Recovery gear

My argument is that lockers are often more effective than the goodies to the extent that they will often prevent you from getting stuck in the first place. After that, one usually needs a winch.

In that case agreed. The phrasing must have been confuisng.
 
IIRC its called an ECHS - External Cargo Handling System. The Chinook does the lifting, the hook just holds & drops the sling load.

I must’ve been thinking of the winch that I’ve seen lift people. It looks to be located closer to the front.

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Winches are only good until they break... arguably I've learned at this point to just about always use a snatch block/recovery ring.


Kinetic ropes are only good if you're wheeling with competent friends.

Tow straps might work in a pinch...but it seems like I find a collection of broken and failed ones in and around every minor mud hole.

-Mac

Agreed. I’m on my third M8000 motor, and if this one dies, I’ll be upgrading.

How’s the 9.5XP been treating you?
 
I must’ve been thinking of the winch that I’ve seen lift people. It looks to be located closer to the front.

View attachment 525462

Yes that's a different system entirely. The ECHS is attached to the air frame & rotates downward. That hoist was most likely retrofitted inside the cargo bay & bolted to the ceiling to lift people through a hatch in the floor.
 
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Agreed. I’m on my third M8000 motor, and if this one dies, I’ll be upgrading.

How’s the 9.5XP been treating you?

Great especially since I've pretty much adopted a must run out a lot of line policy. Either winch to a far enough tree or recovery ring.

My biggest issue is needing to remember to hold 2.5k rpm when winching. Killed another alternator the other day. Or rather I killed it last summer...my auto electric guys say I cracked the frame in half... probably bouncing off my engine mount swinging it in with my tractor. But it worked fine for another 10 months.

That or the Optima Yellow Top I have doesn't have enough ass to float the high amp draws. Really leaning on that direction. Trying to decide on giving up on my Optima or doubling down on a dual battery tray.

-Mac

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I’ll get roasted for this but the last piece of recovery gear you need is a winch. A kinetic rope, 30’ tow strap, hard shackle, multiple soft shackles and a good shovel will get you out of most situations. While a which is nice to have because it gives you good control on a pull vs a kinetic rope. I believe for most recoveries it’s faster to pull out a kinetic rope or a strap. My TJ came with a winch and in the 2 yrs I’ve had my TJ i have never used it for a vehicle recovery. I have used my winch to move 3 large storage sheds. This past weekend while wheeling in the desert we came across a knucklehead with his car stuck in the sand 1/2 mile off the pavement. Used my Wizard soft shackle and a buddies tow strap and had him out and everything put away in under 5 min.

Reading through this and other threads I feel like location plays a big part. We've got snow, ice, mud but usually a fair amount of trees to anchor on. I've had to pull a line to stop from slipping sideways off a ledge, had someone else link a secondary tow strap to my ass end as back up. I'd rather have to many options than not enough

This is correct terrain definitely has an impact on what gear you should carry . For many trails in the PNW and Alaska a kinetic rope is borderline worthless due to the tight and twisty nature of the trails or being in the middle of a Bog and cannot generate the momentum necessary to be useful.
 
I have never done this. If I'm the anchor using my winch, the engine just idles.

Same. Although before upgrading my battery, like 10 years ago, to AGM I had some issues. I'm not sure if it's related to the battery, if I didn't tighten the lugs and terminals at the time, or what. Still if I do a LOT of heavy winching without stopping (like pulling a full size truck 100ft up a cliff) I do idle higher or need to take breaks or the engine stumbles.
 
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I have never done this. If I'm the anchor using my winch, the engine just idles.

Which is exactly why I think I'm running out of battery.

Occasionally when winching the voltage on the dash drops to zero and check gauges comes on. Rebooting the Jeep solves the issue and it'll be right back at 14v.

I don't think this Optima battery has enough ass to take deep amp draws off my winch.

And it did the same thing with my M8000. And different alternators with different amperages. And after upgrading battery cables and alternator cables.

I just don't trust any battery manufacturers enough that I want to spend more money.

-Mac
 
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Which is exactly why I think I'm running out of battery.

Occasionally when winching the voltage on the dash drops to zero and check gauges comes on. Rebooting the Jeep solves the issue and it'll be right back at 14v.

I don't think this Optima battery has enough ass to take deep amp draws off my winch.

