Seriously good question. I assume you are referring to electric vs. hydraulic.
To get a better understanding towards the differences between a electric winch and a hydraulic winch you need to know the basic principles behind it.
An electric winch is connected to your battery system, while a hydraulic winch is connected to your power steering pump in a series with your power steering box, and your hydro boost cylinder and relies on the pressure of your pump/system.
Basic Electric Winch Disadvantages
- Draws a significant load on your batteries, contrary to popular belief, your alternator does not provide enough of a charge to overcome the load your winch puts on your battery system. At idle an average truck alternator will produce a maximum of 90 amps (Our H1's have a peak of 124Amps @1800RPM), our factory Warn winches draw 109 Amps @ no load and 481(!!!)Amps at the full 12,000lb rating.
- Warn recommends (as does Mile Marker) to use our winches 1 minute ON for every 9 minutes OFF, that's 90% downtime.
- Very few electric winches will work fully submersed, and when they do they cause significant damage to the winch over time, most just short out as they get water across their brushes.
- As the load increases, the line in speed decreases, eventually coming up to a stall (maximum capacity of the winch), the larger the load, the quicker the motor heats up.
- Specific to our trucks, every electric winch will decrease our approach angle other than the MileMarker SE12000C, which uses the Hydraulic MM winch plate, and retains your factory (no winch) angle.
Basic Advantages
- Very portable, and easily movable between vehicles
- Will operate on remaining battery power, even when engine is off
- Easy to operate and install
- Inexpensive to implement
Basic Advantages of a Hydraulic winch
- Factory (no winch) mounting location, does not affect approach angle.
- Speed is not affected by load, it will retain its constant speed regardless of what load is on the winch up to it's maximum capacity (either 10,500 or 12,000)
- Winch is constant duty. You can run this 24hrs a day or until you run out of diesel and it will not heat up, it will not deteriorate in any way.
- Can run under water, fully submerged for as long as you need it or want it.
- Very reliable, very limited maintenance required
- Current military winch contract
Basic Disadvantage of a hydraulic winch
- Will not run with your engine off
- It gives priority to your brakes and steering, meaning that this now becomes a "self recovery winch" because it will not run if you are sitting in your cab, brakes applied recovering someone else. Either a line lock, strapping to another object or applying parking brakes is necessary.
- Fairly complex to install/integrate
- Costs similar to that of a quality electric winch
So in the end, the advantages of the hydraulic MileMarker are huge, especially if you use your winch frequently. However, it really does depend on that. You really need to look at how often you will use it, how often you rely on it just in case, whether the approach angle matters to you, and when and with who you do your offroading.
IF:
-You always offroad in groups, you rarely have seen a need for a winch, and you don't care about approach angle => Keep your stock Warn, otherwise don't waste the money
-You offroad alone or are usually trail leader, and you do not care about approach angle =>Keep your Warn, but make sure it's in good working order (10 years or older, do a complete overhaul)
-You offroad alone, find yourself pulling trucks out all the time when you do offroad with others, and generally use your winch a lot =>MileMarker Hydraulic all the way..
Notice how the MileMarker Electric (SE12000C) I didn't recommend anywhere even though it gives you a better approach angle? That is simple because I think it's a crap winch, I have seen nothing but poor reviews, and complaints in northern environments where the winches are exposed to a lot of salt.
That was almost an essay, hope it answers more questions than presents new ones!
