Today I was riding solo and far off the beaten path. It was a great place to get stuck and an even better place to have the winch break! Thankfully I had cell service and a bud who was willing to find me and pull my machine out.

 

It sucks that your winch broke. It's a good thing you had a friend to help you out and a great reason to have a cell phone.

 

I carry a small folding shovel. It's handy to have to make ramps in the snow so the winch doesn't have to work quite as hard. Do you have a ****** block pulley, Jgar? It's come in handy on some of our snow rides in NH. Who pulled you out?

I was just looking at the front yard yesterday and thinking it's late in March to still have two feet of snow on the flat part or our land.

 

I found out the hard way last weekend that its a bit early for ATVs yet. It was ok in the frosty morning but later when it warmed up and the snow turned to mush it was game over.

 

I never go riding with out my cell phone, ever. Where I got stuck was surrounded by thick spruce. The area never got direct sun or crunchy on top so the popo sunk like a rock. I could feel it coming and tried to punch through. Probably didnt help that there was only a single sled that broke the trail.

 

Until yesterday I have not taken getting stuck and recovery gear seriously. I'm confident if the winch had not malfunctioned it would of pulled the machine out.
I used a 20' tow strap tied 10' up in a tree to get some lift. At one point I had winched 8', then the Warn 2k stopped pulling hard. It would not even budge the 500. When I reel the cable in I can grab the cable and the winch will stop.

 

Sounds like either the gears that turn the drum are stripped or the freespool switch on the end of the winch isn't engaging properly. When my quad/winch were new the freespool switch was tough to turn. I didn't know this the first time I went to get my buddy Paul out of a bad mudhole. I was able to switch it to freespool to pull the wire out but I could not get the switch to engage even with my best grip. So, I rode the rest of the day with 30" of winch line wrapped around the front rack. When I got home I made "wrench" out of a piece of pvc pipe by notching the end so it would fit in the switch and over the bar that you grab. Clicked right in once I had a full hand's worth of grip on it.

 

Last time the winch was used Cudavic and I were pulling a jeep out. It had broke through a frozen mud hole . Since then it has been totally submerged numerous times. I cant imagine they are really waterproof.

 

I've never had a winch not function because of being submerged, so they are, at least, built to withstand the elements. Pulling a Jeep out could burn out the motor, strip the gears, etc.

 

That looks hard and thick snow, no wonder the winch will fail.