Author Topic: Why not a come-along?  (Read 8908 times)

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Lewis Hein

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Why not a come-along?
« on: Jun 18, 2017, 11:15:23 AM »
Hi all,

After reading numerous debates about electric vs. hydraulic winches, I have a silly question. Why not just use a come-along?

Some advantages I see:

 - Works with the engine off but won't drain the battery
 - Won't make an oily mess or catch on fire if it breaks
 - Works for front or rear
 - Works for anywhere else, too.
 - Costs less: A good come-along can be had for under $300.

So why does anyone bother with anything else?

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Re: Why not a come-along?
« Reply #1 on: Jun 18, 2017, 11:17:44 AM »
Hi all,

After reading numerous debates about electric vs. hydraulic winches, I have a silly question. Why not just use a come-along?

Some advantages I see:

 - Works with the engine off but won't drain the battery
 - Won't make an oily mess or catch on fire if it breaks
 - Works for front or rear
 - Works for anywhere else, too.
 - Costs less: A good come-along can be had for under $300.

So why does anyone bother with anything else?
Comealongs are slow, have a short range (generally only a couple feet), and I much prefer pushing a button to actually working.

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Re: Why not a come-along?
« Reply #2 on: Jun 18, 2017, 11:27:10 AM »
Most people consider them a back-up to a winch. Probably a must have for an expedition type adventure especially if not part of a group.
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Re: Why not a come-along?
« Reply #3 on: Jun 18, 2017, 11:59:39 AM »
I've got the wyeth-scott more power puller come along and it is awesome! That said my winch is way more convenient and the come along rarely gets used on the trail. I still carry the come along and it is great for running around the hills in my DD "just in case"

Out of high school "wheeling" my trusty stock s15 GMC jimmy on 30's, the come along was a part of daily life.  It can be a lot of work if your really stuck.
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Re: Why not a come-along?
« Reply #4 on: Jun 18, 2017, 12:26:02 PM »
these days, for $300 you can get a winch, no it won't be a 12k top of the line unit, but for the off chance you may need it, should be fine.... I
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Re: Why not a come-along?
« Reply #5 on: Jun 18, 2017, 01:36:14 PM »
Hi all,


 - Costs less: A good come-along can be had for under $300.



I can get a used winch for that. I couldnt imagine winching my 4k lb rig 40 feet through mud with a hand winch
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Re: Why not a come-along?
« Reply #6 on: Jun 18, 2017, 04:03:01 PM »
Hi all,

After reading numerous debates about electric vs. hydraulic winches, I have a silly question. Why not just use a come-along?

Some advantages I see:

 - Works with the engine off but won't drain the battery
 - Won't make an oily mess or catch on fire if it breaks
 

So why does anyone bother with anything else?


I can get a used winch for that. I couldnt imagine winching my 4k lb rig 40 feet through mud with a hand winch

Your 4k lb rig is twice the weight if its in up to its balls in mud especially if its silt/clay and is sucking you down.


I pulled a landrover turd out of a ditch with a hi lift once, for two reasons.
1: driver was a tit and took the wrong line.
2: driver forgot to attach earth lead to 'broken' winch. Ergo he is a tit.

It was a laugh (not) i only actually moved the damn thing four feet but it took an hour and six to ten pulls two feet at a time pulling 12"of slack out each time as the ass of the thing was six feet in the air. It went in left wheel first.

Get a good winch, wire it correctly, service it regularly. Use it when stuck. Youll be glad you did.
Also, ive never seen a correctly fitted and used winch catch on fire, or spew oil. I have considered hydraulic many a time but they are to much of a faff.
Yeah they may be fast but if you buy the right parts an electric will go faster and your vehicle will be a hundred pounds lighter.
Carry snatch blocks and tree savers and you wont need the come along in that vehicle. Ever.
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Re: Why not a come-along?
« Reply #7 on: Jun 18, 2017, 04:12:54 PM »
at which point why not just use your hi lift. it's basically a come along with more range and more leverage.
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Re: Why not a come-along?
« Reply #8 on: Jun 19, 2017, 11:44:50 AM »
:boobs: :yesnod:
in the US, we like tits  :boobs: :yesnod:

Everyone likes boobs/tits/breasticles/chesticles/shirt potatoes/knockers/norks/fun bags/baps/puppies/titties/jugs/hooters
But being a tit has a different meaning to having tits. I shall rephrase to something more specific:- Arsehole
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Re: Why not a come-along?
« Reply #9 on: Jun 19, 2017, 06:25:20 PM »
:boobs: :yesnod:
in the US, we like tits  :boobs: :yesnod:
True, but his "tit" is our "boob".
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Re: Why not a come-along?
« Reply #10 on: Jun 19, 2017, 06:46:26 PM »
Here's a tit:




And here's a boobie:


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Re: Why not a come-along?
« Reply #11 on: Jun 20, 2017, 03:16:44 PM »
at which point why not just use your hi lift. it's basically a come along with more range and more leverage.

