Just my two cents:
Here's my winch set up It's a 9,000-lb Superwinch. It's set up like ken's -- on a receiver so I only mount it on the trailer when I actually am using it. It almost never gets wet or exposed to weather aand it works great. The cable is still in great shape with no irish pennants ... yet.
I've used it to recover a lot of dead trucks, tractors and farm equipment. I use the snatch block whenever I can to reduce stress on the cable and make it last longer. In my Navy safety training, I've seen what damage a parted cable can do and I like having legs
So with that in mind, IMHO I would echo those who advocate not scrimping on tools that can kill or maim you if they fail. Winching a dead truck onto a trailer may look simple enough but the stresses are considerable and I would not want to trust my safety to tools I bought in a tent or from the lowest bidder. My recommendation, for what it's worth, is to take a deep breath, get out the check book and buy a bigger winch than you think you need from a brand name manufacturer. And then take care if it. It will take care of you.
When it comes to dragging thousands of pounds of dead steel up and down inclines, steel cables under tension, and the possibility of being maimed or killed, why are we even talking about buying cheap junk from China? Just askin'
