Electric Winch, 5400 kg Load Capacity, 12V DC Truck Winch with Φ9.5 mm x 28 m Synthetic Rope, Wireless & Wired Remote Control, IP67 Waterproof for Towing Off-Road SUV Jeep Trailer Boat

A dual-cab loaded for a fortnight away, with a camper on the tow ball, weighs a long way more than the same ute did in the showroom. A winch that coped with the empty version will sit there straining. This one is rated by the supplier at 5400 kg, quoted in its feature text as 12,000 lbs.

Torque before speed

Winching is not about speed. The 6.6 HP motor spins fast and makes relatively little torque; the 218.4:1 three-stage planetary gearbox trades those revolutions away and hands back pulling force at the drum. Splitting the reduction over three stages keeps any one set of gears from carrying the full multiplication, which is why a planetary box handles a sustained drag better than a single deep-cut gear pair would. What you feel at the hook is a line that comes in slowly and holds steady while a heavy vehicle grinds forward through mud.

Rope thick enough to grip

At 9.5 mm the line is thick enough to hold properly with a gloved hand, which matters when you are feeding it out across a creek bed and back to an anchor. It is 12-strand polyethylene braid, which the supplier rates against UV and against the strand friction generated as the rope crosses itself on the drum. There is 28 m of it, so an anchor point three cars back is still reachable. Synthetic line also stays flexible when it is cold, and it does not develop the hooked broken strands that make old steel cable unpleasant to handle.

Sealed, guided, braked

Three details do the unglamorous work. The IP67 sealing keeps dust out entirely and tolerates brief immersion, so mud and shallow crossings are not automatically fatal. A four-layer rope guide feeds the line onto the drum in order rather than letting it bunch, which protects both the rope and the even pull you want from it. A red warning zone flags when tension is climbing past where you want it, giving you a reason to reposition or rig a snatch block instead of pushing on. And the brake holds the drum against rollback.

Key features

• 6.6 HP motor: 12 V, sized to drive the deep planetary reduction under a sustained load.
• 9.5 mm synthetic rope: 28 m of 12-strand braid, thick enough to handle comfortably in gloves.
• 218.4:1 three-stage planetary: converts motor revolutions into drum torque across three gear sets.
• IP67 sealing: dust-tight and rated for brief immersion, not spray alone.
• Four-layer rope guide and red warning zone: even spooling, and a visible cue before tension gets away from you.
• Twin remotes: wireless for standing clear, wired for when the handset is flat.

Specifications

• Rated capacity (product title): 5400 kg
• Rated pull (supplier feature text): 12,000 lbs
• Basis of rating: not stated by the supplier
• Motor: 6.6 HP, 12 V DC
• Gearing: three-stage planetary, 218.4:1
• Rope: 9.5 mm (3/8 in) 12-strand polyethylene, 28 m (92 ft)
• Sealing: IP67
• Housing: coated aluminium alloy
• Rope guide: four-layer, with red tension warning zone
• Wireless remote range: 59 ft as quoted by the supplier (about 18 m)
• Wired remote lead: 9.8 ft as quoted by the supplier (about 3 m)

Before your first pull

• The metric and imperial capacity figures above are both the supplier's, published separately because they are not exact equivalents of one another. Nothing has been converted or rounded on this page.
• The supplier states no standard, certification or test rating for this winch, so none is claimed here.
• This is a pulling rating, not a lifting one. No overhead or suspension rating is given, and the winch should not be used to hold a load above anybody.
• A winch at this rating puts serious load into whatever it is bolted to. Confirm that your winch cradle, bull bar and chassis mounting points are rated for it, and that the fixings are the correct grade.
• Keep a damper on the line, stand out of the rope's arc, and check the braid for cuts, heat glazing and abrasion before every recovery.

Worth a look if the vehicle is heavy, loaded, or towing — and if the recoveries you get into tend to be uphill.