Since there are so many advantages to switching from a cable winch line to a synthetic winch line, (which if you haven’t already read about you can do so HERE) it was time to upgrade our setup to run on synthetic line. Being that my formal education is in Risk Management, I did a lot of research to make sure we picked a setup that had as few weak points as possible. Our research lead us to decide on a winch designed with the unique requirements of the Dyneema rope in mind.
How can a winch be “designed for synthetic line use”?
Its simple, all you have to do is ask “What are the weaknesses of synthetic winch lines?” A little bit of research with tell you that it’s two forms of kryptonite are: Heat & Abrasion.
We can prevent one of those weaknesses from happening by choosing the right winch, and the other by careful planning and the use of rock protectors/sleeves while executing an extraction.
Why We Choose the Superwinch Tiger Shark 9500 SR
First of all it has the best price entry point, which makes for an easy decision when it’s backed up with great design principals that you can learn about below.
All winches use a winch drum to both spool in/out the winch line, but most also make the drum run double duty as an easy location for the winch brake; to hold everything in place while the winch is in a “static mode”.
One of the few things we remember from physics class, is that energy cannot be created or destroyed, only converted. In the case of brakes we are converting mechanical energy into (mostly) heat energy. So when a winch brake is located in the drum its easy to see that its easily plausible that heat energy can transfer to the rope.
What Superwinch has cleverly done in an effort to avoid this potentially dangerous situation is to relocate the brake from the drum (like everyone else has done for years including themselves) to the motor, which I believe they are the first and the only brand to do so! (leave a comment down below if I am wrong).
They didn’t stop there, they also increased flange and tube thickness of the new drum to withstand the synthetic rope while diving between layers. (To be honest I never knew that this was an issue, but it can’t hurt to have that extra protection!)
One thing that did concern me about their setup was if I was really getting a Dyneema winch line or just a junkie “off brand” competitor. After a quick read of the their website you can see that they sate “Only certified Dyneema is accepted by Superwinch, meeting strict strength guidelines”. Sounds good to us!
Preventing Abrasion
Like most winches that come with a synthetic line & replacement synthetic line, this package came with a “rock sleeve” to protect the line form it evil nemesis Dr. Sharp Rock & his henchmen the Tree Root. But if your not pro active enough & too lazy to use the provided sleeve you are going to run into problem with any company you chose to go with.
Drawbacks of the Tiger Shark
To be honest we haven’t really experienced anything major that is worth reporting on. However it does not come with wire-less controller like some of their competitors do, but since I have never personally been exposed to this luxury, it doesn’t pop-up on my Con’s list….Yet.
Sure we could be nitpicky as say that the provided controller is big and bulky, but the truth of the matter is it does fit nicely in your hands and is comfy to hold.
How is the line speed?
The line speed seems to be similar to other brand winches (if not faster) But we have yet to race against any of its competitors.
The bottom line (pun intended) is this unit has fired up each and every time we have needed to use it, has never left us stranded and got us setup up with a lighter synthetic equipped winch at a very attractive price point (your front end will thank you). I would certainly recommend adding the Superwinch Tiger Shark to your list for consideration next time you are looking for a winch.
**We will be providing regular updates to this post as we become more familiar with the unit and if we experience any issues or discover something new not previously mentioned in the article**
Expedition Report 
Reblogged this on Smokey the Jeep and commented:
A nice look at the Superwinch Tiger Shark series of electric winches. Watch STJ for a feature comparison among popular winches, coming soon!