Gorilla Silverback Series 10,000lb--$474.99
In the Box: With 10,000lbs of pulling power for under $500, the Gorilla Silverback promised big grunt for short money. It's one heavy sucker with an integrated solenoid pack shielded by a sheetmetal casing and thick 9?25-inch cable. The unit includes the winch cable, forged hook with safety pull strap, roller fairlead, winch and fairlead mounting hardware, instructions, battery leads, and remote.
Quality and Installation: After attaching the negative battery cable it was short work to mount the winch. The same cannot be said for routing the cable through the supplied roller fairlead. The cable swedge on the big 9?25-inch cable was too fat to fit through. We tried hammering it flatter on a steel anvil with a 3lb sledge (never grind a cable swedge) but we weren't able to reduce the thickness enough to fit through any roller fairleads from our test. Instead, we were able to work the cable through a Hawse fairlead, which worked out fine.
Function and Performance: Before heading to our off-road test area we performed a cable spooling for each winch. It's a necessary operation for any new winch cable or rope to ensure the cable is wrapped tightly and doesn't bite into itself under load. We used a diesel pickup at the end of Hazel's driveway as a winch anchor, then spooled in the length of the cable winching our Wrangler up the steep driveway with the E-brake lever engaged a few clicks to provide some extra resistance. With about 40-feet of cable left, the Silverback 10,000 made a couple loud clicking sounds, so we stopped winching and reversed the motor a foot or two. Then we winched in a foot or two and stopped to reposition the winch line. Then the unit wouldn't engage anymore. The motor would engage in Reverse, but not Forward, so our guess is it suffered a solenoid failure.
Notes:
*Gorilla Winches included some of its optional extras such as wireless pendant remote, neoprene winch cover, and a rubber winch stopper.
*Beefy and heavy feeling
*Good clutch level position.
*The Silverback exhibited the same lack of freespool tension and propensity to backlash the cable when the clutch was disengaged as the Gorilla Midnight Series and Bulldog winches.
*Gorilla offered to send us another solenoid pack and its winches come with a limited lifetime warranty for just such an unusual circumstance.
*The company also offered to send a call tag to pick up the unit free of shipping charges, but we didn't have enough time in our test schedule to fix our unit or get another winch for testing before our story deadline.
Bottom Line: The freespooling action with the clutch disengaged is an undesirable attribute. Otherwise, the solenoid failure didn't allow us time to develop any performance impressions.
Mile Marker PEC8--$409.99
In the Box: Mile Marker's 8,000lb PEC8 winch is packed with some really cool features. The winch includes cable, forged and anodized hook with safety pull strap, a powdercoated roller fairlead, anodized winch and fairlead mounting hardware, remote, very detailed instructions, and a solenoid pack with the mounting brackets pre-attached.
Quality and Installation: While the PEC8 may be an inexpensive winch, it's worlds away from anything resembling cheap. We said "wow" more than a few times when discovering some of its features. A few that topped our list were the color-coded battery and solenoid leads that come pre-sleeved with Mile Marker's FRP (fiberglass reinforced polymer) sheathing, the solenoid pack's integrated On/Off knob that cuts power from the battery to the solenoids, and the illuminated color LED lights on the solenoid pack and remote. Blue is power on, Green is winching In, and Red is winching Out. The remote features the same LED lights.
Function and Performance: OK, the line speed is pretty slow. That's the only negative. Otherwise, the motor chugged away with the steadiness of industrial machinery no matter what we threw at it. The winch has a very solid and sure feeling from the clutch engagement to the screw-in remote plug, to the solenoid On/Off knob. The remote is plastic, but sturdy. The company also offers wireless remotes for an additional price, but we prefer the cable-type.
Notes:
*Instructions cover how to clock the winch in 30-degree increments and covers basic winching techniques.
*Fairlead drilled with two sets of holes for greater mounting versatility
*Solenoid pack easily mounted to side of winch body above motor.
*All hardware, hook, and battery terminals anodized for corrosion resistance
*Winch remote plug includes screw-on cap to keep terminal plugs on remote clean when not plugged in
Bottom Line: If you've got the time, it's an incredibly nice winch for the money!