P1000 Winch choice

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CaseysDaddy

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Hello Everybody,

I'm curious about everyone choice of winch and why. What where the driving factors of your decision. price, reputation, ease of use. Or you think a winch is a waste of money.

My self. I have a KFI products SE45-R2 (4500lb).
 
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bullyx

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Mar 20, 2016
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Hello Everybody,

I'm curious about everyone choice of winch and why. What where the driving factors of your decision. price, reputation, ease of use. Or you think a winch is a waste of money.

My self. I have a KFI products SE45-R2 (4500lb).
I'm looking too for my 2020 deluxe. Narrowed down to viper, kfi, or super winch. I dont want or need top of the line, just 4500 lbs that is reliable. Will use mostly for plow lifting.
You like the kfi?
 
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Buggyman

Buggyman

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I have the superwinch tera 4500 synthetic rope with hawse no problems so far. bigger and stronger gears.
 
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CaseysDaddy

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I’m not sure I would get the KFI again.
I’ve had a few problems that would sway my future decisions about KFI.
It is currently off at KFI for repair.
 
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Ohio4x4

Ohio4x4

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I've got the superwinch terra 45. I bought it for the warranty, reputation, and it was fairly cheap. Ive broken synthetic cables and never stalled the winch.
 
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Superthrill

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Had a Viper Max 5000.
It started having issues and damn near put us in a bind one trip.

Superwinch Terra 45 now. Faster ,quieter, stronger.
 
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MTLuckyDan

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Jun 18, 2018
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Went with Harbor Freight 3500 mounted on Slasher bumper...use with 2 inch strap for plowing. Easy access to change if necessary...no problems so far in second season of use.

Sent from my P00I using Tapatalk
 
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JoeyL

JoeyL

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Warn Axon 55S
because it looks cool and money is no object. LOL

Just arrived yesterday
1bf683ccde03b3b20d03fafe6fd6a04a


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
JiminAZ

JiminAZ

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I learned something when I bought my 4500 Warn AXON and was considering a 5500 AXON. They both draw the same amps at full load.

The reason is the gearing. The 5500 is geared down more to get more pull at the same amps (250ish amps IIRC). You can see it on the rated rope speed. I decided to go 4500 for that reason, figuring I could employ a snatch block if I needed more pull, but that most of the time I'd want speed over tonnage.

Your best answer may be different from mine. But consider the rope speed vs pull rating tradeoff.
 
ehart814

ehart814

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I learned something when I bought my 4500 Warn AXON and was considering a 5500 AXON. They both draw the same amps at full load.

The reason is the gearing. The 5500 is geared down more to get more pull at the same amps (250ish amps IIRC). You can see it on the rated rope speed. I decided to go 4500 for that reason, figuring I could employ a snatch block if I needed more pull, but that most of the time I'd want speed over tonnage.

Your best answer may be different from mine. But consider the rope speed vs pull rating tradeoff.

I hadn't noticed that. I thought that the 55 was physically larger than the 45. Oh well. I avoid the mud and I am unlikely to winch someone else out if they don't have a winch on their machine. I look at a winch like I look at the sig in my pocket. I hope I never need it, but if I do, it's there. And if someone is dumb enough to try the big mud hole with a 1500 pound machine with no winch then they don't deserve the help getting out. I learned that lesson the hard way too and that's why my machine never got muddy until after the winch was installed. And actually, it hasn't gotten super muddy yet. :) I hope it never does! I wish I lived in the desert...
 
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JoeyL

JoeyL

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I learned something when I bought my 4500 Warn AXON and was considering a 5500 AXON. They both draw the same amps at full load.

The reason is the gearing. The 5500 is geared down more to get more pull at the same amps (250ish amps IIRC). You can see it on the rated rope speed. I decided to go 4500 for that reason, figuring I could employ a snatch block if I needed more pull, but that most of the time I'd want speed over tonnage.

Your best answer may be different from mine. But consider the rope speed vs pull rating tradeoff.

Great observation, and it got me thinking...
So i went and had a look at it myself. Here is what i came up with:

I plotted both sets of performance specs on the same graph. (its really nice that they give this much info)
AxonGraph

and here is the data side by side
AxonData


i would agree that it looks like the same motor, but the gearing doesn't look different. maybe a little but not significantly. looks more like the just put a different cutoff on it.

Except for the 0 line pull point, you are pulling the same amps for the same line pull with both winches. The 45 just stops at 208 amps and the 55 goes to 254 amps. if the gear ratio was different i would expect noticeably lower amps throughout the range of line pull.

the speed is also not significantly different until you get near the max line pull of the 45.

for me this doesn't definitively answer anything. im now thinking its almost the same winch and the 45 has some kind of electronic limit on capacity (probably would be on amps, but could be smarter than that?)

any other thoughts on this?
 
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JiminAZ

JiminAZ

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You are 100% correct that I am in error. I just glanced at the endpoints for each winch and noted 6.7 vs 4.8 feet/min, didn't pay close attention to the amps, and figured the difference was gearing.

Your plot shows that in fact, the 5500 just has a higher power motor, and the gearing is the same.

Drawing essentially the same amps and the same loads makes total sense, as the power draw (force times speed) determines the amp draw. Since the speeds are the same at a given load, the gearing ratio is also likely the same.

I would attribute the slight differences in amp draw and speed over most of the curve to normal variations. It does get interesting toward the end of each motor's power curve - at 4500 lb the 4500 lb unit draws less amps and is faster.

Probably has something to do with the dc motor curves. Likely they are most efficient at full rated load.
 
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JiminAZ

JiminAZ

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One other thought - what we don't know is the speeds that the respective motors run at. My comments regarding gear ratio in the previous post only makes sense if the motors run at about the same speeds.
 
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JoeyL

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yep, not enough details available to know the full story.
this info should help anyone trying to chose between the 2 most expensive (and cool looking) winches though.
 
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JiminAZ

JiminAZ

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Any coolness of mine is hidden the way it mounts upside down inside the factory bumper
 

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