Cause youll die of heart faliure before you have moved four feet
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Re: Why not a come-along?
« Reply #12 on: Jun 20, 2017, 04:27:09 PM »
Cause youll die of heart faliure before you have moved four feet

It's only 30 pounds, geez. A spare tire weighs like 70 pounds...I don't see you dying when you gotta change it :gap:
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Re: Why not a come-along?
« Reply #13 on: Jun 20, 2017, 04:48:26 PM »
It's only 30 pounds, geez. A spare tire weighs like 70 pounds...I don't see you dying when you gotta change it :gap:
 
you clearly have never used a highlift to pull a really stuck truck out
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Re: Why not a come-along?
« Reply #14 on: Jun 20, 2017, 06:24:13 PM »
Rebuttal time:

Comealongs are slow, have a short range (generally only a couple feet)

A couple feet?? The more-power puller has a range up to 40' single line, 20' double line. That IS less than 60-100 feet on a winch, but seems totally manageable.

I much prefer pushing a button to actually working.
Don't we all. This is a clear advantage of a power winch


Your 4k lb rig is twice the weight if its in up to its balls in mud especially if its silt/clay and is sucking you down.


I pulled a landrover turd out of a ditch with a hi lift once, for two reasons.
1: driver was a tit and took the wrong line.
2: driver forgot to attach earth lead to 'broken' winch. Ergo he is a tit.

It was a laugh (not) i only actually moved the damn thing four feet but it took an hour and six to ten pulls two feet at a time pulling 12"of slack out each time as the ass of the thing was six feet in the air. It went in left wheel first.

Get a good winch, wire it correctly, service it regularly. Use it when stuck. Youll be glad you did.
Also, i've never seen a correctly fitted and used winch catch on fire, or spew oil. I have considered hydraulic many a time but they are to much of a faff.
Yeah they may be fast but if you buy the right parts an electric will go faster and your vehicle will be a hundred pounds lighter.
Carry snatch blocks and tree savers and you wont need the come along in that vehicle. Ever.

I'm not sure I am envisioning the situation you describe, and why you couldn't pull it all at once. I'm sure there was a reason, but I wasn't there.
Quote
Get a good winch, wire it correctly, service it regularly. Use it when stuck. Youll be glad you did.
Also, i've never seen a correctly fitted and used winch catch on fire, or spew oil. I have considered hydraulic many a time but they are to much of a faff.
Yeah they may be fast but if you buy the right parts an electric will go faster and your vehicle will be a hundred pounds lighter.
Carry snatch blocks and tree savers and you wont need the come along in that vehicle. Ever.
And when you have done so, you will have spent twice the price of the highest-grade more-power puller. And you'll only have a winch on one end. And said winch will not be good for much besides winching vehicles.

So, maybe an answer to my original question: It's a double trade-off between specialization vs. versatility and cost vs. performance. I would choose a come-along any day for extra utility and lower cost except maybe the day I got stuck really, really badly and have to winch myself out with it. But those days are so rare in my life that a come-along wins (for me).

Actually, those days are non-existent. Due to occasional stupidity, I've been stuck badly enough that a winch would have helped. But despite occasional stupidity, I've never been stuck so badly that I needed a winch to get out. So far, jacks, shovels, tire chains, and saws have sufficed.

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Re: Why not a come-along?
« Reply #15 on: Jun 20, 2017, 08:11:42 PM »
Come-alongs are fine.........



when your sister does the work.....





I then used it to pull the 64 valiant up the trailer....


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Re: Why not a come-along?
« Reply #16 on: Jun 21, 2017, 03:20:32 AM »
I never said come alongs werent ok. Fine for flat ground as the pictures prove. Now bury it to its axles leave it for two days after a rain storm. Then go pull it out.
The right tool for the right application.

