I am looking into a winch and was wondering if anyone has any opinions of the ones on eBay. They are Venom and Gorrila, Viper etc. I know the WARNs are good but for an ATV does it matter much? These are light machines so I was thinking what does it matter. Any opinions or has anyone actually tried one of these?


Thanks
Greg

 

Sams club sells a cheap "champion" but it was worthless when I got stuck Not enough pull and contacts on the switch did not function...The gorilla is a knock off warn that seems to do a better job....I have no idea about the others except warn is top of the line....

 

Thanks squeege....good to know about the Gorilla brand. I may just get a WARN but I hate to pay just for the name.


Thanks again
Greg

 

I am buying a Venom. Based on the forum at highlifter http://www.highlifter.com/forum/m_13...mpage_1/tm.htm
Also the company selling on Ebay has a seller rating of over 3000 and 100% feedback. The reports indicate that it is identical to Warn.

 

I got a milemarker form winchdepot.com and it works really well, I have it under about 18" of water and it pulled me out with no problem. It works really well, I could not see my self spending the money for a name (WARN) also. I got mine for unde $200 also with free shipping and half off the mounting plate that you will also need. Just my $.02

 

Can't blame you guys for buying the less expensive ones. I bought Warns for the name though. Along with the name comes the reputation, warranty, and a good company behind it. Just my opinion.
To me it's worth the money to "know" that I can get my $7000 machine out of a hole.

 

I've had about 5 or 6 warns over the years and they work OK. They really don't like the mud. It gets into every crack and crevice and corrodes the back plate of the electric motor. The brushes hang sometimes, and the brush holder cracks often. The gears seem pretty tough though. I've only stripped the gears once.
I was riding a few months ago and my buddies warn was hanging by the two wires. It had come apart in half. I've never seen anything like it, and it was a new winch.
If you are going to do alot of mud riding, the higher the winch is mounted the better. I mounted one on top of the front rack on one of my bikes and it worked great for a long time. But most bikes nowadays have a winch mount down very low and this lets in alot of mud. If you have one of these, then the warns need to be totally dissasembled at least once a year, I would suggest every 6-9 months. Good luck, cause you are gonna get stuck!

 

I've heard nothing but good things about the venom. also my buddy just got one and we kept it submerged all weekend and still worked to pull a guy out at the end of the day any further than that I dont know yet.

 

Greg,

I just bought a venom for my little bayou, and it looks fine. i've heard great things about them. Heck for $121 delivered, with fairlead, mount plate, and control mount, it seems like a no-brainer. my bike only weighs 300 pounds, so it didn't need to be a big winch.

jim