Newbie here.....picked up a sportsman 500x2 in october and received a Trail Tamer winch and Cabela's mounting bracket (Swisher) for Christmas to begin the accessory process.

Was installing the winch today and all bolt holes matched up fine, easy to install....but, the centerline of the rollers were 3-4 inches left of center which is different than any other winches I've seen. I don't think it would impact operation of the winch, but it looks different.

Has anyone experienced their winches mounting well off center like this? Any comments on your experience with the Trail Tamer brand would be appreciated.

This is my first winch so any comments/advice would be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

I've installed a couple of winches now. One on a polaris, one on a Kawasaki. I also recently bought the Cabelas Trail Tamer winch because it was on sale for $99. Just don't know what to do with it yet!

While centerline mounting would be a plus (especially if you later add the double tube front bumber with the buillt-in fairlead roller mount), it probably isn't the law. Your friends may laugh at you... I looked at the cabelas mount kit, and it looks very much like the 'business' end of the reel is offset towards the right side of centerline, to make room for the entire winch body on the tray-like mount.

I consider my winch use a measure of last resort (not for routine purposes), and as long as I had decent access to it, being off-center should not give you any problems. You may want to look at getting a different mount (like the Polaris) in the future, especially if the roller fairlead is mounted on the center of a bumper or brushguard.

 

guess i dont know which winch that is but as long as it works w/out hindering or hitting anything it shouldnt matter what it looks like when your pulling your self or someone esle out right.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]