And it did the same thing with my M8000. And different alternators with different amperages. And after upgrading battery cables and alternator cables.

I just don't trust any battery manufacturers enough that I want to spend more money.

-Mac

All I know is that over the course of three batteries in almost 10 years, paying attention to the engine rpm during a winch has not been a thing I have done.
 
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All I know is if that over the course of three batteries in almost 10 years, paying attention to the engine rpm during a winch has not been a thing I have done.
I agree. The winch is almost all about the battery. A winch at full bore is going to draw what, 300+ amps? Running the alternator above idle, especially a stock alternator, won’t make too much difference during the act. I think the most important role of the alternator is to refresh the battery after the pull.
 
Great especially since I've pretty much adopted a must run out a lot of line policy. Either winch to a far enough tree or recovery ring.

My biggest issue is needing to remember to hold 2.5k rpm when winching. Killed another alternator the other day. Or rather I killed it last summer...my auto electric guys say I cracked the frame in half... probably bouncing off my engine mount swinging it in with my tractor. But it worked fine for another 10 months.

That or the Optima Yellow Top I have doesn't have enough ass to float the high amp draws. Really leaning on that direction. Trying to decide on giving up on my Optima or doubling down on a dual battery tray.

-Mac

View attachment 525481View attachment 525482

I have never done this. If I'm the anchor using my winch, the engine just idles.

Which is exactly why I think I'm running out of battery.

Occasionally when winching the voltage on the dash drops to zero and check gauges comes on. Rebooting the Jeep solves the issue and it'll be right back at 14v.

I don't think this Optima battery has enough ass to take deep amp draws off my winch.

And it did the same thing with my M8000. And different alternators with different amperages. And after upgrading battery cables and alternator cables.

I just don't trust any battery manufacturers enough that I want to spend more money.

-Mac

2500 RPM is probably a bit much but a high idle should ensure you are getting full output from the alternator. Watching the volt meter will give you a good indication of how things are going. If the voltage continuously dips below 12 volts while winching you need to stop winching and let the winch motor cool and the alternator catch the battery back up. The gauge will go into dummy mode if you start dipping close to 11-11.5 volts as that is when the PCM will start having issues.

I agree. The winch is almost all about the battery. A winch at full bore is going to draw what, 300+ amps? Running the alternator above idle, especially a stock alternator, won’t make too much difference during the act. I think the most important role of the alternator is to refresh the battery after the pull.

Some winches are known to pull close to 500 amps at full pull.
 
2500 RPM is probably a bit much but a high idle should ensure you are getting full output from the alternator. Watching the volt meter will give you a good indication of how things are going. If the voltage continuously dips below 12 volts while winching you need to stop winching and let the winch motor cool and the alternator catch the battery back up. The gauge will go into dummy mode if you start dipping close to 11-11.5 volts as that is when the PCM will start having issues.



Some winches are known to pull close to 500 amps at full pull.

My Zeon Platinum can pull 465 amps according to the manual. I've never messed with anything special nor have I seen anything problematic on the display. (not my pic) It tells me about the temp and the jeep battery.

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Which is exactly why I think I'm running out of battery.

Occasionally when winching the voltage on the dash drops to zero and check gauges comes on. Rebooting the Jeep solves the issue and it'll be right back at 14v.

I don't think this Optima battery has enough ass to take deep amp draws off my winch.

And it did the same thing with my M8000. And different alternators with different amperages. And after upgrading battery cables and alternator cables.

I just don't trust any battery manufacturers enough that I want to spend more money.

-Mac

The electricical smart folks can correct this but I seem to recall that as the voltage drops, the amperage rises according to one of those silly meditation laws. You're mistreating it on several fronts. Heat drives up resistance, which drives up current draw, which lowers battery voltage, which drives up current draw. At some point you go past what the motor can handle as far as heat goes and you smoke it.
 
Winches are not rated for overhead lifting. A hoist can be used as a winch, a winch can not be used as a hoist.

A hoist generally has a mechanical brake.

I tried using a winch in my garage as a hoist and it lifted but it wouldn't hold the load. The hoist I replaced it with lifts and holds the load.
 
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Googled it because I was curious. Looks like the Army calls it by either name, respective to which direction they are pulling.


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It's nomenclature fluid. When it's rescuing people it identifies as a hoist. When it's pulling cargo up the tail ramp it identifies as a winch.

:ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO:
 
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