Stupid $350 winch install that almost got me stuck

I spent $350 on a new winch for my ATV last week, one of those cheap ones from an online deal. Thought I was saving money but the remote died on the first real pull, middle of a muddy trail. Had to manually spool the cable back in, took like 45 minutes and I was cussing the whole time. Now I'm wondering if I should have just dropped $500 on a Warn instead. Anyone else get burned by a budget winch that crapped out at the worst moment?

2 comments

2 Comments

spencer_perry771mo agoMost Upvoted

Nah, I gotta disagree a bit. Those cheap winches have their place if you know what you're getting into. I run a $250 Smittybilt on my truck and it's pulled me out of some nasty mud holes for two years now, no issues. The remote dying sounds like a bummer, but for $350 you probably could have grabbed a decent name brand on sale if you shopped around. Warn is great but you're paying double for the name half the time, not always double the performance.

robinson.leo1mo ago

Huh, I see it totally different man. I've seen too many of those budget winches burn out on the first real pull or just fail when you need them most. You might've gotten lucky with yours but that's not the norm in my book.