Harbor Frieght winch?

[Twitch57]

Saw this on sale at harbor freight:

Chicago 3k pound radio controlled 12vportable winch
for 59 bucks

what do you guys think?

I honestly dont know jack about winches
anything to look for or avoid?

 

[mhughes165]

its a quad winch

 

[Hahnsb2]

3K isn't near enough to pull a stuck rig. 8K+ is a good starting point.

 

[Twitch57]

I guess this one is a no- go then

about how much should I expect to pay for a 8k?

thanks

 

[mhughes165]

they start at about 3-400 for those ratings, and go anywhere up to 800+

 

[mkpecor]

smitty built came out with a 8,000 for $290 and its damb good.

 

[swynx]

yeah i got the smitty bult sittin in my garage waitin to be installed, there, to much snow in teh mountains to go wheelin its like 6+ foot wall of snow on the sides of all the roads, from the snow plowin, so u cant get to ne of the trails without working ur as off

 

[BlackBII]

All the Harbor Freight 'wenches' never look good to me

 

[Yank]

Harbor freight is good for tools that you might use periodically but but for everyday use. I bought a tool for ball joint and tie-rod end removal expecting to pay $20.00. I paid $6.00. I won't use them much and they will hold up for a couple of more uses, I hope. I don't know if I would pay over 50.00 for anything in that store, though.Smitty or Warn I like but Harbor Freight winches... I would be a bit leary, Friend, but that is me and you are you. If you like it and are satisfied with the product and price then you do what you need to do. Good luck!

Yank

 

[Twitch57]

harbor freight tools seem to be a one time use deal

but i was curious bout the winch

i guess ill actually have to spend money on one then

 

[Will]

I had one of those Harbor Freight winches for about three years. And after it broke I put on a PileMarker 8,000. It broke in one day pulling on a log. And then I had spent $600 for three years and one day. They are the same shitty thing. They are slow and grind themselves up. A day of using one of those puts about a month of wear on it.

So I did some research and the best thing I found was a Superwinch EPi 9.0. It's integrated, which means the solenoids are totally sealed. It's very fast--47fpm as opposed to 13fpm for the HF or Pilemarker. It's series wound so it pulls harder the more you load it. It has a bigger space for the cable so you can run a true 100+' without it getting jammed. It has a much better controller, a toggle with a pistol grip. The pad controller on the HF/Pilemerker gets stiff when it's cold and hard to push the buttons.

I had my HF three years, as I said. But it was three years of misery--often having to beat on it with a rock after it started to wear out. I got my EPi 9.0 for $600 including shipping. That's 2 HF winches and its a hell of a lot better winch. Another winch I like is the Warn XD9000i. Jim Oaks has it on his truck. It's almost as fast as the Superwinch EPi 9.0 but is a couple hundred bucks more. It looks very much alike. It's really, really worth it to have a good winch.

But it's also well worth it to keep your come-along handy for days when your winch is stuck in the creek bank.

 

[mud_bogger]

IMO steer clear of the harbor frieght stuff like that. Your goona put your trust into that winch to get you out one of these days an when it konks out then what?

I paid $600 for my 8k lb warn winch no regrets an it was being used every weekend. I got a chance to see one of the T-max winches work last summer. I didnt have enough straps with me so I hooked my winch to his an we both started pulling trying to get my jeep out. Mine was easily twice as fast as the T-max maybe a lil more. The warn seemed to be in a lil tougher shell as well IMO

 

[Carlos Murphy]

winch

I got a 8K winch from Cosco for $330.00 out the door 2 years ago (Champion) works great.

 

[pillen140]

if it has moving parts..... dont buy it from harbor freight! its like buying electrical parts at autozone, or eyeglasses at the dollar store.... it will kind of work, but ultimatly do more damage!