Anybody with experience using one of these winches? $299 on sale

Harbor Freight Memorial Day sale. 12,000 winch for $299. Says to compare to Warn 96820 How much would a Dyneema replacement cable cost?

I have a sunroof on my 93 4Runner. Used it maybe 5 times. Same situation here: probably won't use it but once or twice in the truck's lifetime as I don't offroad, but would still be nice to have it when I need it rather than need it and not have it.

 

A true amsteel blue line costs $2.50 a foot.

There are a few on Amazon for ~$100 that seam to be good. What I just put on my 10k but haven’t had a chance to use it yet

 

I have not used Harbor Freight 'Badlands' winches, but I will say that I have heard mostly negative reviews on them both online in other forums and in person, especially long term...they don't seem to hold up nearly as well as other brands.

Warn of course is widely considered to be one of the best, but they are pricey. I've heard good things about Superwinch brand though, and they are much cheaper than Warn.

Engo winches are supposed to be good too, and not as expensive.

 

So got a few guys out here that run them. They cycle them and cover them pretty religiously. Never heard anything bad about them from the guys that run them. One guy runs them front and rear. It’s all about how you take care of things.

 

I don't know if that winch has a "duty cycle" rating in the manual but I would bet it's about 20%. I think most failures on the budget winches is from over heating. Winch 15 seconds cool 45 seconds. I have a Zeon 12-s and I try to keep a 50-60% duty cycle.

 

If you are set on buying a budget winch I would encourage you to at least spend a little more for Smittybuilt or Mile Marker

 

Thanks guys! It had to be the best back in my youth. Now, I fish w Lightning Rods I got on sale for $11, delivered. Catching more fish and having more fun now too. If I get one I will give serious consideration to those you recommended. As I've posted ad nauseum, got a '93 4Runner with 413,000 on it. It's been in the woods, but nothing like some of ya'll do. In 413K I've never even been close to being stuck in it, and it has no winch. I seriously doubt that I will be in this Taco, but a little backup never hurt.

 

I have a Badlands 12k. Replaced the line with synthetic and made all my own cables (didn't like the factory Harbor Freight cables) out of 2/0 for power/ground, and 1/0 for all the relay wires since I relocated the control relay. Haven't had any issues with it, even had it submerged a few times. Only gripe is it's slooooooow compared to other winches. But sometimes that's not a bad thing.

 

Thanks guys. I passed on the $299 Memorial Day Sale on the winch. Armed with your kind advice I will research this a little more and lay my plans for a possible Black Friday purchase. I need to settle on a front bumper first.

 

I had the same exact badlands winch on my trailer, ended up taking a crap after being used a handful of times. I would never trust them on a vehicle that needs to be recovered potentially while alone. Like wulf said. Smitty or mile marker. I have a 9.5k smitty built on my samurai and I have over 50 recovery’s on it without a single issue in 4 years.

 

Search around. Lots of people have, although most of them don't openly brag about it, lol...

My rule of thumb with all harbor freight stuff is that it's pretty much for single use. If you get more uses out of it, great, but they're ticking time bombs.

This is light years ahead of the badlands, cheaper, too, lol

https://www.4wheelparts.com/p/smittybilt-xrc-9-5k-waterproof-9500lb-winch-gen2-97495/_/R-DSBP-97495

I went back and forth on smitybilt or Warn, and ended up throwing another couple hundred at a Warn VR10. After a few months, you won't even remember spending the extra $200.

 

Thanks! That is a good deal. I am in no hurry on this purchase. I saved this one and will continue to research my buying decision.