Removable winches

[Phantom]

It started with a winch question...

Hi,
This started as a winch question... but however seems to have sparked a debate about the viability or even validity of solo green laning. I do greenlaning both in company and alone, however I agree care needs to be taken, particularly when alone - to quote directly from the GLASS advice to its members on green laning:

"All vehicles should carry maps, and adequate recovery equipment for the expected conditions, a working jack and good spare wheel. Emergency food & drinks and a torch, with spare batteries, should be carried to enable an unexpected overnight delay, including adequate warm and waterproof clothes, a change of clothes including clean shoes is an asset. A First Aid kit and Fire Extinguisher should always be carried. Other useful items to have are compass, GPS, binoculars, camera...When laning alone, consider keeping a list of local members handy..."

You can see from this that GLASS accept and support the concept of lone laning. Others may have a different opinion and I respect that. However, to get back to the point of the origional question the winch is useful when there is no other car there to pull you out of trouble (and to my mind a winch when lone laning falls into the catagory of `adequate recovery equipment for the expected conditions' stated by GLASS above), and thats why I want one, though it seems that no one has heard of or uses the multimount system...

 

[Deleted Member D]

Multi winch

I have no experience of such a winch but it does sound a useful bit of kit. :smile:

 

[nejones]

I go greenlaning alone on occasion and as long as you use plenty of good old fashioned common sense then I think you're ok. People have laned like this for years. Common sense from the planning stages onward is essential, even if it seems to be a spur of the moment decision to lane alone.

As for the winch mounting system I saw these some time ago on the TBR website.
I haven't got one but then neither do I have a permanent winch install. However I think that for someone like me that uses the vehicle as a dd then there are real advantages to being able to demount the winch when you dont need it and only attach it before a greenlaning/offroad trip.

 

[Deleted Member D]

Always help around

Plenty of passing bobble hats willing to lend a helping too :lol:

 

[extreme-4x4]

well its almost as bad as a caravan post in here,
so im going to have my say too...

lone laning is risky but you know the risks ... and its your life
i personally dont but thats my choice. i just dont fancy being trapped in a rolled truck, and no one knowing your in trouble phones dont work everywhere.

so back to the winch...
i prefer the fixed winch plan due to the fact a winch is only as strong as its fixing... having said that if you winch of a tow ball going back you can at least pull it out easier than drag the whole truck over an obstacle ie rock / root etc . so yes i can see your idea

also if you winch of a tow ball you can winch at 45 degrees or so. this makes winching anchorage more flexible as you dont have to go straight back

another advantage you can keep it in the truck nice and dry till you get stuck , subject to you having some permanent terminals in the boot ready to just hook it up to with jump lead type of clamps... fantastic how often does your winch get a good soaking before you need it , most of the time i expect . does me anyway

i might use that system myself for a rear winch

 

[(RIP) PLANK]

someone suggested good mud boots as an alternative, but i can see the advantages of a removable winch, decent tyres are going to cost a few quid £400? plus with the winch you can take it on to your next vehicle easily.

I thnk with a fairly new, fairly valuable vehicel, it doesn't pay to start chopping the body work around to mount winches, and they aren't the prettiest things in the world and perhaps not in keeping with the more car like style and colour coded bumpers and bits of many modern 4x4's

I can see the sraw of many moern 4x4's as ground clearance asside they are often as capable as anyhting else, joust using all new technology rather than the tractor parts we know and love.

on that note have you driven behind a new range rover sport and seen how little ground clearance they have? just high sills to give the illusion of clearance, whist many newer vehicles have lower cills but are "flatter" underneath so basicaly the clearance you see is what you get and despite looking lower, the critical measurment of 'space under the diff' is the same as many 'higher' vehicles.

 

[Lee3197]

One of the guys in work has a '54 plate diesel X-Trail, and he loves it. It has all the toys he wants, (Nav, leather etc.) and lugs around his fairly large 'van. He bought it as his old Puggy 406 estate kept getting stuck and 'van sites. He's never been stuck since.

Lee. :thumbs