So, there you are off-roading in pleasure when your vehicle gets stuck. Now, you need to use your winch to get yourself unstuck, so you disengage the clutch and you spool out your line and you look out for possible anchors. But, oh no! There are no trees and no rocks. There are no natural anchors for you. What you need is a winch ground anchor.
If you don’t know what I’m talking about here, then you might want to see our how to use a winch guide.
To-Dos Before Buying a Commercial Winch Anchor
Before anything else, you might want to check your winch recovery kit. For no winch anchor is useful without a complete gear. Now, that we have that out of the way, it is time to know why you need to purchase a winch anchor.
Awareness of where you wheel, how long you will be out for and a masterful knowledge of your recovery options are must know if you would need a winch anchor. Getting stuck is not a very pleasant possibility in one’s journey but it is proven to be probable in many cases.
Portable winch anchors are at your disposal if unwanted occurrences arise. Yes, there may be rocks or trees nearby but you would not want to test their steadfastness and tire yourself eventually. Even with company, personal knowledge and gear to get yourself unstuck is always an assurance.
The few companies that make winch ground anchors have pretty much similar designs. Their anchors are to be shoved down into suitable ground firmly. Though sometimes you might need to do a little digging, they are relatively easy to use. When the anchor secures itself you can reel in your winch line and start pulling.
In this article, some items listed will be more affordable, while others will be more pricey. All of them are very viable options for your next cable winch replacement.
But which winch anchor should you buy?
The Best Options for a Winch Ground Anchor
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Top 4 Best Winch Ground Anchor Review
Our Rating
Now, this is one heavy-duty winch ground anchor. It has a 10 inch spade, 45 inch folded length and is 35 lbs in weight. Its spade bites into the ground deeper the harder you pull. With this you can pull mid-size 4x4s up to 6000 lbs. Pull-Pal is also well known to work reliably in sand and snow. So, if you are to venture in such plains you might want to consider this brand.
Pull-Pal also provides the option of creating a double winch anchor if you have a wheeling buddy. This gives you more pulling power for much heavier vehicles.
You should not also worry about the anchor itself because it folds compactly in the size of a bumper jack or a gun case, all for easy storage. But you might also want to consider a separate Pull-Pal carrying case.
- 11000 lbs weight capacity
- Can work in both sand and snow
- Compact and Lightweight
- Very easy to use
- Pull-Pal carrying case is sold separately
Our Rating
This pretty much has the same features as the previous Pull-Pal item, except for technical features. This has the same “the harder you pull on it, the deeper it bites” technology. It can also be folded into a more compact form.
However, this unit can work for pulls up to 10,000 lbs in weight. It has a 12 inch spade, a 45 inch length when folded and it weighs 40 lbs. This model can work in both sand, mud and snow.
With all of those said, it has the same drawback as the previous Pull-Pal product. Maybe that isn’t much of a problem for other winch users, but I just think that if you want to make the product compact and easy to carry, it should come with a carrying case.
But overall, this is a very good option for a winch anchor. In fact, most of the items in this list will be variations of this winch anchor.
- 14000 lbs weight capacity
- Can work in both sand and snow
- Compact and Lightweight
- Very easy to use
- Pull-Pal carrying case is sold separately
Our Rating
Smittybilt is a trusted name in the winch industry. Although ground anchors are not their prominent area of expertise, I think that this particular item is worthy of praise.
Smittybilt did not provide an exact amount of load that this winch anchor can handle, but I know that it can handle up to 9000 lbs. It is heavy-duty, and its construction is worth its bucks.
What really excites about this winch anchor is its multiple angle feature. This allows the item to work in almost any soil condition. It can work in mud, snow, gravel, clay or rocks. It is totally adjustable. The item also comes with its own storage bag, which I find very nice.
It does come with its drawbacks, though. Although the item is completely adjustable for any soil condition, it takes a learning curve to find the perfect adjustment for a given situation.
- Can work in both sand, snow, mud, clay, rocks and almost any soil condition
- Compact and Lightweight
- Comes with a handy and durable storage bag
- Takes a learning curve to adjust; not easy to use
Our Rating
Here is another Pull-Pal anchor. Pull-Pal is one of the best, if not the absolute best, name among winch ground anchor manufacturers.
As mentioned above, this is just another variation of the first Pull-Pal winch anchor discussed in this article. This is different in terms of that it has a 10 inch spade, a 32 inch folded length and weighs only 21 lbs. It can only handle smaller loads, up to 3000 lbs. It is suitable for ATVs, UTVs or small 4×4 vehicles.
- 6000 lbs weight capacity
- Can work in both sand and snow
- Compact and Lightweight
- Very easy to use
- Pull-Pal carrying case is sold separately
The Best Winch Ground Anchor – Based on your Views
In this list are what I consider to be the best winch ground anchors in the market. These all are very good options. They are worth every penny, in my opinion. However, you have specific needs and preferences. I think that there is one item here that is the best winch ground anchor for you.
If you have need of other types of winches, see our other guides. We have guides for chainsaw winches, portable winches and more.
Do you have thoughts, questions or suggestions regarding the best winch ground anchors? Please share them below in the comment section. I’d love to hear your thoughts.
