Winches, Scale looking or servo and why?

[Brlowe]

I'm building a SCX10-II and I will be putting a winch on it but I'm undecided on what style.
Are they just for looks or do you need them if you compete?
Will they pull your truck out of tight places or do they not really have that much power?

Of the scale looking models which one has the most power?
Do you control them with a free radio channel or a different controller?

[malickie]

All of those questions have multiple answers

Some use them just for looks, other's use them because they do add points in comp and some comps even suggest outfitting your rig with one.

As far as I know most winches can pull the truck out of tight spaces if you have a decent anchor to use and or tie up to, also depends a little bit on the line as well.

Not sure which has the most power, personally don't own one myself.
Again a multiple answer, some you can control with a free radio channel so long as it is a 3 switch channel (I think, someone else can chime in on the channels) the other way some function is by using an entirely seperate controller, and I think some are manual too.

Mind you I am still fairly new to the hobby (Less than a year) so some of my answers may be incorrect and or incomplete.

[Jeepy84]

Servo winches far and away have more power (and can handle more power thrown at them) than the scale winches. It's all a matter of motor size and gear strength.

That said, it does take a bit more tinkering usually to get one to fit in the truck. On a 10.2, they provide that spot behind the steering servo, and integral line guides for an external spool servo winch. You can go that route easily, or with a little ingenuity, you can use an internal spool and run the line around the side of the steering servo.

I went that route because I tend to build piggy trucks. All my rigs run Precision RC H.o.G. (Hand of God) 270oz. internal spool winches.

For control, I have a 4ch radio, so I use one of those channels and a Spare Time Hobbies Dragon winch controller. The thing about them is that they put full battery power to the winch as they are basically just a relay controlled via radio, no bottleneck circuitry. On 4s, my winch gets second looks as it screams in on a pull. I can lift the whole truck 6 foot vertical in a matter of seconds.

The other option is a separate controller with fob. Sometimes you just have to settle due to budgets, I get that. I can also tell you, if you're planning to stay in this hobby, save up for a 3-4 channel radio, cause I cannot tell you how many people I've watched while course judging, fumble with a wireless fob and try driving at the same time. We humans only have two hands. And Flysky radios, which can be hacked for up to 8 channels are relatively cheap.

Once you really get into the hobby and build a Class 0, that is when you have to use a scale bumper mounted winch. I'll probably go with the RC4WD Warn 8724 or it's SSD cousin, but still run it via Dragon and my radio.

It all comes down however, to what you want to do in this hobby. My perspective is from the comp side. Back when I just had one scx10, and I drove it down trails in the state park by my lonesome, I just used my hand if I got in a stuck. I might've got a cheap scale winch back then, but, college student budget and all that.

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