After much consideration, I bought and installed a Warn Zeon 10-s winch. GoWarn offered the standard price on the winch, free shipping, and a free $130 wireless remote. I liked it all and bought it.
However, my other choice was the Quadratec Q10000C (Competition). It weighs 55 lbs, has 10,000 lb pull, draws 300 A @ 8000 lbs, has 50' of synthetic rope, all for $600.
It's not that I think the Q10000 is a better winch, but I do believe it is a reliable winch. Some perspective: I could have bought two Q10000C's for the price I paid for my Zeon 10-s. Now I'm not sure what the significance is here, other than the obvious cost factor.
Another asset of the Q10000C is it's a bit more compact, and it draws about 17% less current at 8000 lbs. That is not necessarily significant, but something.
For many, the 50' line would be a problem. I thought that too, but on re-thinking, it likely would not be for me, i.e. me specifically. I don't plan to do hard core off-roading so it's doubtful that I would ever need to winch more than 10-20 feet much less likely need to winch 50'.
Of course it is likely that I would need to reach an anchor further than 50' feet away, but that could be done with a second cable. The second cable only becomes an issue if you have to winch further than the length of your winch cable and even then there are techniques to 'capture' progress and reset. Also there's that winch distance again, it is highly unlikely I would ever have to winch more than 50 feet to clear problem.
All that being said, if you find yourself selecting a winch and your applications are similar to mine, I would really have to think hard about going for the twice as expensive Warn winch.
Don't get me wrong, I'm very happy and satisfied with the Zeon but at the same time, it may have been an 'over buy' - for me.
However, my other choice was the Quadratec Q10000C (Competition). It weighs 55 lbs, has 10,000 lb pull, draws 300 A @ 8000 lbs, has 50' of synthetic rope, all for $600.
It's not that I think the Q10000 is a better winch, but I do believe it is a reliable winch. Some perspective: I could have bought two Q10000C's for the price I paid for my Zeon 10-s. Now I'm not sure what the significance is here, other than the obvious cost factor.
Another asset of the Q10000C is it's a bit more compact, and it draws about 17% less current at 8000 lbs. That is not necessarily significant, but something.
For many, the 50' line would be a problem. I thought that too, but on re-thinking, it likely would not be for me, i.e. me specifically. I don't plan to do hard core off-roading so it's doubtful that I would ever need to winch more than 10-20 feet much less likely need to winch 50'.
Of course it is likely that I would need to reach an anchor further than 50' feet away, but that could be done with a second cable. The second cable only becomes an issue if you have to winch further than the length of your winch cable and even then there are techniques to 'capture' progress and reset. Also there's that winch distance again, it is highly unlikely I would ever have to winch more than 50 feet to clear problem.
All that being said, if you find yourself selecting a winch and your applications are similar to mine, I would really have to think hard about going for the twice as expensive Warn winch.
Don't get me wrong, I'm very happy and satisfied with the Zeon but at the same time, it may have been an 'over buy' - for me.