I have a 2004.5 HO 500 with a 2500 # winch. When I use the winch it seems to draw to much power and drains my battery and stalls my bike. The battery seems fine. I can leave it for weeks at a time and it will start right up. All the wires seem tight with no scuffing.
I am wondering if anyone has any suggestions on how I can trouble shoot or places to start looking.
Thanks again.

 

I also have a 2004 SPortsman 500. I can't help you with the winch problem but I have a question for you. How do you tell if your machine is a "old" 04 or a "new" 04? I guess what I mean is, you say yours is a 2004.5, how do you make that distinction?

 

I beleive one way of telling the differance is on the early 2004 they don't have a park gear and on the latter 2004.5 you can put your bike in park.
If anyone can tell us different I would also like to know the differances.

 

i think the 04 have the hub style where the 04.5 have the roller cage frontends. not 100% does the winch seem to drag hard or slow w/ no load on it as well? maybe winch motor it self is dragging something like a bad car starter will do and turn over real slow. just a thought.

 

is it the original battery?if so have it load tested, sounds like when you put a load on it , it drains quickly, I used my winch alot once to pull out an elk, it pretrty much ruined the old battery i9n my 700, replaced battery with a decka , glass filled and everything was fine, have you tried reving up the motor when winching?

 

It may need to be cleaned or the electric motor mat need to be rebuilt, if the battery doesn't fix it.

 

Thanks people for all your help. The battery is about three years old. I will take it and get it tested. It only seems to drain the battery when there is a load on the winch.
Thanks Again

 

make sure to have the battery 100% charged up when you load test for best results. could be as kerbbirds mentioned thatthe battery is weak enough where under a load it is killing it enough.

 

did you ever find a solution for your winch problem I am having the same problem stalls bike but battery still starts bike back up after it stalls have load tested battery and everything is as it should be

 

For anyone else dealing with winch power issues like this, it could definitely be that the winch is pulling more amps than the battery can handle, especially under load. Getting the battery load tested is a great first step. If it’s struggling under heavy use, upgrading to a stronger battery might solve the issue.

Also, if the winch seems to struggle even without a load, it could be a sign that the winch motor needs cleaning or rebuilding, like a worn-out starter. Keeping the engine revved while using the winch can also help reduce strain on the battery.

Hope this helps anyone troubleshooting similar problems!