i am looking at a winch for my wheeler and i am wondering now if they are submersable. i ride in a lot of water and need to know if they can go underwater and be ok.

 

most of the winches on the market work well in adverse conditions. This doesn't mean I would mount it on the front of a submarine though.

 

I wouldn't worry about it geting wet, but if it is full of water and it is used, i think it would burn out.

 

do you think a winch cover would help or is that just a waste of money

 

thomas,

A winch cover, in my humble opinion, would be a waste. I guess it would help with the splashing, but mine spends ALOT of time UNDER the water. By the way, it WILL pull, even under the water. I should say, my Warn winch does, anyway. Most of my riding (read 99.9% of the time) is done in streams, rivers, or mud. After 20 months of this type of abuse, I finally had a little problem.

During a ride last weekend in which I got stuck, I noticed the winch was pulling very slowly. So this week, in less than three hours, I disconnected it from the battery, took it off the bike, completely disassembled and cleaned it, and put it back together. It works perfectly again. I should mention, I am by no means a master mechanic. In fact, I had never taken a winch apart before this.

Was it made for this type of abuse?? No. Will I need to replace it someday?? Maybe. Do I care?? Not really. $300 or so every 5-6 years, at the most?? So what!! Look at all the fun we're having.

Just my opinion,

Mike

 

If you want a truelly submersible winch, check out the Rule 3,300. They're a bit pricey, but are waterproof.

Mike