Bang for your buck winch

[duffer]

I'll almost bet that Tinman22 has used his HF winch more in 2 years (curb weight of 26K) that you have used your Warn since 1977. I'm not saying that the HF winch is better than your Warn, it it isn't a piece of unproved junk either.

I don't know. Warn and its predecessor Belleview have built, or in a lot of cases, overbuilt some very tough winches. I have a lot of hours on some of those clear back to the late 60's and IMO, the only two ways to kill one are to totally abuse it (which most of the time you can't because there just isn't enough battery/alternator to get the job done), or to let them get full of water. The fact that you can still but every last piece to fix a 8274 after 40 something years also says a lot. Clearly a case of getting what you paid for.

 

[Hedgehog]

Ahhh, but my post was carefully worded not to say the HF winch was better than a Warn, it isn't, but the HF winch isn't junk either. Most will likely outlast the ownership of the vehicle. In that case the over-all life expectancy of a winch is a bit of a moot point.

 

[Lumpy Grits]

In that case the over-all life expectancy of a winch is a bit of a moot point.

Not so-Then how do you get'n the best return on your $$$?
Got my 8274 in 1977, Still go'n.
I would say that, and the AMC 150 ' of cable has been a bargain.

LG

 

[Hedgehog]

I think we are a bit of an exception to the car ownership world. Most buy, play, then sell in relatively few years. If their winch works during that short ownership then they got their monies worth. I suppose, more than likely the guy who lays down the big money for a warn winch will be keeping it around for a long time. I'd like a Warn winch and will likely have a Craigs list winch one of these days, but until then the HF winch on my jeep will serve me well for many years. I will say this though. Most of the reason I want a Warn winch is the fact that for some reason or another the HF winch makes me feel like I'm cheating or betraying my CJ's heritage.

 

[PaRenegade]

Has anyone tried the new Smittybilt Gen 2 XRC winches? They are waterproof, have a bigger motor and a faster line speed, at least on the 9.5k model. I think I'm going to sell my XRC8000 and get one of these new ones.

As far as all these economical winches out there, including the XRC's. About 7 years or so ago when the XRC came out it was the first low priced winch. For decades you couldn't touch a winch for under $450. But after the XRC came out it seemed like in the next couple years several other brands came out at that price point ($299). But if you looked at them they all seemed to be the same except with a different decal, color, engagement knob, and solenoid box. I had also read that theres only 2 winch manf. out there, Warn and I believe Ramsey, and they sell these base units to be re-branded by others. In today's market where re-branding is so common, I'm not sure that isn't what happening and all these lower priced winches are basically the same. I'm not saying they are of Warn or Ramsey quality, but it would be a sensible marketing move. They could still control the market and top shelf quality, while increasing revenue by creating an economy market that they still get a cut of.
This is all opinion and I have no proof, but I wouldn't be surprised.

 

[duffer]

Not so-Then how do you get'n the best return on your $$$?
Got my 8274 in 1977, Still go'n.
I would say that, and the AMC 150 ' of cable has been a bargain.

LG

I bought my first Belleview in 69, used for $125. It too has wore out a couple of steel cables but the only maintenance has been a few oil changes. About $3/year depreciation. The second winch I bought was just the Warn tagged version of the same-in 1972. It has never been apart either. The third one was a freebee, totally neglected 1974 8274 that I rebuilt for about $300. No further problems there either.

Other than the solenoids, those spur gear Warns are very tough to kill and if you do tend to keep your vehicles long term, are the far cheaper option. Not to mention not sending your money (and our jobs) to china.

 

[Hedgehog]

Which is more important, the warn name or not sending your money to china. I've heard the HF winch was made in Boston, true or not I'm not entirely sure. No matter what there are a lot of people right here in American that depend on a paycheck derived from shipping, handling and selling these products. Quite frankly, if it weren't for the inexpensive winches available today I wouldn't have spent ANY of my hard earned money on a winch of any type. Essentially nobody would have gotten a paycheck for a winch sold to me and probably many million others can say the same. Here's another thing to consider. If you purchased your winch second hand ALL your money stayed right here in the good old USA. The original manufacturer got nothing out of that sale, except maybe an order for parts.

Sure, I'd like to be in the American made winch fraternity. Mostly because I feel more of the pull from the buy American crowd than I like to admit.

 

[Posi]

I've heard the HF winch was made in Boston, true or not

They don't make HF winches in Boston. I'm betting Ningbo Lianda Winch company in zhejiang, china makes the the bad land winch among others.

 

[Hedgehog]

Point goes to Posi on that one, that doesn't render the rest of the post worthless.

 

[Posi]

No points wanted, just trying to clarify.

Edit:spelling

 

[Hedgehog]

Posi - It's all good, I knew I was on shaky ground. While in a HF one of the sales people mentioned that not all HF products come from China and the winches were sourced from a company here in the US. Right or wrong, I don't really know.

 

[oldjeeplady]

Got a flyer from HF yesterday and the Badlands 12K are on sale right now.

 

[73CJ]

The best winch out there is your buddies!

Let him buy the batteries,alternators and cables.

Kidding aside - any functioning winch is better than none. Just test it out before you really are depending on it. A winch is a high maintenance item depending on how much you use it.

I wheel alone a lot, I need a winch I can count on. I have spent the night in the woods before cell phone days till some help came along.

I've seen a HF 12k Badlands explode but the mounting was questionable. Test it hard and get a replacement under warranty if needed.