A Simple Guide To Choose The Best Electric Winch For Your Truck

If you often go off-road or planning to take your vehicle off-road, then you would like to buy a winch as a recovery equipment. Without a winch, if you get stuck, you might have to spend hours of time digging with your shovel. That will spoil your good time. You can save your time by opting for a quality winch like an electric winch and make off-roading hassle-free. You can find different types of winches in the market from smaller to heavy-duty truck winches. There are trailer winches, worm drive winches, industrial winches and more in the market. 

Electric vs. hydraulic winches 

When you want a winch for truck, there are two common choices, electric winch and hydraulic winch. They both have their advantages and disadvantages, but they work extremely well. Electric winch is the most common, which runs through the power of your battery and has an electric motor. So, the winch will work until the battery has power. On the other hand, a hydraulic winch runs on the hydraulic power and attaches to vehicles’ power steering pump. It uses hydraulic power instead of electric power to move in or out the cable. 

Points to consider when choosing an electric winch:

• Winch cable 

There are two common types of cables used in winches: steel and synthetic fiber. In general, steel cables are stronger and usually aircraft-grade. This type of cable is though powerful and works the best on rough terrain such as rocks, trees, and mud, but they are heavier and can kink or rust which reduce its strength. It may form burrs over time and you need to wear gloves to use it. Cables of synthetic fiber are becoming popular as they are lightweight, flexible and easier to handle. They have even higher break strength than steel cables. However, they are prone to UV and chemicals damage, they may get weaken from heat. 

• Pulling strength

It’s the capacity of the winch to pull a weight. There are many factors that determine this capacity including cable strength, motor strength and gear train. For a general rule, you should ensure that the electric winch you choose have a pulling strength of at least 1.5-times of vehicle’s gross weight. You should also remember that too much heavy winch will have higher weight and it would be difficult to mount it. 

• Cable length

Generally, the cable length of 90-100 inches is good for off-road. 60-80 inches is good for dense forests and around 150 inches cable will be good for deserts. But, you should also take some spare cables. 

Final words

These are some of the points that you should consider when planning to buy an electric winch. However, there are several other points like winch speed, mounting type and more to consider before you make your decision. Just find out all options and then check your requirements to choose the best electric winch for your off-road fun.