I think the warn winches are the best as well. However, that being said, I bought a Venom removable winch and put it on the back of my wife's 700. It works well and for the amount of times she actually rides and sticks it, it wasn't a bad investment. I think I got it on ebay for under $200 and it is a 3500 lb. I also found a quality bolt on 2" reciever on ebay for around $75. People comment on how cool it looks too when I am out riding. The reason I know this is I have had to ride her bike quite a bit this summer due to the fact that I had a lemon of a 2007 Sporty 800 Deluxe that has now been kicked to the curb for a 2007 Stealth 800. Anyway, I have used the winch and it works perfectly. I keep a bungy cord across the rear rack extender and pull the hook up from the winch and attach it to that for when I go mudding. That way I can just reach over the rear rack compartment to get to it and don't have to disembark from the bike and climb down below the mudline. Just some food for thought.

 

Thanks for the help.

Could you address one or several of my other questions?

Will I be able to permanently mount it to a post without too much hassle?

Does the switch have to be held the entire time of operation or can I get the trailer moving and attend to other things while it moves up the bank? Doesn't it cut off automatically?

Can the winch be wired directly to a battery without some type of fusing system?

The boat is a 15 ft aluminum Lund w/ a 35 HP outboard. W/ trailer the pulling weight can't be too much. Is there an advantage to getting a winch w/ more pulling power?

Thanks,
Dick