A winch has been on my wish list ever since I stuck my `78 Scout Traveler a few feet from a hard packed road at Big Falls, near Eau Claire, Wisconsin. My wife still doesn't understand how I did that. I also discovered that day that Chevy Luv pickups are worthless for extracting a buddy who's stuck.

What a Chevy Luv is good for is giving you a ride home to call a tow truck to come and winch you out. After the driver put the outriggers down the mud finally released my Scout.

Beside the fact that the winching cost me $36, I had stuck the truck only twenty feet from a stand of pines. If you've wheeled in Wisconsin you know that trees are never very far out of reach. In this case, the trees were about ten feet further than the hand-winch (come-along) that we had. In addition, a Hi-Lift jack was still on my wish list at this time.

We've all been in situations where a winch would come in handy. In my case, I usually end up four-wheeling alone as my friends either a) don't have a truck; b) if they have a truck it is broken; or c) they are at work. In any case, I've done a lot of digging, transmission rocking, and walking as a result of the above conditions.

So, when my brother-in-law told me that he would be happy to sell me his Warn M5000 winch I was only too willing to agree. Granted, for you hard-core guys out there, a 5000 pound winch might seem light. But in my case, again, the price was right and it will, in the future very likely save me a long walk, and my wife's wrath (Yes, she is wise and understanding, but even she can only take so much).

On the plus side, a winch, any winch, adds to the coolness factor of a truck. In favor of the M5000, it is a Warn winch, it is lightweight, and should be easy to mount. The motor is a permanent magnet type, so the current draw will be lower on my battery.

On the downside, the winch is only a 5000 pounder. But hey, my truck only weighs in around 3000-4000 pounds, and a snatch block will double the pulling ability of the winch. Besides, I don't plan on doing Surprise Canyon any time soon. Also, since the motor is of the permanent magnet type, I'll have to be careful that I don't overheat it and burn it out.

I picked the winch up when I was on vacation in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Unfortunately when it was removed from Mark's truck he cut the positive power cable leading to the winch. Plus, the positive terminal on the winch was so corroded that the stud broke off at the housing when I tried to unbolt the end of the lead that had been cut.

The winch came with a Warn mounting channel and I had also purchased a Ramsey universal mount on eBay for $15.00. Clint L. put the torch to the Warn mount and chopped it into three pieces for me and I welded the two ends to the Ramsey plate, one on either side (obviously) to span the frame rails of the Jeepster. I used lap welds so it should be strong enough. As Clint says, "That'll only hold thirty tons!"

I bought a Bosch electric motor repair kit from an automotive electrical shop for, get this, $30.00!!! A little more expensive than I thought it should be. I'm sure I could have found it for less somewhere else, but I just wanted to finish the winch. I replaced the stud, put the cap and the brushes back on the end of the winch, and ran the long bolts back through the motor to the winch body. After the positive and negative leads were hooked up I put power to the winch and, to my surprise, it worked! Installation was simply a matter of bolting the mounting plate to the frame rails and bolting the winch to the plate.

What's next? I need to buy a roller fairlead and incorporate it into the C-Channel bumper via some sort of brush/deer guard.