Haven't posted here in forever but thought I might throw out some info and questions.

Bought an 03 Ozark in the fall of 03. I've only crashed it 3 times thank God and didn't break anything on me or the ATV. One of the crashes was a flip. I thought I was dead but after looking around for blood and compound fractures, amazingly walked away with only a pair of broken glasses.

Anyway, I have run this Ozark hard, mostly just fast, not jumping and mudding. To my delight, NOTHING has failed on this machine.

It out runs both of my brothers Yamaha's (a 250 and a 400), which really gripes him. This summer however, I got the opportunity to ride a Honda Rincon. OMG, it was a rocket with knobby tires. I need one of those. The down side of it was handling. I know it's apples to oranges but it was like a tank compared to the Ozark.

After getting stuck a couple of times this summer with my Ozark, I finally broke down and bought a winch today. I bought a Mile Marker 2000. Don't care for the bulky remote on it but I'll deal with it at the price I paid.

The installation directions are vague on the power connection. It was not supplied with a fuse or anything so I guess I need to track down a 70 amp fuse setup of some sort. Advice would be nice.

Also, any tips on winch mounting position would be appreciated. I am bulding my own mounting plate but wasn't sure if I should mount the unit as close to the bumper as possible or not. I bought a Superwinch fairlead that I can mount flush with the bumper or slightly beyond the bumper or just behind the bumper. Again, advice would be appreciated. I have no winch experience except for my X wife and I won't go there at this time.


Thanks in advance

 

For mounting ur winch I suggest you purchace a winch mounting plate from Suzuki, the winch has a postive and negitive power cable connections, both connections are connected to the contactor, then the contactor has a pos and neg connection to the battery, the contactor has 3 small wires thats connected to the handlebar mounted switch, and the switch has a small wire power source thats connected to ign voltage from ur key switch. you need 2 power cables from the contactor to the winch, 2 power cables from the contactor to the battery, 3 small wires from the contactor to the handlebar switch and one of the wires, red, connected to the on side of the key switch. The winch operates by the contactor changing the polarity to the motor on the winch so the motor changes rotation direction, one direction power flows from pos to neg, the opppisite direction power flows from neg to pos. The contactor is marked what cable connection is which, mount the contactor in a dry location, like under the seat, make sure you bolt and secure the contactor solid.

 

The Mile Marker winch came with the big clunky controller and power cords.

I assume the contactor is built into the controller because it functions perfectly, forward and reverse. But the directions say that one of the red power cables should be connected to a 70amp fuse and not connected direct to the battery. I ran all the wires and have everything situated but just have to find a fuse holder type setup to put inline.

Autoparts store may have a fuseholder that will work.

 

Some auto parts houses may not carry a 70 amp rated fuse holder or the fuses for it. Napa usually has the heavier stuff for use on trucks. I would suggest getting a fuse holder that is rated for a little more than the required fuse IF the 70 amp fuse will fit in it. You want the fuse to be the weakest link in the whole setup for obvious reasons. I like to use marine stuff on the quad as it is much more water resistant than automotive electrical stuff. Price will nearly double but it's worth it in my opinion.

As a side note, I don't recall seeing a 70 amp fuse in any of the cabinets I have looked thru. Wasn't looking for one so may have just missed it. You might want to double check the amperage called for in the instructions.

 

Check with a car stereo shop. They carry those types of fuses.
If you think the Rincon is a rocket then ride a Kawi or CanAm!
I can beat a Rincon in a drag race while riding a wheelie, and the CanAm's can whoop me.