Ok I think I have a problem with my winch/sportsman. I was out riding last night and buried it. Now when I say buried I mean up to the seat with ice/snow/mud. I shoveled out in front,under,behind of the atv and hooked up the winch. The winch helped but was pretty useless. the lights dimmed down to almost nothing and the winch would not pull the atv out. After about an hour of pathetic winching, shoveling and rocking the hell out of it and just plain full throttle action on one wheel at times I got out. am i expecting to much from my 2000lb winch? or is the problem the atv not giving enough amperage for the winch? Any suggestions will be appreciated I am thinking about stepping up to a bigger winch but if the electrical on the atv can't handle it then it would be useless. I have had winches on my 4x4 trucks and those things could pull my trucks out of anything, I was kind of expecting the same thing with a 2000lb winch on a 720lb atv but then again my truck weighed 5000 and I used a 8000lb winch. also if it was not for my reverse override mod I would still be stuck. I could not imagine trying to rock it like I was and trying to hold in a yellow button.

Bill

 

When you are packed in you are also trying to plow through & over all that ice/snow/mud also. I have stalled my 2500# out in wet heavy snow before.

 

hey, i had this same problem, my winch wouldn't pull out my brothers dirt bike when he got it stuck and i was asking myself the same questions. my problem, may not be yours, was my battery. i never had any signs of battery drainage or anything otherwise until that day. my lights dimmed, the winch slowed to a stop and just wouldn't pull even with the gas held partially down. i replaced the battery and BOOM! full pulling power again. good luck- PB500

 

Have you ever tried a ****** block? It will double your pulling power.

 

its a combo of thigs. first the 2000 lb(i had one) isnt that strong to begin with. if you were to add the whelers weight,yours and all the force(resitance) that the mud/snow had on the bike (which i couldnt figure lol.) i think you would be over the 2000 lb rating. 2nd. the more cable you have out the less pulling power it has.3rd.the battery is solely powering the winch and when it starts to drain the battery it will loose some of its pulling power. the charging systems on most wheelers arent designed to keep up w/ this demand. 4th. if you do an upgrade tot he winch you'll need all new wiring and a new contacter to handle the strain. they do make an upgrade to makew a 2000 to a 2500lb for like $150.00 i think. personally i would just buy all new. also a snach block would be good. hope this helps.