Rebuttal time:

A couple feet?? The more-power puller has a range up to 40' single line, 20' double line. That IS less than 60-100 feet on a winch, but seems totally manageable.
Don't we all. This is a clear advantage of a power winch

I'm not sure I am envisioning the situation you describe, and why you couldn't pull it all at once. I'm sure there was a reason, but I wasn't there.
Quote

Cause you cant move something ten feet that only moves four feet at a time less the two feet of slack cable to be pulled taught.

I agree that come alongs will pull as long as the cable.. but for something that has truck weight capacity they are enormous and so is the snake of cable. Id still take a winch mounted on the bumper which comes with integral cable storage. If your worried about cost buy a second hand smittybilt off ebay

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Re: Why not a come-along?
« Reply #17 on: Jun 21, 2017, 05:33:39 AM »
 
you clearly have never used a highlift to pull a really stuck truck out

No, but I've used it for everything else. all day pulling stumps, change tractor tires, etc. If you're going up a gnarly trail and all you've brought is a hi lift, then that's your own fault, but most people who have a hi lift have never taken it off their hood hinge mount (if you get what I'm saying there).

In my application and region, level of offroad I do, etc, a Hi lift should be just fine. It's rock hard dirt that would challenge a backhoe, and mostly stuff you can drive on with open open and enough throttle. Although I don't fully agree with Lewis Hein in the sense that you couldn't move a winch from the front to the back (far from ideal, more than possible), I agree that a Hi Lift is sufficient for most guys depending on where you live.

Price comparison, a hi lift is like 80 bucks for anything usable, AKA the 60 inch and not the 36 inch like I see on all the JKs
power puller is anywhere from 50 bucks for a cheapo one, and 300 for the top of the line
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Re: Why not a come-along?
« Reply #18 on: Jun 21, 2017, 09:30:14 AM »
In my early days I carried both a more power puller and a hi-lift.  The come a long was really handy for some stuff but I ended up using the hi-lift about 90% of the time.  I also got good enough at winching with the hi-lift that I quit carrying the come a long.

Most of the time I just used the hi-lift to cast or stack though.  As I got lockers and good gearing I needed the hi-lift less and less.  After the typical solid axle swap and taller setup the hi-lift became nearly useless as I could barely get the truck off the ground with it anyway.  I also got stuck less and less.  Eventually I got a Warn M8000 and pretty much haven't looked back.  We were typically wheeling with somebody, so with that you find it's way more efficient just to use a good nylon strap or kinetic rope for minor recoveries.

I still like to carry the hi-lift on my smaller truck with just lockers and 31s.  It is quite handy there.

The answer is anything is better than nothing, use what you can afford and by all means buy a good yank strap, bubba rope, etc.

A winch is well worth it, but cheap ones always bite you in the rear when you really need them.
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Re: Why not a come-along?
« Reply #19 on: Jun 21, 2017, 10:48:22 AM »
One advantage of being open-open is you generally can't get as stuck. A friend of mine was warned when he went to dual lockers that he could now get more stuck farther from home.
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Re: Why not a come-along?
« Reply #20 on: Jun 21, 2017, 12:25:50 PM »
Electric winch, high-lift with a come-along as back-up is my recipe. Everyone to there own.  When jammed between a bunch large rocks, it's winchin' time!   :thumbs:
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Re: Why not a come-along?
« Reply #21 on: Jul 09, 2017, 06:37:01 PM »
Interesting discussion...

After 20+ years of very active off-roading and 4-wheeling, I think I’ve seen a few times that required winching a vehicle.

Lewis your question is silly, but I understand your point of view, which may be because of your lack of experience on serious 4-wheeling trails.

On the trail, in a group, if I got stuck enough to need pulling and I pulled out a come-along or more-power from my truck, the guys would be snapping photos to post on YouTube or Facebook and laughing so hard we’d have to take a snack break!

On the trail, there is no comparison to the power, versatility, efficiency, and SPEED of a properly installed 8000 lb. electric winch to anything else that is hand operated.

I had an 8K lb. Ramsey on my ’86.  With 35 feet per minute pull speed and 100 feet of cable it was adequate for most of what I saw on the rockcrawling trails I’ve been on.  I never once used it for getting my truck unstuck, I used it a half dozen times getting someone else’s vehicle unstuck.

On my 85, I had 60” High Lift jack that I mounted when I went wheeling, but I only used it to help someone else.

