i plow alot with my polaris sp400 4x4. is it normal to go through batties when using the wench ???

i have had this machine new in 2002 and have always used a wench for lifting up and down the plow.
just the other day my machine would not start.jumping it it would. then my wench would not work either,even when it was running. so i put new bat in and everything worked.

so.....does the use of a wench wear down the battery?? even when running???

i had now significant signs that the bat was going bad.

 

I had the same problem. Had a 04.5 sp500 ran fine for 2 months till I put a winch and plow on. The the battery would be dead and would have to pull start it. Get a voltmeter and check if there is any current draw when the machine is off. (take positive lead off battery and put meter between lead and battery) Then check charging (with machine running meter across pos and neg should get greater than 13VDC). If both of those are fine you can bring your battery to an autozone to check the cells. My problem was with the new sealed battery. The dealer gave me an acid battery instead, so far so good (knocking on desk).