A good old fashioned come-a-long has saved my butt more than once. Definitely a good item to throw in the tool box. A highlift comes in handy too when used as a winch. Or both as seen in this picture, when even 4 chained up 37" MTRs couldn't keep me on the trail. Luckily for me (not my passenger door) a tree stopped me. I ended up working at this one for 3 hours or so. driving backwards, tightening up the highlift, driving forward and tightening up the come-a-long, and so on, until I was back up on the trail.
On the portable type winches: I have used one before. My brother has his setup simularly for his XJ with cables running front and rear, except that it has a 2" receiver mount on it. I wired my truck for it so I could borrow it before I got my own(as seen below)- I ran it with only jumper cables to my optima for a while until I smoked some cables and wired it up right with the plug in and 2 gauge wire.
I don't really like the multi mount setup. The only plus I see is that it can be used backwards (a hard mounted one really could be if you aren't stuck in such a way to prevent running the cable underneath). I found in most situations, though, I planned on going forward through something and got stuck. So usually I planned on going forward anyway, so the best way out is to be pulled forward. Worst case, hopefully my buddy has a winch and can snatch around me an pull me backwards if he is in front or simply pull me backward.
A multimount is not my choice because:
1- It is nice that it can be stored in the garage, but when you need it, seems like it is alway in the garage
2- It is not a nice thing to store in the vehicle when it is not in use. I was always afraid it was going to get stolen since it came off and on so easy, so it always got stored in cargo. My brother bolts his down in the back of his XJ when not in use- it has a receiver secured in the cargo that it slides into. I, personally, am a little leery of that thing coming loose in a roll.
3- You really don't want to wheel with them on, because they are so big and hang off the front and destroy the approach angle, not mention catching that expensive winch hanging out there all alone on a ledge or something.
4- They are heavy and huge to move around in a stuck situation- I am short on cargo room as it is, so putting that thing inside my truck, securing it, then dragging it out if I need it just sucks. Hope you are stuck in such a way that makes your receiver accessible too. Usually, I stored the winch behind my passenger seat on top of the passenger rear seat that was folded. All strapped down and what not. It was a bear to get out with 1 guy. especially when the truck was sitting in a precarious position.
5- A receiver is somewhat marginal for a mount. They flop around somewhat loosely in the receivers when you have them in. clunking and what not. They aren't really good for side pulls because there is soo much leverage on that one spot and there is some length to them.
So? I like the hard mount. It is there when you need it. It is solidly mounted, secure, and you never have to worry about it. If you are in a sketchy spot, all it takes is a flip of the clutch button to get a line ran. I know, the one in the pic in the post above doesn't look like a multimount at all, but I think all of the above applies. I would probably do a multimount before I would do a loose winch bolted to a plate with some wires hanging off of it.
However, I did see a guy pulling a bull elk out of a ravine with a gas powered winch one time. He had it chained to a tree and he was hanging on for dear life with the throttle wide open! Pretty much a chain saw with a spool on it! Sweet!!
:
I know, I know any winch will die if you get them hot, but there is a reason most of the rigs out there that get wheeled have a red W peaking out of the grill.
