i want to put a winch on my 400 Prairie 4X4 but i am worried about how can an electric motor survive being put under water repeatedly?? The places that i ride most of the time i am having to zig zag from one side of the creek to the other or crossing the San Jacinto river, it is not deep most of the time but it is real wide

so how well do the winch's hold up? and what brands are better than other??

thanks in advance

 

I think for a totally submersible, waterproof winch, look into the RULE 3,300. It is made by a marine company I believe, and is designed to be waterproof. Sorry, 3,300 was the smallest I think they make-though that was a while back, they may have a little lighter one now. A word of warning though, they are very spendy-between $500-$600 if I remember right.

You also might consider a Warn either 2,000 or 2,500. In all honesty, an atv can not even supply enough power to operate the winch at it's full rated capacity, due to amperage restraints, so the 2,000 should be fine. The 2,500 is the same internally, just gives you heavier wiring and a different solenoid and switch, for a hundred bucks more or so. These you can pick up for between $350-$400 or so, somewhere in there.

I have a Warn A2000 on my 'Cat, which has been underwater more times than I care to remember. It still works fine, and I have NOT "waterproofed" my winch in the least bit. Some guys will run some marine grease inside the motor or apply silicone around the seams and seals of the main unit to protect against water, which I would imagine helps quite a bit. I have not done this myself, and have had no problem with my winch functioning properly. Yes, I have operated the winch while underwater as well, again with no problems what so ever. If your winch will see as much water as a submarine-continuously underwater for most of the day, all day every day, I'd opt for the Rule, just for "insurance". If not, and you don't want to spend that much, the Warn would be just fine. You can seal them like I mentioned to help if you're worried about it shorting out.

The other thing to remember is to oil your cable every so often after being submersed to prevent rusting. Also, whatever brand winch you get, get yourself a good ****** block. They double your winch's rated pulling power (i.e. a 2,000 lb. winch will pull 4,000 with a ****** block, 2,500 will pull 5,000, etc.) I got a really nice 9,000 lbs rating ****** block from AW Direct for around $30 or so, keep it mounted permanently and use it all the time, every time I use my winch. Not only do they allow for larger pulls, but they also make single line pulls much easier on the winch and machine, and allow for angled pulls or other various chores as well.

Anyway, Best of Luck and I hope that helps. In my opinion, the winch is the single best investment you can make to any 4x4 quad.

Mike

 

Hey Ronnie..The best online price I have found on a warn 2000 is 284.95 @ atv parts depot..

 

yo, you can also try ebay and bit on one.

 

sorry bid for one

 

what is the general opinion on superwinch???

Cabela's has a superwinch trail-tamer 2000 lb winch for $200

ronnie

 

My Dealer used to carry the super winch but dropped it. Said he had way too many complaints. He just carries the warn now and said his customers are very happy with it!!

 

The Warn A2500 will handle all the water you can throw at it. I've had one on the front of my sub-marine or I mean ATV for two years now and it works exactly as it should. I've had to dig the the sand out from in front of the thing while in 16" of water to use it while stuck in an Illinois river several times. The only thing I do is once in a while I unwind it and remove the sand / mud and oil the cable down.

 

thanks for all of the information, it looks like i am going to go with the warn winch. i am not sure which one yet.


ronnie