I am wondering if any of you can answer my question? Can you mount a warn 3.0 winch in between the front rack lights of the 700?. Will the warn 3.0 fit the mounting plate Polaris sells for mounting a winch in between the front rack lights?

 

I mounted a Warn 3.0 ci in the bumper opening on my 03 700, but it won't fit all the way up into the opening like the 2.5. If you look inside the bumper opening you will see 2 slots on the right side of the opening, this is where the 2.5 bolts up to the mounting plate that goes behind the bumper. The 3.0 has the mounting bolts in the center and not on the right side like the 2.5 and 2000. I made a "L" shaped plate from 3/16 inch plate, bolted it in using the 4 bumper bolts and mounted the 3.0 horizontally instead of vertically. You might be able to make it work using the plate from Polaris if you use some spacers and cut some slots for the center mount pattern. When I finished my mount the winch is about 1/3 of the way inside the bumper opening and the roller fairlead sticks out about one inch past the Polaris brushguard and it looks good. I also attached the mount plate to the sides of the brushguard. I spent a couple of days building that mount and installing the winch.

If you don't have a brushguard, it should be easy to use the mount that mounts down below the bumper.

 

Go to Warn's website and compare the dimensions of the 3.0 and 2.5 and you will see what I mean about the different mounting pattern.

 

Contact Warn customer service and they should be able to tell you. Warn seems to be slow getting mounts out for the 3.0 winch. I put a 3.0 on my 700. I put on a Montana Jacks reciever mount on mine. I ended up making a new front mount because the front reciever mount would not work with my brushgaurd. You could also have a welding shop make a mount for you. On mine I made a plate to fit in the hole on the bumper. I mounted the plate using the for bolt holes that hold the bumper on. Make a plate to fit the mounting holes on the winch and weld it to the back plate.

I prefer the reciever mounts. I have a warn 2500 multimount on my SP400 and the Montana Jacks on my SP700. I've found I use the winch on the back almost exclusively.

 

I just mounted my Warn 2.5ci in between the headlights with the mount from my local Polaris dealer. And that was a tight fit, I couldn't imagine trying to get a 3.0 in there.