I don't think Winches are like power tools. When it comes down to you get what you pay for. This is my story on the cheap one i bought.

I have a Champion Winch. Its a cheapy, but has yet to fail me. About $70 I got it for $46 because of a price mix up . Its a 2000lb winch. It comes with a pully to help in really bad situations witch I have not had to use few other things the roller what not. Its got me out of some really really deep stuff. Nasty thick stuff to. I went into one hole got stuck the mud was coming past my foot pegs I sunk literally didn't even hafta spin. Only way I could get out was up a descently steep hill and to the side. It turned the wheels twards the hill and slowly got winched out without a problem. I had to make my own custom bracket for the winch because I wasn't paying $70-80 for my bracket, but still works great. I only have a 2wd ATV to. I think its personal opinion. I took a chance on an offbrand, but have not been disappointed.

 

I got a Gorilla 3000 lb winch for my Ranger. What a peice of junk. Got it last Sept. 06 used it a few times with a Swisher dump setup. Lasted about 8 trips hauling a load of road rock around the building. The gears were completely stripped. This was early Oct, notified them it failed they sent a replacement unit. Installed it hauled a few more loads of rock, a few days later had a good snowfall, 4 inches of fluff. Put the plow on and proceeded to clean up the drive. Got about half way done and the unit locked up. Took it apart and the planetary gears were shattered. Contacted them again, no response. Tried numerous times they just ignored me. Even tried to BUY the replacement parts, no response. It is now March 07, they won't honor their warranty they don't have or won't offer parts. Crappy outfit to do business with. According to other posts many people have used 1500 and 2000 lb winches with utility dumps on their atvs/utvs without any problems.

 

I had an Etreme winch (off Ebay) And i have a warn now because it came on the bike, since I didnt have the Ex very long I cant say anything about except it worked good on my plow. I havent had the new bike long but the warn switches and everyting look nicer and i think the line speed is faster!

 

GET A RAMSEY .... WARN'S NO BETTER THAN THE JUNK CHINESE MODELS !

 

i bet my Warn can pull the drum right off your winch. Ramsey is a good winch, but the Warns have passed the test a long time ago. it just boils down to which model you are lookin at.

monty

 

It's time to get back on task here. EconDave wanted to know if anyone had a recommendation for a LIGHT DUTY, winch that would once-in-awhile be used to pull him out of mud. He didn't want to move the Earth or plow every road in the county. In rereading all the posts here it would appear that any winch mentioned would serve the purpose for which he needs his winch. It also would appear that every make has a problem once-in-awhile. Dave wants some USEFUL input here and name calling of other winches - besides the one YOU own - serves no purpose. So Dave... It's your money buy whichever winch you feel comfortable spending your money on. Most seem able to do what you need to do... regardless of price. Buy the one you want. I've seen excellent warranty service with Gorilla, and others have had good experience with Warn. That said, others have not and that's why I say, buy the one you feel most comfortable buying. The only thing I have to add is... if you are reasonably handy, you can save quite a bit of money installing it yourself. I'd recommend getting a "purpose built" mounting bracket, either from the winch mfgr, or the ATV dealer. Universal mounts work excellent... for every machine but the one you want to mount your winch on. Best of luck to you, you won't be disappointed with what ever you buy. I have certainly had excellent luck with both the Warn on my AC and the Gorilla on my Can-Am. No complaints with either. I didn't work with the Warn factory but instead the AC dealer so can't comment on how Warn is to work with. My AC dealer was excellent however, as was the company selling Gorillas. Hopefully you won't need them for anything other than the purchase.

 

I must know, how did you get out of the snow banks on picture #'s 16 and 18?

 

I have a Mile Marker P-2000 winch that works great. It's cheaper than a Warn but it does the job.

 

Who makes a good winch with metal gears? Are metal gears necesarrily the best...............