The best winch for the buck.

[Cold_Front]

I’m shopping for a reliable winch with a synthetic rope. The badlands line from harbor freight is where I’m at…just waiting on a sale. I’ve seen some interesting offerings on Amazon. Most of these are likely made in the same factory in China and get a different sticker and dollar amount assigned. What is the best bang for my buck?

 

[Cypress]

I've been running a XBull 13k for a little over a year now. It has done everything I have asked it to. IIRC it was $369.

 

[madcratebuilder]

No matter the winch you buy I would recommend you do 3-4 minor pulls with it. Keep duty cycle to 20%, do not over heat the motor. This should break in the motor and gear box and expose any defective parts. The imports can be good units.

 

[Junktj]

I would suggest watching Amazon warehouse for a good deal. I have 8000 pound mile marker scout series winch I paid under $300 for. The box was beat up, but the winch was perfect.

 

[Billiebob]

I’m shopping for a reliable winch with a synthetic rope. The badlands line from harbor freight is where I’m at…just waiting on a sale. I’ve seen some interesting offerings on Amazon. Most of these are likely made in the same factory in China and get a different sticker and dollar amount assigned. What is the best bang for my buck?

I've never seen a bad post about the Badlands, and there seem to be a lot of them out there.
I bought a Warn M8000, and love it. But I could have bought 3 Badlands winches.

 

[MOAK]

Mine is a Superwinch Tiger Shark 9500lb with synthetic line ( external brake ). I just took a look at what they sell for now, yikes, I paid way less than that 7 or so years ago. It has performed flawlessly every time it has been needed. I like sticking with well know reputable brands when it comes to emergency gear.

 

[Willys Yella Jeep]

I’m shopping for a reliable winch with a synthetic rope. The badlands line from harbor freight is where I’m at…just waiting on a sale. I’ve seen some interesting offerings on Amazon. Most of these are likely made in the same factory in China and get a different sticker and dollar amount assigned. What is the best bang for my buck?

Like you, I am looking for a good winch for my jeep. There are a lot out there. But, I have settled on a Warn Evo 8s. Although it can't be operated submerged like it's big brother, I will make the investment. One of the best considerations my friend told me was, why would in buy a 300 dollar winch to recover a 60,000 dollar jeep. Point made.

Willy

 

[MMc]

I have a Superwinch Tiger Shark 11500 I love mine. They were sold to Westin Automotive about 1 year ago. I need a part and they took care of fast and free. It's used for all kinds pulls and always solid.

 

[MuckSavage]

I know it's no longer available but 25 years ago, there were no Chinese winches. I purchased a Superwinch S9000 & have never regretted the purchase. A winch is not something to cheap out on. Think about it.... You're stuck, cold, icey snow is coming down & it's 15 degrees outside. That's no time for winch failure & yes that's a scenario that I've lived through.

 

[Countryboy20241]

I’m shopping for a reliable winch with a synthetic rope. The badlands line from harbor freight is where I’m at…just waiting on a sale. I’ve seen some interesting offerings on Amazon. Most of these are likely made in the same factory in China and get a different sticker and dollar amount assigned. What is the best bang for my buck?

I run a smittybilt x20 with synthetic rope that I got for 600 and it has been great so far.

 

[Cold_Front]

I want to buy a harbor freight but it seems like smittybilt is more for the money. I’d rather have something that’s reliable than cutting corners. If I’m bolting it to the frame it’s becoming a permanent addition to the truck.

 

[MOAK]

I read a lot about products all coming from the same factories in China and simply being rebranded. RTTs suffer the same generalization. OVS or any of the other less expensive tents may have come from the same factory as a Tepui or JB tent but the quality is night & day. I come from the chemical coatings industry and most all paint you purchase at Lowes, Walmart or your local mom&pop comes from the same production plant as the Sherwin Williams paint you can buy at a SW paint store. Are they the same paints just rebranded to Dutchboy, Valspar, MAB, Duron, Pratt & Lambert, etc etc.. gawd no. Not even close. So no, a Smitty, or Harbor freight winch is not the same as a Chinese made Warn or Superwinch. My point? Do your research & choose wisely, especially on a piece of kit that could be depended upon to save your life.

 

[OTH Overland]

I have a Warn 12k Zeon w/ synthetic line on my Ram 3500, and recently purchased a Smittybilt XRC 9500 Gen 3 with synthetic on our Grand Cherokee. I think if I had not purchased and used the Warn first, I might have been happy with the Smittybilt as it works fine so far. But when comparing it side by side with the Warn I can see and feel how much better the Warn operates, its quieter, feels like it has been engineered better. The first indication was the end of the winch line passes thru the drum and is secured by a wedge on the far side on the Warn, but on the Smitty there is little metal tab on the end of the line that is fastened to the side of the drum with a tiny screw. I realize that both winches specify a certain number of wraps of winch line remain on the drum for winching, but i feel much better about the extra efforts that Warn went to in their design. Arguably both winches will likely work fine for many years, and the warn is close to three times the price, but not going to be concerned about that when I need the winch to perform in crappy conditions many miles from civilization. Not planning on replacing the SmittyBilt, but my next winch will be another Warn. Warn has been building winches since 1959 and still assembles them in the USA (Except for the VR series is produced in china) (Warn also does say some of the parts on all their winches come from overseas) First winch I ever bought was a Warn 8274 for my old 74 CJ5, made locally in Seattle. That winch made it onto several Jeeps and was still working on a car trailer when I sold it 30 years later. Of course nothing is built to last that long anymore.

 

[MuckSavage]

@OTH Overland My Father used to say "The Warn 8274. The winch by which all others are judged" (He had one on his CJ-2A)

 

[Xdtitan]

I have a superwinch 9500lb a smittybilt x20 gen2 12,000lb and a warn vr exo 12,000lb bought in that order. The superwinch has been abused for 15 yrs burned one solenoid over that time. The smittybilt is 5 yrs old has had issues with randomly turning on due to wireless frequencies engaging the winch and the free spool clutch system being a pain in the ass not smooth at all sticks and skips. But it works over all and pulls good. The Warn Evo is 4 months old and I have been very happy with it. I have changed the solenoid wiring so that it has a seperate circuit on a switch to power it( lessons learned with the smittybilt) free spool is very smooth and can be engaged under light load. Winch also has smooth operation and pulls very well, great winch for the money would buy another.

 

[El-Dracho]

I have been using a WARN winch for many years. It has never let me down. And if there is ever a problem with it, I even get spare parts. I would never buy one of those cheap no name winches. Because as many here have already said, in doubt everything depends on this winch. I want to be able to rely 100% on the winch when I need it and not save money at the wrong end. I can of course also understand if someone can not spend so much money, but then I would rather reach for a used properly overhauled WARN winch (or other brand winch) than a no name product or depending of what you are looking for get an entry level brand winch instead of a pro one. This all for the above reasons.

Something else that is important to me: besides a good winch that you can rely on, what happens around it. Also the assembly, the wiring, the rope, the hook and accessories (winch blanket, snatchblock, schackles, etc.) should be very well done, in good condition and regularly checked and maintained. And always remember, any recovery situation can be dangerous. Think saftey! Be prepared!

 

[Dorobuta]

check out the YouTube videos on offroad recovery companies. Matt's Offroad Recovery uses nothing but Badlands (Harbor Freight) one of the other channels, they dumped their warns for the Badlands models. None of their Badlands have failed, several of their warns did.

YMMV, but don't write off cheaper as being worse quality. Do the research first.