I need a winch, bad. I go in ruts that were made by a a Sportsman 500 with 27" Vamps. When I get in these ruts ALL 4 TIRES COME OFF THE GROUND. I have been riding with a freind on a 450s with 27" Mud Bugs but he only gets off for a week between the 7 weeks he works and I can only ride on the week end. SO I HAVE NO ONE TO PULL ME OUT. I can only trail ride when he is not there and I am getting tired of it. I MISS THE MUD!!!!!!

So I want to know what you guys think I should get for my Arctic Cat 500 that will stay in the mud after I get my winch.

P.S I will be working on putting on a home made Liftkit for my 500 this weekend. I hope this will make my winch less used.

Arctic Cat 500, Soon to have a winch and a liftkit even sooner.

Boner, I believe all ATV winches are quality products.

A new SuperWinch T1500/ATV2000 was tested for 9 hours under water and produced a stall pull of 2400 pounds after the immersion.

The SuperWinch ATV2000 features an internal spring brake (a brake can be added to the T1500).

Whatever winch you buy, I recommend a snatch block. A snatch block costs and weighs a tenth of a winch's cost and weight, yet doubles extraction force and permits versatile angle pulls.

You can find more data on the Polaris forum "winch question" topic.

Tree Farmer

Get the Warn. It will fit much better on your atv. It looks stock with the factory made mount. I personally think the Superwinch looks crappy despite its performance. It is priced accordingly. I doubt that anyone with a Warn will tell you to get a Superwinch and vice versa.

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Andy Bassham *(1999 Arctic Cat 500 4x4, 1989 Honda 300)*

I agree with Andy. I have had a bad experiense with a Super Winch on a freind's 450. The crapy switch gave him ALOT of trouble and the day we met it could not get him out of a mud hole. It would tighten the cable and that was it, the quad would not buge. I am now considering that 30,000-Lb. rolling load winch for my quad. It comes with an emergency hand crank if something electrical happens(breaks). I was consdering the Warn 2500 but I don't think I could afforad it and mud tires.

Hey Boner, I agree that nobody would tell you that you should buy the other one if they have a Warn to buy the Superwinch and the other way. I have the Warn 2000 winch with the factory mounting kit with the roller fairlead, I have had no problem with all of my stuff, i just am looking for a handlebar mounted switch to work the winch, I just think the switch is sort of awkward to use but still no problems. I do agree with Tree Farmer that a snatch- block is in order.

Actually, my friend hates his Super winch. He wanted to give it to me but I didn't want to add extra weight to my quad with something that wasn't up to the task(in other words if it coulbn't pull out a 58? lb quad how is it going to pull a 650 lb quad out). He is selling it for 100 bucks with 30 ft of cable because he broke the first one.

Boner, go to Tractor Supply (or a similar place) and get a new cable. After you use it, always take a couple of minutes and respool it back on smoothly. It will last much longer and not get in a bind.
I have never seen any 2000 pound winch fail to pull a quad out. It may have happened, I just have not seen it, yet. But, I do see some awfully obese people that are riding big quads and their combined weight looks to be about 4 metric tons. If you ever get in that situation, and don't have a snatch block, get off your rig and while pulling in some cable, help it by adding a little throttle in. But, I don't think you will have any trouble.
If I had to choose between tires/wheels and a winch, I would take a winch. Because, no matter what quad and tires you have, it is going to get stuck.
Good Luck

[This message has been edited by TxDoc2 (edited 12-08-1999).]

Boner, get whatever winch you want!

New,SuperWinch heavy-duty handlebar-mounted rocker switches with two dust covers offer improved control and reliability.

I own both Warn and SuperWinches. My advice: Buy the one you like better, whether you know someone who hates it or not.

Tree Farmer

P.S. Since you say you're on a budget, i.e., considering winch vs. mud tires, why not get a comealong? For $ 15, you can have 2000 # of extraction force (4000 # with a snatch block). That oughta pull that cat out of the gumbo! Or do you know someone who hates comealongs? (Smiley face here!)

T.F.

[This message has been edited by Tree Farmer (edited 12-08-1999).]

TreeFarmer--I saw a guy at a poker run with one of the hand crank winches, like you see on a boat trailer. He said it had different gearing. I did not see him use it. Have you ever heard of anything like that?

I have consider both of those I ideas. I am considering that boat winch. I think that I could make a mount that would mount on trees instead of the quad. It would comsist of 2 L brakets ,to which the winch would mount to one, that would bolt together around the tree. I think I could make it out of square tubing and drill different hole for different size trees. What you think?

I often get stuck in a VERY BIG DITCH. It is virtually impossible to climb because the trail up it slick. The reason I don't like the comealong is because it will only pull you 6 feet at the most and this ditch is about 15 feet deep. If I could un hook the quad and respoll the come-a-long the quad would slide back down. So thats why I don't like the come-a-long.