Which Winch

[Dano97471]

I want a winch for my Arctic Cat 300 ATV. I'm looking on Ebay at 2000lb to 5000lb Venom brand winch.

My question is: what are the disadvantages to the larger winch. I'm I correct in thinking that bigger may not be better because more amps needed. Or is this something I shouldn't be concerned with.

My uses will be getting the ATV out of places I shouldn't be and occasional light log skidding.

 

[qstott]

Do yourself a favor, and buy a Warn. I know they cost more, but they are much better made. 2500 lbs or so would get the Artic Cat out of any bind. I don't think anything larger than 3000 would be of any benefit. I had a 2500 lb on my Honda Rancher 420, and now have a 4000 lb on my Yamaha Rhino. Maybe you could skid light logs, but most of the time I drug the ATV to the log, instead of the other way around.

 

[namesray]

i agree. unless the artic cat has exceptional brakes and something achoring it, over 3000lb will just drag it to the log. i do firewood for a business and started out with a 3000lb winch i rigged up on a 3 point hitch "A" frame and with the tractor brakes locked and front bucket down and dug in, my 2000lb kubota b7800 would go backwards if the log snagged something. as far as for what brand of winch mine was a chicago electric from harbor freight. worked 3 years and a couple hundred face cord for me. warn is a good brand though.

 

[Ken45101]

The advantage of going with a heavier duty winch is that you are less likely to destroy it. I have a WARN winch on my Kubota RTV900 and every time I use it, I worry about stripping the plastic gears...and that's just for the few times the RTV gets stuck. I am really afraid of trying to pull logs with it although with a ATV, I doubt that you have enough weight to pull any significant log.

From what I hear, if a WARN winch dies, you have pay a significant "inspection fee" under warranty. If they find the gears stripped, they will disallow the warranty, saying that you abused it. So then you are out both the winch as well as the inspection fee and shipping.

Just last night I ordered a 9000# winch from Harbor Freight for dragging logs with the tractor. Of course that would be too much for an ATV.

I have heard that the 3000# WARN winches use metal gears. I don't know if that's true or not.

Ken

 

[Happyman]

I have a 3000# winch on my Mule 3010 Trans 4. Never had a problem winching logs out of the way or winching the Mule out of mud. Go for the Warn. It's a proven, reliable product.

 

[Ken45101]

I have a 3000# winch on my Mule 3010 Trans 4. Never had a problem winching logs out of the way or winching the Mule out of mud. Go for the Warn. It's a proven, reliable product.

I don't know if it is true, but someone said that the 3000# and up WARN winches have metal gears but the smaller ones have plastic gears. My Kubota RTV only has a 2500# winch and I am careful about using it. YMMV.

If I were buying a new winch, I would investigate that 3000#/metal gear rumor and would go that way if it's true.

Ken

 

[gregkabob]

I have a 3000 lb Venom on my Outlander 400 for the past 3 years. No problems with it at all. Great winch for a great price.

 

[samandmax]

I had a Warn product(424) that I broke due to my ignorance. I called warn thinking I might be able to purchase just the part I broke and they sent me everything new. When I needed two 2500lb winches, I chose Warn. They are four years old and have seen plenty of work. Been under water and in the mud lots. If you are stuck out in the woods with a broken 150 dollar winch the money difference wont seem worth it. I have one cable and the other with rope. So far I like the rope better.

 

[plumbstraight]

I had a 1500 lb winch on my rincon and it wouldn't pull me with the brakes on in the snow. I had hold of another quad smaller than mine and it just didn't have the nuts.

I changed it out to a 4500lb venom, works fine now. Only thing I had to change out is the solenoid box. It needs to be kept dry. I would recommend presealing it before use. Not too impressed with that part of the system, but replacement is not to much as some others.

I built a 3pt winch for my wifes kioti. It is a 10,000lb chicago. For what use she will need it will work great. Is a bit slow, but that is great as she won't get into as much trouble with it.

One thing to be aware of when pulling logs. It is good to winch the logs to the pulling unit, but then chain to the unit relieving the winch. If you have a good load and are going with good forward speed and have a hangup you can easily overload the winch with the forward momentum of the pulling unit.

Somewhere in here I put up some pics of an arch I use behind my quad to pull logs with. Just uses a boat winch, but works well and is cheap to make. Will put pics up again if anyone is interested

 

[F250DSLPWR]

Have you thought about trying out a HF 2500lb winch? I have a Warn winch on my 4 wheeler. I have used it only a few times. I skidded some logs with it and have used it for stretching fence. My brother gave me a HF $50 winch and I have used it with my Toyota ranch truck. It is only the 2500lb winch but has worked just as well as the Warn so far and is much cheaper. Now if I needed a serious winch and knew I needed it to do heavy duty work, I would buy a much larger name brand Warn or Mile Marker winch.

