- What can a 4000 lb portable winch pull? Its rated 4,000 lb for the first 8.5 feet of rope, and less every wrap after that.
- Warrior's own layer table for the Trojan: 4,000 lb on layer one, then 3,351, then 2,883, then 2,530 lb with all 49 feet out.[1]
- Two of these winches dragged a skid steer out of frozen ground on camera. It was missing a track at the time.
- A snatch block or winch ring roughly doubles the pull and roughly halves the speed.[2][4]
- The winch is rarely the weak link. The anchor usually is. $399.99, no mount, no wiring.
1. Two little winches and a tow bill
Rick's in Georgia with a 10x10 military truck he bought at auction, it won't run, and the yard kicks everybody out at 11:00. He's doing the arithmetic everybody does eventually.
"Well, I've got two of those little winches in the box. I don't really feel like paying a tow bill, babe."Wrecker Rick, 23:42, "I Bought A 10X10 Military HEMTT And Tried Driving It 1855 Miles Home"
That day the box winches didn't get the call. A lowboy showed up and a wrecker came over to load it, because a dead 10x10 on flat tires isn't a portable-winch job. But the question he asked out loud is the right one.
2. The rating is a first-layer number
4,000 lb is what the winch pulls with one layer of rope on the drum. Not two. One. Almost nobody mentions that when they quote a rating.
As rope spools on, the drum gets fatter, and the same motor working against a bigger radius makes less pull at the rope. Warrior publishes the whole drop-off.[1]
| Layer of rope | Rated line pull | Rope on the drum |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4,000 lb | 8.5 ft |
| 2 | 3,351 lb | 18.7 ft |
| 3 | 2,883 lb | 29.8 ft |
| 4 | 2,530 lb | 42.0 ft |
Read that bottom row again. With most of its 49 feet of rope wound on, this winch pulls 2,530 lb. That's 63% of the number on the box, and it's what you're actually working with any time the anchor is more than a few feet away.
That isn't a knock on the Trojan. Every drum winch behaves this way and the good ones publish the table. It just means your planning figure is 2,500 lb, and anything above it needs rigging rather than optimism.
3. What two of them actually pulled
Not in this episode, though. For that you have to go to the small-business rescue, the one where Rick flew the family 1,500 miles to Nebraska, because it's the only footage where two of these winches are the whole plan. A skid steer frozen into the ground in a spring that looks like a swamp. He talks the rigging through before he starts, and the maths is his, out loud, on camera.
"Got two 4,000-lb Warrior winches. And I've got a snatch block on each one of those, doubling its line pull to 8,000 lb per winch. Going to a Yankum 5:1. That multiplies that 8,000 by five on each side. And of course, we'll lose about 10 to 15% to friction, but we ought to be pulling around 30,000 lb apiece."Wrecker Rick, 37:10, "Nobody Would Save This Small Business… So My Family Flew 1500 Miles"
And then, in the very next breath, the part that makes him worth listening to: "We won't get the skid steers to anchor 30,000 lb apiece."
That's the whole lesson. The rigging could multiply two little winches into serious force. What limits the pull isn't the winches. It's what he's anchored to, which is two skid steers with their grapples dug into the ground.
It worked. And he tells you what they were up against.
"So not only are we pulling a skid steer out with 4,000 lb box winches that was frozen to the ground, it also doesn't have a track on the left side."Wrecker Rick, 1:04:31, the same episode
Frozen in, one track gone, moved a few feet at a time while he shuffled the anchors along behind it. Not one heroic yank. An hour of small wins.
4. When you rig a snatch block
The move that turns 2,500 lb of working pull into something useful is mechanical advantage. Cheapest upgrade in recovery.
Run the line out to a block at the anchor and back to your own vehicle, and the load splits over two strands. BFGoodrich: that setup "doubles your winch's pulling force and reduces the strain on the motor."[2] Zips AW Direct, who supply the blocks Rick runs, say the same: "Oftentimes this doubles the pulling force."[3]
Nothing's free. Grand Lifting states the trade: a two-part line "halves the line speed but effectively doubles the winch's capacity."[4] Your 4.9 ft/min becomes about half that. Fine. You're not racing anything.
Two things to get right first. Match the block to the line, because a block has its own working load limit and Zips are clear you should "verify that the working load limit (WLL) of the winch line and snatch block are compatible."[3] And the anchor now takes more than the winch is pulling, which is the limit Rick called out on those skid steers.
4,000 lb on the first layer, 2,530 lb with all 49 ft out. Carry case, quick-connect cord and clips, wired remote, gloves, pulley block, three shackles, two straps. No mount, no wiring, 42 lb.
5. Where you anchor a winch that's bolted to nothing
This is the question a portable asks that a bumper winch never does. A mounted winch is anchored to your truck. A winch in a box is anchored to whatever you can find.
