Does anyone else have one of these? I got one two weeks ago for a really good price. The other day I had a half dozen times were I got to use it. It worked very well except the last pull. On the last pull the wire came off the spindle on the end opposite the motor and got jammed between the spindle and bracket. This ruined the wire and bent the bracket. This was not a big deal since it was only two weeks old. I took it back to the store and they replaced it with no questions asked.

What I am wondering is if this has happened to anyone else?

 

I have had this happen 2 times, but mine comes off on the motor side. I will give it one more chance then there going to hear from me!!!!!!!!!

 

Superwinches are THE biggest pieces of garbage, hands down. Do yourself a favor, give the Superwinch to your biggest enemy, and go get a Warn. Your troubles will never end with that winch.

 

Both Warn and Superwinch products have provided good service in my experience, but either can get snarled.

The best practice always spools the cable under tension; either gloved-hand tension from a slack cable, or, ideally, under load. The cable's not apt to jump the spool under these conditions.

From the condition you describe, I'd check the spring-loaded tension plate on the ATV2000--is the cable played-out from the proper direction? Is the tension plate flat? Does the tension plate move freely under spring tension?

Granted, reeling in under tension is not always easy or convenient, and you can get by with some slack cable spooling. However, problems are minimized when the cable is reeled in under tension, wound as level as possible.

Superwinch provides excellent customer service at jack@superwinch.com

Tree Farmer

 

I was just wondering if QuadFather has ever owned a Superwinch in-order to make such a determination?

I have owned a T1500 now for 10 months and the only problem I have had was "MY" and I repeat my fault. Other than that it has performed flawlessly, and as well or better, considering the price, than my brothers Warn 2500.

 

I own a Superwinch 2000 also. I agree to everything that has been said. I've also experienced the binding of the cable off of the spool on a few occasions. I've been thru 3 switches. Junk, Junk, Junk. I even emailed Superwinch and never got back a reply... We refer to it/them as Stupidwinch.

 

About a week ago, I posted a question under this same topic. I needed a replacement switch for my 1500 Superwinch. I damaged mine in a roll-over. I think it was "DaBoss" who answered me saying to e-mail Jack@superwhinch to get a new one. So I did. Well, i just got my new switch yesterday. Along with some new mods with it. Front and rear dust covers made of rubber. These are really going to protect the switch from mud, sand, etc. All of this was Free! I even told them I had damaged the switch myself, but they still replaced it. I am very satisfied with Superwinch. It's like most things if you take care of it, it will do fine. Thank you DaBoss !!!
Jay
'90 TRX 300 4x4

 

I have never had a Superwinch, but three of my riding/hunting buddies put Superwinches on their quads, all three had nothing but troubles, all three threw them in the garbage, all three bought Warn winches, all three have never had a problem since.

 

Well, I guess I will run right out and throw my Superwinch in the garbage too. Its a shame though, since it has never given me a moments worth of trouble (none of my friends have had problems with their Superwinches either). Could be because I follow the technique described by TreeFarmer. However, no sense taking any chances.

It seems to me that one of the atv manufacturers is including a Superwinch in their fall promotion so we better verify that for sure because we wouldn't want them unknowingly distributing inferior equipment. After all, we have someone who has never owned a Superwinch, by his own admission, assuring us that they are indeed junk because three of his friends threw theirs in the garbage.

I do admire QuadFather's friends, though. After all, they did the decent thing and disposed of those pieces of junk by throwing them in the garbage (and they cost what ... $250?) as opposed to trying to sell them to some unsuspecting schmuck.

Temp

 

I've had an X1-F Superwinch on my Kawasaki Bayou 400 for five years. It has performed well during that period of time.

To date all problems I've had with my X1-F have been the result of operator error or carelessness.

Carelessness during rides through heavy brush have resulted in the freespool **** and the operating switch being completely sheared off in two separate incidents. The replacement parts were relatively inexpensive and I repaired the winch myself without too much difficulty.

The one instance of operator error on my part resulted in the same problem experienced by Fourtrax350, i.e., the cable jumped the drum on the side where the freespool **** is located. I had just received a new handlebar mounted rocker-type operating switch and roller fairlead. I carefully installed them and then went out to test them. The problem occurred because I was seated on the quad while running the winch and I could not see how the cable was being wound onto the drum. When the cable mysteriously slowed, but the winch kept running, I did not immediately stop winching but I continued until the cable stopped completely. Needless to say when I dismounted to have a look, I found I had quite a mess on my hands.

Several turns of cable had jumped the drum and had become wedged between the outside of the drum and the drum shroud. No amount of tugging on the cable with two gloved hands was sufficient to free it. I wound the excess cable around my front rack and drove home upset with myself for my lack of attention to the task at hand.

Once I arrived home, I pondered how I might free the cable short of shipping the unit back to the manufacturer to be fixed. I finally decided to hook the winch cable to a large oak tree at the top of my driveway, and then back the quad down the driveway to put more tension on the cable than what I could apply by hand.

I put the quad in reverse and eased it backwards until the winch cable was taut. Then I dismounted and stood beside the quad. I used one hand to operate the winch, spooling it in and out as necessary to attempt to free the cable, and I used the other hand to periodically give the quad a small amount of throttle to pull the cable free. After about 30 minutes of careful jockeying, I managed to free all of the cable with only one or two minor kinks.

Since the cable was already hooked to the oak tree, and since I needed to rewind it, I decided to use the tree as a convenient tensioner. I shifted the quad into neutral and allowed the winch to pull the quad towards the tree while I used the metal cable hook supplied with the winch to guide the cable onto the drum.

A number of posters have stated that Superwinch makes an inferior, trouble-prone product. But from my reading I do not see one instance where they have actually described the nature of the troubles they experienced first-hand that could be attributed to a product defect. Some posters have even admitted they do not own a Superwinch, and that the "problems" they spoke of were related second-hand. I see no evidence presented here that Superwinch makes an inherently defective product.

As in my case, the problem that Fourtrax350 experienced was due solely to operator error. The cable had not been properly tensioned and it subsequently jumped the drum.

This problem could happen with any winch on which the cable was not properly stowed. As Tree Farmer earlier pointed out, proper tensioning of the cable, and spooling of the cable on the drum, are key factors in the smooth, reliable operation of any winch regardless of manufacturer.

Army Man