Today, if I were to get back into serious rockcrawling, or just going off exploring 4x4 trails, my truck would be equipped with a winch and a professionally installed roll cage, and I’d carry a 30 foot snatch strap.  Here in AZ there are rock crawling trails and obstacles that will require some winching.

When I first started exploring off-road trails in 1986, I went out by myself often… not recommended. I carried a $25 come-along and 100 feet of rope, and 30 ft snatch strap. The come-along only weighed 6 or 7 lbs. and fit nicely in action packer.  I never used it.

With that said, if you can’t afford a winch, then a come-along and High Lift jack might work to get you out of trouble. 

During my active wheeling days, I was very lucky… never had to be winched, or blew a tire on the trail.

By the way, I once watched a guy pull a tree stump out of the ground with his winch.

I have seen batteries drained after a winching.
I have never seen a winch spew oil or catch fire.
I have seen a winch used in the front end and the back end of a vehicle.
There are number of electric winches on the market for $300!!

I like perky tits, but I'm really a butt man!

That’s just my opinion – it may be worthless.

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« Last Edit: Jul 09, 2017, 06:56:03 PM by Gnarly4X »
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Re: Why not a come-along?
« Reply #22 on: Jul 09, 2017, 06:48:04 PM »
.....  When jammed between a bunch large rocks, it's winchin' time!   :thumbs:

Yep.
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Lewis Hein [OP]

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Re: Why not a come-along?
« Reply #23 on: Jul 10, 2017, 04:13:44 PM »
I see that this is a question of priorities. I've been stuck more times than I care to count, but for me it's usually a preventable accident and occasionally a necessity rather than a result of trying to go somewhere impassible for the fun of it. I find shovels, tire chains and jacks to be useful more often than any winch would be, anyway.

Thus, in my case, the "nuisance cost" of a hand winch is negligible. Besides, winching by hand may be a nuisance; a drained battery in wintertime miles from cell service could be a disaster.

This, in turn, is my potentially worthless opinion.

Lewis

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Re: Why not a come-along?
« Reply #24 on: Jul 10, 2017, 08:06:26 PM »
Hey Lewis.

During my years of wheeling, I got stuck a good number of times.  Most often the vehicle in front of me or behind me would just stick a snatch strap on one of my tow hooks and just give me a little yank or soft pull. :yesnod:

I can see how the decision based on “priorities” to use various equipment or tools to get unstuck is a personal choice.  However, in general 4-wheeling, the use of a winch over some other device or tool is simply a matter of practicality, and when it IS used it is typically “a necessity”.  :thumbsup:

I have seen shovels used in mud and sand. :thumbs:

I have seen tire chains used to get unstuck. :thumbs:

I have seen jacks used. :thumbs:

If I were wheeling alone – no other vehicle – there’s no way I would deliberately completely drain my vehicle battery in an effort to get myself unstuck using my winch.  As long as I kept the engine running, the alternator will recharge the discharged battery.  Wheeling with another vehicle or in a group, there is no real danger of a disaster because of a completely drained battery - even if you were careless or stupid enough to do that.  :shake:

Wheeling solo obviously imposes a lot more safety concerns.  When I went solo for the day, before leaving, I always showed my wife where I was going and the route I planned to take on one of my topo maps, when I planned to return, and her action plan A and B in the event I did not return as planned.  I always carried a gun and ammo, a CB radio, my truck had the old analog cell phone, but back then the coverage was skimpy and non-existent on the trails.  I carried enough water for 3 to 5 days and food for 5 to 10 days rationed for survival mode.  In addition to my normal tool boxes and robust list of spare parts, air compressor, I carried proper clothing options and a first aid kit.  And, I carried 2 cans of fluorescent red and orange spray paint.   :yesnod:

What do think the spray paint would have been used for? :)

The spray paint was in case my truck was disabled or I knew I was better off staying with my truck and waiting it out for help to come. I figured that if there was an all out rescue for me, there would be an air craft search, I would spray paint the top of my white truck so I would be more visible from the air.  :D

When exploring into unfamiliar trails and canyons, I would stop when I made a turn into another road or off the main trail, open my door and reach down and spray a patch fluorescent paint on of rocks or dirt. That way on my way out, I’d have a visual clue where I turned.  :thumbs:

So… whatever tools makes YOU feel good about using, that’s what you should use.  :beerchug:

Your opinion is only potentially worthless if your selection of tools don’t work for you.  :gap:

Gnarls. :spin:
« Last Edit: Jul 11, 2017, 02:07:59 AM by Gnarly4X »
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