Guys, I'm on the market for a Winch. Name brand isn't terribly important. I just brought a 12,000lbs MileMarker for my Dad's H2 Hummer and it works fine. What I am concerned with is I do alot of deep stream crossing. I imagine the Winch will be under water a bit. Anybody have a winch they submerse alot without trouble?

 

some people may disagree with me but I have the warn 2.5 and its under almost more than above water, and havnt had problems , but I clean it with a pressure washer after every ride

 

I read alot of good things about the Warns. I posted here recently that I have a Venom 2k it works well...

I would suggest if your going to use it alot, look into the gearing. Make sure the gears are not plastic, as some of the lower models are. As such, you know what happens to plasitc with heat and wear...

Before I installed mine (not before I bought it) I searched all the forums on here to read about winches. It was very educating and I highly recommend it. If you know what brands you like, just search all forums for that brand.

Best of luck!

 

I got the $69 Warn 2,500 winch deal with my Brute and it has been a good piece of equipment to have. I have had it swimming more times than I can count, an its still working like a charm.

 

I have a 3.0 warn on my Rhino and have put it through a lot. Sunk the rhino over the streering wheel and still winched it out over 100 feet, most of the Rhino still submerged, pulling though and over sticks, stumps and what ever else was down there. Including me!

I've also got the 3.0 Ramey on the 750 brute and I've had it rebuild under waranty once already. What happens is the wireless remote sencer that is mounted on the bike gets wet and malfunctions, turning your winch on while your riding and burns up. After I had it rebuilt this happened again but the winch was in free wheel mode. I have unpluged the wireless remote sencer from the winch and have had no more problems. The Ramey is easier to pull out in free wheel than the Warn. But for me I would pick the Warn again and put the rope cable on it.

 

Thanks, I have been reading alot of the posts on this forum regarding winches. But couldn't find anything regarding their "submarine" capabilities. So your feedback is appreciated. I was leaning towards a Warn 2.5, but for nearly the same money I can get the Ramsey 3000 lbs (non remote). The 2500 lbs pull is probably more than enough but it would be nice to have the 3000 lbs pull (just in case). Those are the two front runners right now.

 

Speaking of rope cable, anyone know who has that?

 

I have the Amsteel Blue winch rope. I got 3/16" instead of the 1/4". From what I've read, the 3/16" has a higher tow rating than the 3'16" steel cable. I bought it from okoffroad.com

i have an '05 BF650 with Warn 2.5ci. I've used it several times to recover. My warn cable had a broken strand after two uses. I've read too many horror stories about cut hands, snapped cable, etc.

The winch rope doesn't store energy, so it won't snap back at you if it should happen to fail.

After friends checked out my winch rope and saw it in action, they ordered if for theirs, too. It's lighter, stronger, and safer, and it floats.

 

GOt me curious now on that Amsteel BLue... looked at it online...like the idea of it, esp. after being splintered with the steel cable, just curious with one item...

how would this hold up to plow use???

 

I believe its the warn 3.0CE that is the only winch that is sealed and supposed to be more resistent to the elements when being submersed..

With that said.. Your "supposed" to take the winch apart and clean and regrease them on a regular basis so the mud/dirt doesn't build up and shorten the life of the winch. that is even true for the 3.0CE version, just not as often as the others.. With that said.. I have yet to see any of my friends remove their winches for regreasing.. They just pressure wash them with the rest of the bike. Haven't had any problems.. These are the warn 2.5's mostly..

If you switch to the rope, make sure you change out the fairing rollers to the smooth rollers.. the ones for the cable will chew up the rope in no time..

For plowing, the rope is actually recommended.. The angle tends to make the cables fray and snap..