smittybilt 20 foot tow strap $10...

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MOAK

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unless smittybilt has come a very long way in the past 10 years or so, I wouldn't go near it. The last thing anyone needs while recovering or being recovered is for the stitching to start breaking apart, or worse yet for the strap to just rip apart. I've always found recovery straps found at farm supply stores to be reasonably priced and very reliable. I've used mine on several occasions for straight pulls and as winch line extensions and nary a failure.
 

coffeeshark

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unless smittybilt has come a very long way in the past 10 years or so, I wouldn't go near it. The last thing anyone needs while recovering or being recovered is for the stitching to start breaking apart, or worse yet for the strap to just rip apart. I've always found recovery straps found at farm supply stores to be reasonably priced and very reliable. I've used mine on several occasions for straight pulls and as winch line extensions and nary a failure.
I've had a Smittybuilt winch on the list for a while--what would you recommend instead?
 

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Many years ago I found a used 1st generation SBuillt winch on CL.. $100 was a bargain. The winch sounded like it was gonna blow apart at any moment. Surprisingly the thing worked well, for I'd say roughly 50 or so pulls until it finally gave out. 50 pulls or so by me, and probably way less than that while it was on the previous owners mall crawler. In today's winch market it seems the manufacturers are in a gizmology marketing war with wireless remote at the top of the pile. Waterproof is another gimmick. Winches have been " waterproof " since they were invented. My golden rule? KISS.. I followed Bill Burke's advice and went with the Superwinch. Google Bill Burke / Superwinch and read what he has to say.. I have the 9500lb Tigershark with synthetic line. I use it often and it proves to be very dependable. Last Saturday I attempted to bring a broken tree limb down. I was all rigged up with straps, shackles and snatch block. The limb wouldn't budge. As I was watching my lines while bumping the winch, my wife yelled at me to look, look ! The cruisers front end was lifted off the ground.
 

Vyscera

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I've got a smitty built xrc 9500. I've pulled 3 full sized bogged recoveries, a few light pulls, and I've moved more 200-2000 lbs boulders (on my property) than I can count. Never had a second thought. I"ve had the winch 5 years now.
 

MOAK

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I've got a smitty built xrc 9500. I've pulled 3 full sized bogged recoveries, a few light pulls, and I've moved more 200-2000 lbs boulders (on my property) than I can count. Never had a second thought. I"ve had the winch 5 years now.
Very true, cannot argue with that, as some folks have excellent experiences with SB winches. But due to a lack of tight quality control during the manufacturing process getting a hold of a good reliable one is about a 50% probability... If you got a good one, keep it, it'll probably last forever..
 
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MOAK

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That's very true, a lot of guys rag on Smittybuilt simply because they are Chinese made. Those guys do very little research, they just rag on em, and go out and spend 12 or 13 hundred for their Warns. As I stated in my first reply, " unless Smittybuilt has come a long way " as there was a period of time, right after they moved production to China, that they produced nothing but junk. Nothing fit right, tolerances were horrible, bolt on parts had to be modified, bumpers were rusting through in a couple of winters, their winches were randomly blowing apart. Their product line wasn't any better than the old Iron Horse line of products. If, in fact Smittybuilt " has come a long way " in the last 15 to 20 years, then great, maybe someday, I'll give their product line another try. Until that time, I can only recommend products that I have used and or continue to use.
 
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coffeeshark

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That's fair. Thanks for the recommendation--and yeah, I took one look at Warn's prices and figured I'd never touch them. They seem like the Gucci version of this stuff.
 

MOAK

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That's fair. Thanks for the recommendation--and yeah, I took one look at Warn's prices and figured I'd never touch them. They seem like the Gucci version of this stuff.
Yup, Warn makes an excellent product, as does, Come-Up and Ramsey, but really, really expensive. If I was a hard core rock crawler and had plenty of dough, I'd probably get the Warn or a top of the line Superwinch. But, alas, I'm not a hardcore rock crawler, and I don't have plenty of dough. The dough I do have I'd rather be spending on other things we overlanders need, like tires, tents, water systems, fridges, and other such gear... Just curious, did any readers go to Bill Burkes review of the Superwinch? Tis a nice writeup of a winch that is often overlooked.
 

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Yup, Warn makes an excellent product, as does, Come-Up and Ramsey, but really, really expensive. If I was a hard core rock crawler and had plenty of dough, I'd probably get the Warn or a top of the line Superwinch. But, alas, I'm not a hardcore rock crawler, and I don't have plenty of dough. The dough I do have I'd rather be spending on other things we overlanders need, like tires, tents, water systems, fridges, and other such gear... Just curious, did any readers go to Bill Burkes review of the Superwinch? Tis a nice writeup of a winch that is often overlooked.
I looked, but haven't found. To be honest, I haven't put a super-duper amount of time into it, but will give a try later. Thanks for the advice!
 
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MOAK

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OK guys, it was time for me to up grade my straps. I had a pair of old 20 footers I bought a long time ago. Tractor Supply is a great place. If farmers are using their straps to extract tractors and combines, then that's plenty good enough for me. 30 ft, 20,000 lb capacity, 40 bucks.. Now that's a bargain !! My father in law also gave me something that looks a lot like bubba rope, about 5 feet of it. It came from his sailing vessel. Its about 2"s in diameter and loop braided on each end.
 
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Anders0nic

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I bought one of these straps on Amazon as my "meh, I'll throw it in the gear bag at this price". I used it twice. Once to Rescue a 2wd tundra stuck in the snow out near Mammoth Lakes. The second time was to rescue a 2wd Ram stuck in a snow bank at the bottoms of a trail near Bear Valley Ski Resort. The second use was its last use. The strap broke on the first tug. We knotted it and gave a few more tugs and it fulfilled its purpose. I gave the strap to the fella I yanked out. I have other recovery straps from more reputable manufacturers, but this one was so cheap I figured I didn't care if it broke, splayed or frayed. Buy it all you want, use it at your own risk...


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Overlandllama

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It's maybe laughable but I have a Superwinch 3500 (it's really for a car hauler I had 20 years ago). So I've kept it working all these years and yes, until I get an appropriately sized and functional winch installed on my Tacoma, it'll do... just need 3 snatch blocks!

BTW, I also appreciate the decent quality and prices at the farm supply shops.

Cheers, Walt
 

MOAK

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It's maybe laughable but I have a Superwinch 3500 (it's really for a car hauler I had 20 years ago). So I've kept it working all these years and yes, until I get an appropriately sized and functional winch installed on my Tacoma, it'll do... just need 3 snatch blocks!

BTW, I also appreciate the decent quality and prices at the farm supply shops.

Cheers, Walt
One block ull get you up to 7,000 :)