10K or 12K lbs Winch

Hello everyone, I appreciate if you give me a clue which winch to buy. I'm very lean towards Smittybilt but the question is if a 10000 lbs will be enough. No additional weight yet but maybe put a roof rack and not much else. Thank you very much for the recommendations.

 

Whatever winch you get, whether it has steel cable or winch rope make sure to follow the manufacturer's recommendations for working limits on all the pieces and parts between the winch and the vehicle to be moved. There are a lot of critical moving pieces and the hazard potential is high even if you are really familiar with process. This is not to say you aren't familiar with winch ops, just friendly reminder.

 

I’ve went with a 10k winch and it’s been fine. Stock weight with just a roof rack. No self recovery but have pulled out a couple trucks of similar size/weight.

 

10K here, and a significant amount of added weight. I've done self recovery and recovered others, occasionally on a single line pull. No problems, so far.

I believe the rule of thumb is something like 1.5× GVWR. But, there are exceptions.

I definitely recommend getting a few snatch blocks, and some tree straps, soft shackles, etc. Always do a double line pull, if possible.

I personally don't have anything against overkill. But, I've found 10K to be sufficient for my needs so far.

 

I have 10k and synthetic rope. I highly recommend synthetic over cable. A lot less weight and easy to handle.

 

I went 12k because I wanted to be able to winch anything and I heard that winches last longer if they don't have to work as hard. And I wanted the most expensive winch. Sounds pretty dumb that last point.

Only got to use it once and on a full sized truck.