought a 4500# Superwinch instead. For my purposes I figured the 4500 would be enough for all but winching it up a cliff and yet it's fairly small and not too heavy. My plan was to keep it portable with power plug-ins in the front and rear of the vehicle plus and extension cord so I could anchor the winch to a tree if needed.

[Forester_Ranger]

I temporarily owned a HF 3000# winch and was impressed with the overall quality just looking at it. However I didn't get a chance to try it out because I returned it and bought a 4500# Superwinch instead. For my purposes I figured the 4500 would be enough for all but winching it up a cliff and yet it's fairly small and not too heavy. My plan was to keep it portable with power plug-ins in the front and rear of the vehicle plus and extension cord so I could anchor the winch to a tree if needed.

From the way your talking it still sounds like your plan hasn't been accomplished. Did you ever get a winch installed and how has it been working out for you?

[scoobyclimbs]

I plan on getting a Milemarker Pe-6000 and two snatch blocks/straps. A Z-pulley setup you've some serious pulling strength.

[archemitis]

i see 8000lb Warn winches on jeeps all the time. i know warn is better and all that, but 8000lb is 8000lbs, and we weigh under 3k, unlike a jeep, with 35 inch superswampers.
id go with the big one, since its cheap.

[Mike W]

From the way your talking it still sounds like your plan hasn't been accomplished. Did you ever get a winch installed and how has it been working out for you?

Sad to say that my S4500# is still in it's box and the Hatchback has been in mothballs for 2-1/2 years now. I had all the materials to build new bumpers, welder, etc ... and then my girlfriend got sick. Everything's been on hold ever since.

In case anyone has wondered about 1500# Superwinch that came stock on Subarus in the late '70s... the pulling capacity isn't even enough to pull a Subaru up a 40degree hill. I have used it to pull my car sideways using a snatch block when I wedged myself between trees, but other than that it's pretty lame. But that shouldn't be a surprise since now it's sold as an ATV winch.

As for how the pulling capacity of the 4500# Superwinch, maybe Qman can chime in since that's what he's been using on his Brat and I believe he's recovered some larger vehicles with it. Ken's setup with front and rear hitch recievers and power connectors is what I was basically going to copy.

Regarding weight (and I do feel that's an issue with Subarus,) the sythetic wire rope has come down in price and shaves major pounds. Even with a winch, come-alongs are still very handy and the extra snatch block can be usefull for pulling at odd angles.

Well I hope he buys the big Harbor Frieght winch so we can find out how it works. I've seen them on a few Jeeps but it's always on those too clean poser city Jeeps, you know the ones that have seen mud.

[soobmater]

So this winch should work pretty good then?

I wont be getting in for a while but i would like to know about it ahead of time.

[Scott in Bellingham]

I read all these replys. hey anyone got any experiance they want to share what works what doesnt

how about this one

http://www.truckaddo...inch_pe6000.htm

[P K]

I've alway felt the winch should not be permanently fixed to the front, but rather portable, where it can be moved to the rear also. More often than not, you want to get out of a problem, not farther into it. $0.02 r/ PK.