I've been thinking about installing a winch on my truck and after seeing a test demo from Mile Marker, I am currently leaning towards a hydraulic winch.

For those who have a hydraulic winch:

Why did you choose hydraulic over electric?


What brand do you have/recommend? How well do you like your winch?


What size winch do you recommend for a 7200 lb 2500HD Truck? I'm leaning towards 12,000 lbs or more


Is your winch mounted permanent or is it removable? Where/How?


If your winch is permanently mounted on the front, is it a "hidden" mount? Do you also have a front hitch receiver? Can you install a snow plow with the winch in place?


Are you using your power steering pump to power the winch or some other method?


If using the power steering pump, is the pump adequate for the job? Have you had any warranty related problems with the pump?


How much cable/rope do you have on your winch? What size cable? Do you use a snatch block?


Can you control the winch from inside the truck? Outside?


Can you use a remote control with hydraulic winch?


When letting out cable, does it free-spool or can you power out?


When you want to stop winching, does the winch stop immediately or does it run-on?


Are you using any front suspension helpers (i.e. air shocks, timbrens, etc)?

Any pictures would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance for any information.

I have no experience with either on a truck. But I was looking into buying a winch for my old truck and I got sold on the mile marker crap too. But then I found some things that turned me away from them. Since it was a few years ago I can't remember what the cons were but they were enough for me to drop the hydraulic idea.

I've been thinking about installing a winch on my truck and after seeing a test demo from Mile Marker, I am currently leaning towards a hydraulic winch.

For those who have a hydraulic winch:

Why did you choose hydraulic over electric?
What brand do you have/recommend? How well do you like your winch?
What size winch do you recommend for a 7200 lb 2500HD Truck? I'm leaning towards 12,000 lbs or more
Is your winch mounted permanent or is it removable? Where/How?
If your winch is permanently mounted on the front, is it a "hidden" mount? Do you also have a front hitch receiver? Can you install a snow plow with the winch in place?
Are you using your power steering pump to power the winch or some other method?
If using the power steering pump, is the pump adequate for the job? Have you had any warranty related problems with the pump?
How much cable/rope do you have on your winch? What size cable? Do you use a snatch block?
Can you control the winch from inside the truck? Outside?
Can you use a remote control with hydraulic winch?
When letting out cable, does it free-spool or can you power out?
When you want to stop winching, does the winch stop immediately or does it run-on?
Are you using any front suspension helpers (i.e. air shocks, timbrens, etc)?Any pictures would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance for any information.
I have not much expericne w/a truck mounted one but heres what I ahve to say. Hydraulics will pull more,then electric, it would take a massive electric and massive amps to run a 10k lb electric a 10k hydraulic is nothign. I have never seen a hydraulically one mounted on the front of a truck but have an electric. They had a front reciever and jsut slid it in ther ewhenever they wanted to use it, a hydraulic one could be the same way. It woulddnt take a very big hydraulic powerpack or pump to runa 12k lb hydraulic winch. Snatch blocks only help but wheel chocks are needed too a 12k winch could pull your truck instead of what yoru trying to do. tulsa makes a heck of a winch

the only down side iever saw to a hydraulic winch was the expense.....if you are going to use a winch once in a blue moon...and for a limited duration...you can't beat the cost and ease of install of an electric winch...if it is going to be used quite often and for a longer time...spend the money and time on a hydraulic winch....if going electric do your self a favor and spend the extra money on a warn winch...I had a 12k pound miles marker...and while it was nice at 1st....it did not hold up well

Ray,

The three things that made me go with an electric winch were cost, ease of installation and portability. A fourth thought is that with hydraulic, if the truck isn't running - neither is the winch. The duty cycle of the hydraulic is very appealing though.

I would go to a 'off road' board with your list of questions because you'll get a better response. Most folks here probably don't use a winch much, where as off-roaders use them a lot.

Thanks guys for all your input.

Keep them coming. :)

the only down side iever saw to a hydraulic winch was the expense.....if you are going to use a winch once in a blue moon...and for a limited duration...you can't beat the cost and ease of install of an electric winch...if it is going to be used quite often and for a longer time...spend the money and time on a hydraulic winch....if going electric do your self a favor and spend the extra money on a warn winch...I had a 12k pound miles marker...and while it was nice at 1st....it did not hold up well
Which Warn winch did you end up getting? Did you install it permanent?

Have you noticed any over-run when stopping? Does it stop immediately or does it still run a little bit when you want it to stop?

Thanks.

I had a mile marker 9500lbs electric on my old colorado. That winch never missed a beat. I made over 50 pulls with that thing.( never to pull myself out though) always someone else or somethin else. I coulnt beat the cost I paid for it so thats the way I went. I will say if you go electric take the time and spend the extra money on better power cables for the winch and upgrade your ground cables on your truck. I didnt upgrade my ground cables on the truck at first but did so after the first time I tried a long pull. I also had a dual batt setup on that truck that helped a ton. We dont have to worry about that with diesels though. If I had to do it again I would most likely go Hydro due to the amount of amps it would take to pull one of our trucks out if stuck. But since my truck is so freaking long it wont ever go off road like the Coly did so im not gonna have to worry about it.

Just my .02 cents

Ray,

Mine is mounted on a 2x2 steel bar so it can be mounted in the front or rear of the truck. I also made extra cables so I can use in someone elses hitch if needed.

Pictures are in my garage - WHICH IS BACK UP!!!!!!!! Woohoo!!

Ray,

Mine is mounted on a 2x2 steel bar so it can be mounted in the front or rear of the truck. I also made extra cables so I can use in someone Else's hitch if needed.

