First of all, thanks to all who post on this site, it has been a great resource for me in helping me get into the world of ATVs. I am now just beginning to shop for a winch for my 00 Kodiak, and would like some advice on which one. I do mostly trail riding, with some remote mud holes mixed in, so if I buy one I want it to work. Also, I plan to plow some snow this winter, and assume I would use the winch to raise/lower the blade. Any advice would be great. Thanks.

 

I have a 2001 Kodiak with 80 miles on it. I was reading ATV Magazine and saw an advertisement for a winch for 69.00 with the purchase of a new Yamaha ATV. My Dealer never mentioned this and so I went back a week ago and purchased the Winch.
Its a Warn 2000 Winch and I must say it mounts VERY nicely on the Kodiak, well Hidden. I havent completed hooking it up yet, just have to wire to the switch at this point, and so I havent used it yet. I have had experience with 2 different superwinches. Neither one mine, but one was on a lakota, the other a 300 Prarie.
Both have gone through 3 switches I think, and they really dont seem very powerful even when properly working. The last switch installed was the new updated switch with the cover for the superwinch. The Prarie new updated switch is going bad again, the one on the Lakota still seemed to be working o.k before he traded it.
Hope this Warn holds Out, but it really wont see much abuse on my end, Im not that hard on the machine. Let us know what you get!

Ron

 

i have an 01 kodiak with 2000lb warn. It's more than enough to pull. I can stay on it chock the front wheels put it in park and hold the breaks and the whinch will pull the 4 wheeler if the load is to heavy. I've pulled out myself a big bear and a honda 300 with no problems. Cabelas has a super winch that is cheaper I don't know about the quality though. My winch was under 2 foot of pudding mud with water touching the bottom of the fenders. I had to dig under the mud with my hand to reach the free spool. It still pulled me out with no problems. By the way if you do get a whinch the storage box under the seat is a perfect place to mount the solenoid. Just enlarge the hole with the rubber groment in it in the bottom. After you run the wires through it silicone the hole.

 

if your just going throught a little mud, i would just deal with the 200lb one. But of coarse if you get some hardcore rider like me, get a 2500lb, like i did!!

 

I have a super winch 1500 pounds, let me tell you, do not get any super winch for a ATV until they do something about the switch. It is the worse engineering I have ever seen. Although on a positive note, the mechanics and motor of the winch, itself, has been good so far, it has always pulled me out when I’ve got stuck. If I was going to get another winch I would go with the Warn 2k, the 2500 is not that much better (ex. Slightly bigger engine, wire, but relatively the same retrieval rate. ).Either one of the winches has more than enough power to get you out of the worst situations so the choice between the 2000, and 2500 pound winches is yours. Hope this helps.