BFGoodrich's rule is short: "Find a strong anchor like a rock, tree, or another vehicle."[2] And two things they say never to do, both of which people do anyway: "Do not wrap a tree directly with a winch line, always use a tree strap" and "Do not wrap a tree strap high up the trunk, always close to the base."[2]
On a vehicle, a recovery point in the receiver gives you something rated to pull against. The 2" point is rated to a 13,200 lb working load limit at a 5:1 factor of safety, the 2.5" Class V to 18,000 lb. Both carry the same warning, and it matters more than the rating: pull in line with the hitch, never side-pull.
49 ft of synthetic rope, a pulley block and shackles in the case. The one Rick carries in the bed.
Its own rules: electric bumper-mounted winches rated 12,000 lb or less, synthetic HMPE line no larger than 7/16 in, never steel cable, never past a 5:1.
13,200 lb working load limit at 5:1, CNC machined from 6061 aluminium. In line with the hitch only. Receiver pin not included.
18,000 lb working load limit at 5:1, chamfered so a soft shackle runs on it. Same rule: in line with the hitch, never a side pull.
6. Portable or bumper-mounted?
They're not the same tool, and they're not really rivals.
A bumper winch pulls harder, it's always there, and it only points one way: wherever the front of the truck is aimed. A portable pulls less and goes anywhere. In the bed. On the trailer. Round the back where no mounted winch reaches. Rick carries two alongside a wrecker with hydraulic winches on it, which tells you they're a different job, not a smaller one.
Own a truck with a bumper worth mounting to? Mount one. Tow, work around trailers, or want a winch you can use on somebody else's rig? The box wins.
7. Before you pull on anything
Quoted from non-competitor recovery and rigging sources.
- Gloves on. "Do not winch without gloves."[2]
- Leave wraps on the drum. Keep at least 4 to 5 wraps of line on it, or the rope can lose its grip on the drum entirely.[2]
- Tree strap, low on the trunk. "Do not wrap a tree directly with a winch line, always use a tree strap." "Do not wrap a tree strap high up the trunk, always close to the base."[2]
- Check the block before every pull. "Daily inspection of each snatch block is recommended prior to use."[3] A block that has taken a shock load "must be removed from service immediately."[4]
- Pull in line. "Do not apply side loads to your recovery points."[2]
- Dampener on, everybody back. "Do not winch without a line dampener in place," and stand farther back than the full length of the line.[2]
- Let it cool. "Take periodic breaks to avoid overheating the winch motor, especially with electric systems."[2]
Sources: [2] BFGoodrich, 4x4 Driving Guide: Recovery Techniques · [3] Zips AW Direct, Get To Know Snatch Blocks · [4] Grand Lifting, How To Use a Snatch Block
8. The bottom line
A 4,000 lb portable pulls its rating for about eight and a half feet, then settles to around 2,500 lb for the rest of the rope. Plan with that. It's still plenty for most of what one gets asked to do.
When it isn't enough, you rig. A block doubles it. Two winches double it again. Then the job stops being about the winch and starts being about what you're pulling against.
Two little winches in a box pulled a frozen skid steer with a track missing out of the ground. Slowly, in stages, with good rigging. That's what they can do.
Sources
- Warrior Winches, published specification sheet, Trojan 4,000 lb 12v portable utility winch. Layer table: layer 1 → 4,000 lb, 8.5 ft on drum; layer 2 → 3,351 lb, 18.7 ft; layer 3 → 2,883 lb, 29.8 ft; layer 4 → 2,530 lb, 42.0 ft. Cable size 0.20 in × 49 ft synthetic; weight 42 lb; line speed 4.9 ft/min at 4,000 lb. Fetched 2026-09-19. warriorwinches.com/products/warrior-portable-4000-trojan-winch
- BFGoodrich, "4x4 Driving Guide: Recovery Techniques." Double-line recovery "doubles your winch's pulling force and reduces the strain on the motor." "Find a strong anchor like a rock, tree, or another vehicle." "Do not wrap a tree directly with a winch line, always use a tree strap." "Do not wrap a tree strap high up the trunk, always close to the base." "Also allow at least 4 to 5 wraps of winch line to remain on the drum." Plus the quoted gloves, dampener, side-load and motor-cooling rules. Fetched 2026-09-19. bfgoodrichtires.com/auto/learn/4x4-driving-guide/recovery-techniques
- Zips AW Direct, "Get to Know Snatch Blocks: Their Uses, Parts and Care." "By running winch lines back through snatch blocks, operators can also increase the capacity of their winch lines. Oftentimes this doubles the pulling force." "Daily inspection of each snatch block is recommended prior to use." "verify that the working load limit (WLL) of the winch line and snatch block are compatible." Fetched 2026-09-19. zips.com/blog/get-to-know-snatch-blocks-their-uses-parts-and-care
- Grand Lifting, "How to Use a Snatch Block for Industrial Lifting and Rigging." "This system halves the line speed but effectively doubles the winch's capacity." "Any block that has been subjected to a shock load or shows any signs of damage must be removed from service immediately." Fetched 2026-09-19. grandlifting.com/blog/how-to-use-a-snatch-block-for-industrial-lifting-and-rigging
Prices and stock confirmed against the live Murphy's Diesel storefront on September 19, 2026.