Pictures are in my garage - WHICH IS BACK UP!!!!!!!! Woohoo!!
Thanks Tom.

Looking at the pictures in your garage, it appears that you have mounted your 12K winch on a front mounted hitch receiver. I've not been able to find a front hitch receiver rated for 12K lbs. Where did you get your?

How do you like the Mile Marker winch? Would you do anything different if you were to do it over again?

Thanks again. :)

Thanks Tom.

Looking at the pictures in your garage, it appears that you have mounted your 12K winch on a front mounted hitch receiver. I've not been able to find a front hitch receiver rated for 12K lbs. Where did you get your?

How do you like the Mile Marker winch? Would you do anything different if you were to do it over again?

Thanks again. :)

You can only get a front receiver with 8K capacity. Technically, since the truck only weighs 7K it would be enough, but one of the things on my to-do list is beef it up.

The MM winch works well. The only thing bad I can say about it is the roller fairlead rusted almost instantly. I cleaned the rollers off and greased them up, but they are rusting again. :(

Here's more info on my install, including the quick connectors I used.

http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/showthread.php?t=115114

Thanks for the link Tom.

That is a really nice setup you have for your winch.

Have you had a chance yet to pull something with it? :)

The MM winch works well. The only thing bad I can say about it is the roller fairlead rusted almost instantly. I cleaned the rollers off and greased them up, but they are rusting again. :(

So would you recommend the chrome roller fairlead (http://www.truckspring.com/universal-chrome-fairlead-wh-9.html) instead of the plain steel ones.

I didn't have a warn...I had a mile marker 12k...it worked great the 1st year I had it...but started to go down hill after that...perhaps it was because it was permenantly mounted in the front air dam of my truck and the good ole NY winters did not do good for it....

Ray,

I thought mine was supposed to be chrome plated. If it was, it was a crappy job. If I had known about the rust issue and greased it before it started to rust, it might have made a difference - but you know how these Michigan winters are for salt.

I have used it to pull some small tree stumps for my son. Just the single line pull was enough to pull truck (which was in park with the brake on) over the curb and up his lawn. Had to tie the rear of the truck to a tree. :D

I think the portability of an electric winch gives it a big advantage over a hydraulic one for casual use. I have a Ramsey 9500 Patriot winch (made in USA :)) mounted in a receiver hitch cradle. I have forklift style electric quick connects mounted front and back on my truck (another advantage of the front receiver hitch on the Buckstop) as well as inside my enclosed trailer and on the back of my tractor. I can move the winch around and use it pretty much anywhere without much hassle. I ordered a wireless remote for it as well so I can run the winch from well away from the vehicle if necessary.

I have never seen a single hydro winch on the trails. All were electric. The theory being if you are stuck in water / mud, the motor is off, and the hydro just sits there, whereas the electric works till the battery is dead. If you are stuck and the motor is running, you usually only need the winch for 30 to 60 seconds, and you can drive out of it.
I had a cheepie chicago electric (harbor freight tools) 8k winch for ~300 bucks. for the 8 or 10 times I used it, it worked fine. add a pully, and you have a 16k winch (slow as my 10 year old doing her homework) but it dragged my truck twards whatever was at the other end of the cable.
If I killed it, I planed to replace it with a Warn, but I ended up trading the truck, with the cheepie winch still attached.

Thank you!

I appreciate everyone's comments.

The hydraulic winch is looking less attractive all the time. Especially since its around $288 more that a comparable 12,000 lb electric.

Keep them coming. :)

I've been thinking about installing a winch on my truck and after seeing a test demo from Mile Marker, I am currently leaning towards a hydraulic winch.

For those who have a hydraulic winch:

Why did you choose hydraulic over electric? There is no choice if you want a real winch. Hydraulic is the way to go.
What brand do you have/recommend? How well do you like your winch? Mile marker-great product and pulls like no tomorrow.
What size winch do you recommend for a 7200 lb 2500HD Truck? I'm leaning towards 12,000 lbs or more 12K,winches are rated with one wrap of cable,with 4 wraps it would only be rated at 6-7K! You can't ever have too much!!!!!!
Is your winch mounted permanent or is it removable? Where/How? Permanent on frt,but they offer optional removable
If your winch is permanently mounted on the front, is it a "hidden" mount? Do you also have a front hitch receiver? Can you install a snow plow with the winch in place? Mounted permanent on frt. w/MM extreme mount. Don't have a plow.
Are you using your power steering pump to power the winch or some other method? P/S pump
If using the power steering pump, is the pump adequate for the job? Have you had any warranty related problems with the pump? P/S pump is more than adequate.Only problem I ever experienced was(and I now no not to do) is trying to winch while holding brakes and accelerator to speed up flow.Accelerator pedal is not a problem,but overheated fluid by holding brake(w/hydroboost) and killed the pump,melted the cap too.Now I just chock the wheels or tie off and all is good.
How much cable/rope do you have on your winch? What size cable? Do you use a snatch block? 50' 3/8" cable+chains+straps+snatch block+whatever it takes.
Can you control the winch from inside the truck? Outside?Yes
Can you use a remote control with hydraulic winch? Yes,wireless remote is well worth the investment.
When letting out cable, does it free-spool or can you power out? Both
When you want to stop winching, does the winch stop immediately or does it run-on? Hydraulic brake stops on a dime and holds it there.
Are you using any front suspension helpers (i.e. air shocks, timbrens, etc)? Yes,TimbrensAny pictures would be greatly appreciated. I'll try and get ya some pics tomorrow.

Thanks in advance for any information.

Hope this helps,