 

[westbrooklawn]

I have a Viper (not Venom) winch on my RTV 900 and love it. When I bought it I did extensive research, and found the Viper to be rated better than the Venom. I know Warn is great, but for the difference in price, the Viper was a real deal, and it has done everything I need. Visit some of the ATV forums and see what actual users are saying.

 

[purplewg]

There is WARN winches and then there is everything else in my book. You get what you pay for.

 

[Lineman North Florida]

I've got a Ramsey on a Honda Rancher and it does a good job, must not be to many others though that think much of them.

 

[Rio_Grande]

Well not to start a fight but warn aint all it is cracked up to be. around 4 years ago I bought a brand new M8000 1st time I pulled my jeep up a muddy grade it burnt up the motor. I have used winches for years and this was not a hard pull, the jeep just wouldnt make it up the last 20 feet of slope. I contacted warn cause it has a great warranty and after all it is a warn, they will stand behind their product right? Wrong. I was advised by the warn rep that the winch was not rated for a 20 foot continuous pull. That the motor burnt up because I had ran it too long. he then wanted to sell me an outrageously priced replacement motor. They oiffered to look at it if I sent it in but informed me that if there was a non warranty issue (which he already determined I had abused it) I would be responsable for the repair cost. So I turned around and bought a ramsey patriot 9000 lb winch. It has been on a trailer since it arrived and has pulled combines, trucks cars and anything else I hooked it to for the last 4 years without so much as a hickup. I pit a cheap chineese winch on my jeep and blew a gear box, in a situation where it was reasonable to blow it. Got the same service I recieved from warn but at 1/3 the orignal cost. I bought another one identical and it has been on there since. it is chinees crap but it works when I need it.


Under no circumstances will I ever buy another Warn winch. I will save my money and go ramsey.

My quad has a cheapo chinese special from tractor supply and it works just fine for the 50.00 it cost.


Did I mention warn is no better than the chinese crap?

 

[foreman Etexas]

MileMarker has been a great lower priced winch for me,own a 3500lbs and 8000lbs.

 

[Old Coot]

I've got a Ramsey on a Honda Rancher and it does a good job, must not be to many others though that think much of them.

I have Ramsey and love the wireless remote. Had one on my 2004 RTV 900 and never a problem. Kind of expensive but worth the money.

 

[2fast2]

I'm hardly a winch expert, but from some Warn failures experienced by my brother with his Gator, I now understand that winches are designed with something called a duty cycle in mind. In the above post with the Jeep, Warn said it was abuse because the pull exceeded the duty cycle (the time allowed for continuous use at a certain load, before a designated period of rest and cool down before another pull.) All those people talking about buying a winch to pull logs out of the woods with their ATV winch should take heed. That is how my brother burned up two Warn winches.
You need to really search to find out this information. Warn, for one, provides this information but you have to try hard to find it. Simply buying a 3000# winch for a 1500# UTV sounds like a great idea until you study the details.
I believe this applies to all electric motor winches. That is why some winches are hydraulically driven. That is why some cost several multiples of the cheaper ones.
You should not buy based on name alone.
Do your research.
A winch being used at only 10% of it's rated capacity can be used much longer than one being loaded to it's maximum rated capacity. The manufacturer should provide a chart you review before you make your purchase.
Just my suggestions. Take it or leave it.

 

[Old Coot]

I have Ramsey and love the wireless remote. Had one on my 2004 RTV 900 and never a problem. Kind of expensive but worth the money.

I mentioned here that I like the wireless remote control for the Ramsey. Today I got my 3130 tractor stuck on the side of the hill in some wet snow and everytime I tried to move I started down the hill sideways.
I brought the RTV over and put the plow down and attached the winch to the front bucket of the 3130. Got on the tractor and slowing started to move it, then used the winch on the RTV and the tractor power to get out.
Couldn't have done that with a wire control.

 

[cdaigle430]

I want a winch for my Arctic Cat 300 ATV. I'm looking on Ebay at 2000lb to 5000lb Venom brand winch.

My question is: what are the disadvantages to the larger winch. I'm I correct in thinking that bigger may not be better because more amps needed. Or is this something I shouldn't be concerned with.

My uses will be getting the ATV out of places I shouldn't be and occasional light log skidding.

I have two Warn 2500 winches with synthetic rope (a must have by the way). One for plowing and the other for ATVing. For an AC 300 I would say at least a 2500 would be okay.

Warn is an okay winch but certainly not the best. Bigger winches do not always equal bigger performance. Your battery and stator needs to keep up with the power requirements of the winch. If in doubt, bring a snatch block\block and tackle with you as well.

 

[Cat_Driver]