tiger

no i wouldnt i have one of those cheepies on a quad winches r a touchy subject brothers depends on what how often and how long the one guy is right by rule of thumb 1.5 times but not always true if you bought a 8000 lb winch chances r if your stuck you got to pull yourself tell the wheels can help again this (with friction) going to be operating the winch at almost max pull heat comes quick for them and can burn a winch up fast so now the $400 you just spent is gone with a over worked winch save your money and frustrations warns r expensive but there r reasons for that they last and can take a longer duty cycle and now they have ones with thermal gaurds so you dont burn them up and i suggest atleast a 9000 lbs r better or 8000 with a block and pulley remember that 8000 rating is on the first roll on the spool and you loose capacity as more rolls r on the spool i have more but this should give a idea to head you in the right direction

az4x4runner

I would definitely get something more powerful than that. I have a hand operated winch, and even that is rated at 4000lbs. I wouldn't expect it to pull my truck out of mud or anything though.

rowdy235

My cousin has a HF 8k winch on his nissan. Had it for around 4 years, got him out of countless situations. Kinda slow but a good deal IMO

rhill

a buddy of mine bought that winch for 50 bucks...he ended up taking it back. it was cool, but on aesthetics alone he didn't like it. it's tiny....would probably be better for a trailer or pulling engines or something.

Jazdude64

I burned out one of those HF 3000lb camo remote control winches on a golf cart under low stress. One of the capacitors(sic?) burned out and it was not replacable... I've had a Warn for 10+ years on 2 seperate quads and it works every time. Go for a quality product and you won't be disappointed.

yotaman85

used a 10k lb HF winch on a 7k pound chevy for years and would buy another one in a hart beat for my 4runner, it would toss this thing around no problem..

tiger

i had a hf 3000 on my quad and try to pull my toy on flat ground (it did have a flat tire ) and it jus grunted didnt even budge the quad which is what i wouldve thought it wouldve done . i jus swear by warn ive seen the smitybuilt xrc 8 fail and ive seen a warn 6000 pull it out so go figure that one jus depends i guess

tried4x2signN

some of you guys need to recognize a lot of winches out there today are made by the same company but have somebody else's name on it.

Might ort to think about that before you start telling us about the one time a winch pulled you out and now you're brand loyal...

I'd say pretty much 70 to 85% of the winches out there today are cheap as possible made in china permanent magnet units.


As far as I know today, there is still no winch rated at continues duty except for the Hydraulic MileMarker series. They are made to used and spend lots of time dormant. They count on it to make the cheapest product and make the most profit.

Who spends 1 hour a day winching? That's what I thought...

tiger

hey jus found a good winch for ya at trdparts4u.com its a t-mav 9ooo for $420 they r pretty good ive seen them work before and have good specs on them

peow130

Lol that 3k# winch kicks butt at pulling logs.
We put one on a mini-crane on our flatbed truck and my dad was usin it for hours to lift up big ol' logs.

camo31_10.50

i thought the HF winch was a rebadged t-maxx, or smittybuilt or something...seems like i read that somewhere.

tiger

hmmmm could be ill hafta do some checking they r all prob cuzins from the same company in some way or another

tried4x2signN

Gorilla is another one ppl like to say is a good winch only b/c it's cheap...

It's a permanent magnet made in china unit to.


Not saying they're bad, right now I'd prolly use a winch once a year... And they would prolly do just fine.

But if I was to go back cutting trees or was setting up a truck for serious off road/ expedition level, no freaking way...

2DoorRunner

Some may say the harbor freight winch is better than nothing. But really, thats not true at all in this case. I have video of my buddy trying to winch out his sami with the exact winch. Didnt even pull him an inch.
30 bucks on a tow strap would be 1000x more useful.

MudHippy

Chicago Electric® 10,000lb. winch from Harbor Freight saved my bacon. Best $330 I ever spent(on sale + 20% off coupon). Pulled my ass off that stump and up that hill with no troubles whatsoever. Didn't even break a sweat. With a weak battery and a stock alternator no less!


GOOD STUFF!!! I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT!!!

nightstalker

What about a used name brand off craigslist???? Just an idea

charliestoytruck

i agree with the general consensus that a heavier winch is where you should head, having said that, high school pyhsics teaches us that if you have a ffew good pulleys you could increase the pull of any small winch, though you sacrifice your rate of pull. not that i have alot of experience winching, just theory based knowledge.

Lysmachia

When I used to go off-roading every weekend I was the go-to truck because I had the WARN 9500 xTi (The Turbo) Not gonna lie, at times speed was of the essence and having a faster winch was key in 3 of the dozens of pulls I have done! However if this is just to save yourself Then many of the others mentioned even the Chicago electric will do fine.

IF you buy a winch from craig's list I highly recommend you inspect the cable and pretty much assume you may need to replace it right away. Kind of like climbing rope, winch ropes/cables do need to be replaced based on use, wear and any kink-age!

Also consider your battery/Alternator output at idle as well. I did need to upgrade my alternator which Boyles Future Technologies did for me. (They are in California)

Lysmachia

Oh and if that user/tard Lisa comes back trying to pimp her 3000lb winch again, I'm gonna ban her! *sheesh*

****Edit****

Nevermind, I went ahead and banned her. She was Spamming this thread and made a 2nd user account. Both are bannable offenses. Carry on!

Zelephant

There's just one problem with that winch: it's not sold on Harbor Frieght's website anymore, so it's probably been discontinued .