Good winches, bad winches?

Smitty XRC8 with synthetic line for $450 "and free shipping if you are lucky on ebay". Lifetime warranty? I have seen them work. For the money how can you go wrong unless you are pulling yourself out every single weekend?

 

This isn't bad either....

 

I looked at the VR line and I'm sure they are fine but if you look at the specs they are louder/slower and appear to draw more amps vs the M series also means hotter. Heat kills winches. I did sum shopping and got my M8000 on ebay for 540 and Warn had there $80 dollar rebate at the time so 480 the VR8 would of only been like 400 but I just couldnt chance it for 80. Personally I would try and find a used M8 before a new VR. Also remember to carry a pulley it really helps the winch.

 

Well - it is something that comes once in a blue moon. The current price is much higher. I bought this one when they were giving the store away on New Year's Day to clear out inventory.

 

Just found a coupon from streetside for $30 off the xrc8 and it is free shipping. So 420 with synthetic free ship. Not too shabby

 

except the winch is

 

Like I said. There are better ones if you use them weekly but for the price and warranty you can't get anything near that with synthetic. Of course, I have only seen others use them and I am convinced that they are worth the money. With that said though, I am always open to hearing first hand horror stories. Not "I heard of a guy who's friend's brother had one not work..."

 

You gotta pay the troll toll...

 

Ask JLee for his first hand story.

 

Well, I just spent about 10 minutes picking on the poor Streetside guy trying to get it down to $489, and they wouldn't budge beyond $619. So this has to have been an older sale or something. They did have a $25 gift card to a future order, but all the strings attached were a joke.

Now here's a bonus though .. Warn just fired up a $50 mail in rebate on the M8000

I am already at the $539 price .. less $50, means you are at $489 anyhow.

 

Did he post a story about it or do I need to PM him?

 

Great info on winches here which I appreciate as I am toyin with the idea of purchasing one in the future. One thing i see here which may confuse people is the fact that on any winch (or hoist for any crane operators like myself) your greatest pull is on your first layer on the drum. That being the case, the more line you pay out the more pulling power you will have, rather than less as I believe the quote says. Your winch will have a greater pulling capacity with one wrap on the drum than it will with 4 wraps on the drum.

 

D'oh ... I always do that!!! I would think I could remember that by now. Thanks for catching it even after I read it 5 or 6 times before I posted it to begin with.

 

Haha, no worries man, you really had me scratching my head for a minute after I read it!

 

the xd 9000 is made in washinghton state, according to the promo guy. he said as of this week it still is, i think thay are considering china. allways better to go over. 8000 is min 9000, 9500 is just that little bit of insurance you want.

 

Theres seriously like a 60 page thread on Pirate with mostly solid reviews. I'm not trying to sell the XRC series but I think for the money you get a really decent winch. Theres always a few horror stories and you're right, with these winches they're probably more common than with Warn etc... None the less, from what I've read most issues have been handled well and quickly by smittybilt.

I do agree there are better winches but you have to pay to play. For that personally I'd skip the warn and go with the Superwinch. More winch for your money.

 

Had a Warn 8000 years ago and had good luck with it.

 

I have a warn 9.5xp with a synthetic line and it is an AMAZING winch totally worth the money. It is really nice to have the piece of mind knowing that your winch WILL pull you out no matter how stuck you are. (Mine is also for sale )

 

Is the winch still for sale? I am in the market.

 

Brunes beat you to it . Just shipped it today. Sorry