has anyone used any of these off brand winches i.e. Extreme, Venom...etc? I see they sell complete kits with monting plates for aound 120 dollars for a wolverine..are they worth while> I thought one might be handy to help get my jetski's out of the water.

any input appreciated

 

120 bucks? Can't go wrong, give it a try! It's no Warn but it will probably do the job.

 

I got a 2500# gorilla, it ain't failed yet and seems to pull very well.......Some low cost ones are junk tho [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-disgusted.gif[/img]

 

2500# venom here, only problem I have had is sometimes the thumb switch will not work, but I think its just the switch is going bad, I bought it last June. A new handlebar switch is only like $20. It has only not worked a couple times, but it would work again right away, so it is not like it left me stranded.
Many will suggest adding synthetic grease to it, I have not yet, but I plan on it.
for the price, I think its a no brainer, I have had mine in water countless times and it still works fine.

 

Got a 3000lb Venom off E-bay. So far I love it!! It is very quiet with lots of pull. The free corded remote comes in very handy. With mounting plate and shipping it was around $150 bucks. Minus the mounting plate you could get three of these for the price of a Warn!!

 

I also have the 3000lb Venom. I've had to pull myself out once and it worked perfectly.

I've had to replace the cable once due to my own stupidity when I wound it up without load. Spooled up on one end and pinched the hell out of a section of the cable - thankfully a brand new cable is only $19. I had to take the winch apart to get the cable secured to the spool. Taking apart the Venom is very easy and straight forward. There was also no water whatsoever inside the winch, which is surprising considering how deep it's been in some holes. Great winch from what I can tell.

 

Make sure your thumb switch connections are solid. Mine kept coming loose because of all the jarring around so I eventually just soldered the two connectors.

 

Not a bad idea, I'll try that.

 

yup i also have a venom 2500 winch as well. no problems here but the winch is a bit loud.

 

Yota, my buddy has the Venom 2000 lb winch and it is freaking loud!! The 3000 lb I have you can barely hear it run...