Which Winch

[jimboree]

I'd like to buy a winch suitable for self-recovery with a maximum budget of around £500. There seems to be a lot of choice out there (Goodwinch, Superwinch, Warrior etc), but can anyone recommend anything?

I need something that will handle the occasional dunking and that requires the minimum of maintenance. David Bower sells a kit that makes up a demountable winch that can be lifted onto a towing hook - meaning that it can be kept inside the car for most of the time, would this be a good idea?

Apologies if this information is already out on The Forum, I had a look, but I couldn't find anything.

Thanks for your help,

James

[davew]

For a lowline winch you can't really do better than the Goodwinch TDS "Goldfish". It's reasonably fast for it's type with a good choice of motors and a good quality solenoid (it uses an Albright style all in one waterproof solenoid). It's proved itself to be reliable and waterproof and is used as a centre or rear winch for a lot of challenge competitors.

Not sure about the demountable bit, I like the idea but in practice I suspect it would just be a PITA - when was the last time you got stuck when the front end wasn't buried under water or mud ? It's bad enough trying to get hold of the winch hook in those conditions but who's going to volunteer to "wade" into the mire while carrying a 40Kg winch ?

[jimboree]

Thanks for the advice Dave. I see that Goodwinch will be at the Spring Adventure, I'll see if I can get over.

James