I should know this, but are all/some winches waterproof. What is your personal experience with water in winches? Is one brand more water-resistant than others. Money is not really an issue, I would gladly pay double for a winch that is completely impervious to the elements. Any input would be helpful.

 

I don't know about all winchs, I talked to a rep. at Warn the other day, he said atv 2000's don't like water, you should take the motor off and clean with contact cleaner and grease the gears with a high quality low temp. grease. I would think that no winch would be water proof due to the clearance around the drum!!!

 

Check out "10/21/98 Smokey Mountain Winch Test: Featuring Superwinch and Rule ATV winch units" in our Feature Article section. RULE winches are built for marine applications.


[This message has been edited by Dave Iskierka (edited 09-27-1999).]

 

Superwinch 1500 is NOT waterproof. But, its easily disassembled and cleaned out. I did mine with it still mounted to the machine.

 

Have the RULE V33 3300#.As mentioned above,designed for marine application.This thing can tolerate complete submersion and keep working without blinking.Awesome.Mines been WETTTT and I haven't had to do anything to it except rinse the mud/grime off.Have been using it for a few months and no trouble.

2000 450ES Red

 

I have a WARN A2000 mounted on my ES. I will tell you only by experience, I have had no trouble with my A2000. I have had my ES completely submerged in water while I used my A2000 to pull me to safety, without any trouble. I have had my ES submerged in quicksand (not completely but enough that I had to dig my way to the hook; I didn't free-spool I just back the cable out) and my A2000 pulled me to safety.

I have been through all conditions including water, swamp, water soaked mud (we call it quick sand) etc. And ended up submerging my A2000 just about every time. From every thing its been through my A2000 has not failed me yet, and still working good and strong.

A guy named Gary rides with my group (or he did until he got fed up with his ATV) he has an A2000 on his Grizzly too. He will tell you that his A2000 has been a lifesaver to him. Every time he drives through water (submerging his Grizzly) he gets stranded, well not really until he breaks out his A2000 (retrieves his hook from underneath) that is submerged, it pulls him right out every time. Gary's A2000 has been through the same conditions mine has and his is still working strong just like my A2000.

So if you ask me "is the WARN A2000 waterproof"? I would give a proud "yes". I do know that this winch is "not truly water proof" as speaking of it being sealed off, cause it is not sealed off from water as far as I know. I am just saying it will not fail or cause erratic behavior in water. That’s why I say its "water proof".

To lighten you up, every situation that I mentioned I pull my self out wile my WARN A2000 was submerged (including Gary too).

Now, I am just going by Gary and myself, and he is the only person that I know that has an A2000 just like mine. So you may know somebody that has had bad luck with their A2000 or just thinks they are no good when coming to be waterproof, am just telling you how two proud owners think of theirs going by their own experience.

Dean Powell


[This message has been edited by ARRON (edited 09-27-1999).]

 

Thats great. I would especially like to hear more about the RULE, since they claim that theirs is waterproof. But I know that those WARN winches last ans last.

 

The Warn 2500 on our Sportsman did fine in a few dunks, but it wasn't under water for a long time, and wasn't run under water.

 

I have an A2000 Warn on my atv and it works great! I have used it in mud and lots and lots of swamps and water for three years. It has been underwater a few times but not for more than 5-10 minutes. I have only ran it under water once and it worked and pulled me out but I wouldn't recommend doing it very often. They can handle mud and water pretty well as far as I'm concerned. And to make it last even longer I would suggest a winch nylon cover for when it is not in use to keep as much mud and water off of it when you can. I just had mine in the shop to clean the contacts inside and to just get some of the crud out that built up in it. I DIDN'T take it in because it stopped working, because it still worked but I figured it was time after three years of nasty mud. It was cheap too, it only cost 15 bucks to have the whole inside motor and gears cleaned and greased and to have a little rust removed on the contacts. I looked at it before it was cleaned and it was pretty nasty inside but it worked like a charm anyway.

Mudman '96 Xplorer 300 4x4 Vamped and a Warn
(for sale)
Soon to have Magnum 500

 

Mudman, does the water clear out by itself? Or do you have to drain it out after each submersion?