4x4Review Off Road Magazine
Electric versus Hydraulic…Hmmm…Nope, Not gonna do it. This debate rages on like locker versus posi, coil springs versus leaf springs. We will not be party to this competitive bashing, you can decide which is better. The Mile Marker Hydraulic winch has impressed me from the first day I saw one in use. Last spring I was fortunate enough to be the only journalist to cover the Mile Marker Atlas challenge. This event was a grueling two-week adventure through some of the toughest, most diverse terrain on the continent of Africa. While the event was sponsored by Mile Marker winches, no one was limited to a certain brand of winch. 14 vehicles entered the challenge and 12 were already equipped with Milemarker winches. After two weeks of watching the competitors abuse these winches in the Sahara desert and the Atlas Mountains, I knew this was one tough product. After the Atlas challenge I knew we had to get one of these winches in our hands and do some testing of our own.
We have now had our Milemarker installed on our project Jeep for about 4 months and its there to stay. Our first real test for the 10,500-pound Mile Marker winch was during a routine photo shoot on our project Blazer. The Blazer was flexing it new suspension on the side of a steep hill when the tires got wedged in a rut. A quick stab of the gas pedal produced an earth shattering snap, a front axle and a rear axle broke at the same time! Well, now we are really going to do some testing! We positioned the Jeep, and spooled out the cable. The Mile Marker winch pulled the 5000-pound Blazer right up the hill without even a slight strain. We made a few repairs, but since the rear of the Blazer is a C-clip style axle, we had no way of retaining the wheel and tire on the vehicle. We strapped the wheel and tire in place so that it would not come out, but now it could not turn either! At the bottom of the testing hill was a dry sand wash 200+ feet across. Our first attempt to tow the broken Blazer across simply buried the Jeep in the sand. Out came the winch cable again. 
This was by far the most load I have ever put on a winch before as the Blazer dug a trench with the left rear tire 12″ deep for 200+ feet. The weight of the vehicle and the soft nature of the sand required us to strap the Jeep to another vehicle to keep it from being pulled in toward the Blazer. It took 45 minutes of winching and repositioning the Jeep to free the Blazer from the sandpit. During this test, the Mile Marker winch never overheated, stalled, or even changed the idle speed of the Jeep, it just continued to pull! We also had the opportunity to test the winch during this year’s Petersens 4-Wheel and Off-road Ultimate Adventure. We used it numerous times to get our Jeep up, over and sometimes through insurmountable obstacles. It never let us down and continued to impress us and well as our friends. Needless to say we are convinced that the Mile Marker is one strong winch. Would we recommend a Mile Marker winch to our readers? Definitely.
Okay, with that said here are the major differences between the Mile Marker and its electric brethren. The Mile marker is more complicated to install; hydraulic hoses and fittings take a lot more time than a few electric cables. It is slower than electric winches during mid to low effort pulls, but at full load an electric can’t come close to its speed and power. It will not work without the vehicle running, but see how long an electric will last on battery power alone! It is a bit more confusing to operate because it is a two-speed winch. The levers on the winch must be changed from high to low or vice versa if the pull requires it. On the plus side, the Milemarker weighs 88 lbs., some 70 lbs. less than a similar size electric winch. The Mile Marker is incredibly quiet, no whining or squealing as it reaches full load. The Mile Marker only draws 2 amps under load and runs cool 
continuously, compared to a less powerful electric winch that draws some 400 plus amps. The Mile Marker is completely sealed and can be used when submerged under water. The Mile Marker can be run using the stock power steering pump. So as you can see the decision is yours to make, we are extremely impressed with the Mile Marker winch and look forward to years of trouble free use.
Note: For testing purposes and to maximize the power of the winch we installed an AGR Super P series power steering pump in the test Jeep. This pump flows 3.4 G.P.M. of fluid and produces 1500 P.S.I. It flows the optimum G.P.M. and P.S.I. for the Mile Marker winch. The winch can be used with a stock power steering pump, but ours was already leaking and made quite a bit of noise during high effort steering, so rather than just replace it, we upgraded it.
Mile Marker 2 Speed Winch (Model #75-50050C) Specifications
- 10,500 lb. single line maximum pull capacity @ 1500PSI (Integrated directional control valve)
- 2-Speed -High Gear ratio is 1 to 1, Low Gear ratio is 6 to 1 Planetary Gear set
- Uses 2 size 6 Steel Braided High Pressure Hoses – 4′ and 5′. 3000 PSI work load with 12000 PSI.
- Incorporates Female swivel JIC size 6 fittings on both ends.
- Uses 10″ X 4.5″ bolt pattern (4 bolts, 3/8″)
- Stainless Steel fasteners and Tie Bars
- Sealed with O-rings against the elements
- Freespooling
- 4 way roller fairlead
- 100′ X 3/8″ galvanized cable & hook (14,400 nominal breaking strength)
- 2.5″ diameter Drum
- 9″ flange width on Drum
- 12V Solenoid directional control valve. Flange mounted to Hydraulic Motor. 3 way with tandem center. Spring loaded to default to center when coils are not energized closing both ports to hydraulic motor when not in use. Has 2 Ports-P (IN FLOW), T (OUT FLOW). Energized Coil draws 2 amps. Maximum Pressure rating is 3000PSI@3.5 GPM.
- 12 ft. Lead hand control with Rocker switch (IN or OUT)-12 V
- 18 Cubic Inch White Hydraulic Motor (5 year warranty)- accepts solenoid valve
- Mechanical Lock
- Power IN or OUT
- Shipping Weight is 97 lbs.
- ***Optional*** Can be operated from OE Power Steering Pump with 35 Series Vehicle
- Adapter Kit
| Mile Marker | AGR Super Pump |
| Web Site: http://www.milemarker.com Email: winches@milemarker.com Phone: 1-800-886-8647 Address: 1450 SW 13th Ct., Pompano Beach, FL 33069 |
Web Site: http://www.agrsteering.com Email: agrinc@flash.net Phone: 1-800-662-3649 Address: 2610 Aviation Parkway, Grand Prairie, TX 75052 |
