My Winch - What is it? Why I chose it? How to use it?
My winch is a Warn VR EVO 12S. It has a pulling power of 12 thousand pounds and has a synthetic line.
The VR EVO winch is Warn's more cost effective option, and their answer to the cheaper winches on the market.
Warn is a well known brand when it comes to winches. They are based in the US, and they manufacture their top of the line winches in the US, like the Zeon and Zeon Platinum. However, these winches are almost 2 and 3 times the price of the VR EVO respectively, and provide the same functionality.
Due to my budget, and what the VR EVO offered, I believe it was the best option for me. Although the VR EVO is manufactured overseas, Warn is a reputable brand, and is known in the industry for a reason. I have used this winch for over a year already and have had no issues, and am very satisfied with the build quality and its functionality.
For an overview of how it works and a video review, please click on the image below:
The VR EVO comes with a synthetic line that is 90 feet long, which is great, and provides sufficient line to be able to pull you out of most situations, providing you have a spot to winch to. However, more often than not, the distance that I need to winch is much shorter. This results in most of the line remaining on the drum when I use the winch, and therefore reducing the effective pulling power of the winch.
Without getting too scientific, the more line there is on the drum, the greater the diameter that the outgoing line is wrapped around, and therefore less pulling power. To solve this issue, you can either choose to winch to a mounting point that is very far away, or to do a double line pull, which involves a snatch block or pulley. However, these options require you to take a lot of line of the winch, and pull it back in, each time you need to use it. Instead, what I did was shorten my winch line to about 50 feet, and carry the additional line as an extension for when I actually need to do a long pull. This way I have more pulling power in every winch pull, and also put less stress on the winch and the battery.
When taking a lot of line off of the winch, it is important to ensure that you leave enough loops on the drum so that the line does not tear from winch. For synthetic line it is recommended to leave 11 loops on the drum, and for steel cable I believe it is 7 loops. Therefore I have used some duct-tape to mark the point at which only 11 loops are remaining on the drum. So whenever I winch I make sure that the mark is not visible past the fairlead.
Below you can see 5 wraps which is not enough:
Vs. below where I have 11 wraps on the drum:
Please use the below links for the products discussed in this review:
Note, some of the below links are affiliate links that give me a small percentage of the proceeds. Your support is greatly appreciated.
WARN 103255 VR EVO 12-S Electric 12V DC Winch with Synthetic Rope:
WARN 92090 Epic 3/8" Steel Winch Hook:
Maner Mount - 3rd gen Tacoma Winch Control Box Mount:
Maner Mount - 3rd gen Tacoma Winch Control Box Mount – Tandem Offroad
ARB GLOVES Recovery Gear and General Accessories