A lot more winch companies are popping up with price tags reading half of what a high-quality winch costs. Well, the rule of thumb is that you get what you pay for. What you save in greenbacks, you sometimes sacrifice in quality of componentry and potential reliability (or lack thereof). But maybe there's a happy medium: maybe there's a winch available that doesn't cost too much, but still comes with reliable, quality components. Well, we think we might have found that winch. In fact, we think this winch very well might up that ante and offer one of the highest quality winches for around a hundred bucks less than what a comparable winch would cost. Read on and you might very well find yourself wanting to take a step on the Australian side with T-Max winches.
 T-Max has two 10,000-pound...  T-Max has two 10,000-pound winches. We personally like the integrated unit shown here with its swoopy, modern design. They also offer a winch with a stand-alone control box that can be mounted away from the winch. Besides being a 500-pound heavier hitter than its competition, the 10,000-pound T-Max winch weighs in at only 88 pounds. It comes with 100 feet of 23/64-inch steel cable, a machined fairlead, a hook, and both wireless and wired controllers. |  The 10,000-pound T-Max has...  The 10,000-pound T-Max has a nice big chrome "free-spool" lever for the clutch. It engages a 218:1 gear (lower ratio; numerically higher than most) being pushed by a big 6.6hp series-wound electric motor that T-Max can use without fear of overheating thanks to billet steel gears that keep the heat down. It also looks to us like you can clock this drum to a different position should the free-spool lever come in too close a proximity to the bumper. In back of the free-spool lever, you can see the nice soft rubber plug that fits into the integrated control module. |  Control is the name of the...  Control is the name of the game with this winch. The Integrated Series winch comes with a built-in wireless receiver to work with an included wireless winch. On the non-integrated winches, a wireless control module can be wired in. The wireless remote will reach 200 feet before it stops controlling your winch. The wired controller is also impressive. It comes as three pieces: the water resistant plug that pushes in and turns to click into position, the ergonomically friendly controller, and the main cable body that has connectors at each end. This might seem a little unnecessary until the first time you run over your controller's cable and only have to buy the cable, instead of the plug, the cable, and the controller (which could get a little pricey). |
 Under the hood of this winch...  Under the hood of this winch is some modern technology that puts T-Max in a class by itself. T-Max does not use solenoids to control the winch, but instead has electromagnetic switches built into the integrated control module. This, along with the locking plug on the wired remote, allows this winch to be submersed and still come out functioning fine. |  Though the four bolts that...  Though the four bolts that held the winch to the bumper were standard, the two bolts that mounted the four-roller fairlead were metric (remember, the winch is made in China) and bigger than standard fairlead bolts. A drill bit made easy work of the holes, and we had the entire winch mounted and tugging on our truck in less than 30 minutes. |  |
| Winch | T-Max 10,000-Pound Integrated Series |
| Rated Line Pull | 10,000 pounds |
| Motor | 6.6hp series wound |
| Gear Train | Three-stage planetary |
| Gear Ratio | 218:1 |
| Brake | Automatic in the 2.52-inch-diameter drum |
| Wire Rope | 100 feet 231/464-inch cable |
| Weight (lb) | 88 |
| Dimensions (in) | 21.15x6.3x10.0 |
| Line speed (feet per minute) |
| No Load | 28.7 |
| 2,000 pounds | 16.5 |
| 4,000 pounds | 12.6 |
| 6,000 pounds | 9.4 |
| 8,000 pounds | 8.8 |
| 10,000 pounds | 6.4 |