I've been looking for a winch (new) for weeks now. The first thing I hate about the advertising is their capacity rating. If it is rated at 4500 pounds, it should be able to lift, not pull, 4500 pounds. I can push a 5000 pound car if the tires have enough PSI and it is a flat road. But I don't rate myself at 5000#. When looking on Amazon and seeing customer ratings at 4.4 and 4.7 I think I've got winners. But then I read the 4% that gave 1 star for the winch, I see "Failed on the first" or second use. And the plastic bushing disintegrated. Many people review soon after installing, and are happy with their new show piece. They may not know they bought a lemon until a year later when they are out in the desert with nobody around. So I am seeking help from people that have multiple heavy uses with their winch. What is a good brand and what stated capacity should I look for?
Winches
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This was done quite some time ago:
www.talonsxsforum.com
Hope it helps.
Wench Recommendations
For Honda Talon 1000 X what size wench do you recommend. Any specific accessories I should look for.? What do is your opinion of the Warn Axon 35 S? Any thoughts on steel vs synthetic rope? All opinions are welcome. I tend to ride in a lot of mud and water and was quite lucky last weekend.
www.talonsxsforum.com
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I probably shouldn't say this....but most of the winch internals all come from the same couple of suppliers. The big differences are in the cases (design and branding), the accessories, and the warranty. Any common trustworthy brand is going to be just as good as the next. And we sell winches! Lol! If you want one of ours, I can always get you the forum member discount.
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I run a SuperATV 5000 on our Talon and a Warn 3500 on the Kawasaki. No problems with either, Hometeam is right Warn is expensive. You can get a much bigger SuperATV Winch for less money, I say go with the discount and go big!
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Super Atv is having a 15% off sale on their winch and mount packages today. I bought one on Black Friday, same discount then, and it seems to be good quality. I think it was around $340 for a 4500 lb winch with synthetic rope and a mounting plate for the Talon. I have installed it and am happy.
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To me, the capacity thing is a complete misnomer. Using the Law of Physics: double the line with a pulley block and you double the pulling capacity of your winch. I ordered mine from Super ATV about a year ago and haven't had the opportunity to use it yet. Although I do try to avoid deep mud holes.
I would go warn, I have the 3500 Honda warn on my talon x4 and it’s been great, if you look at the go, amps, etc If available you’ll see that a warn 3500 has more ass in it than a black ops 4500 like hp, gear ratio, and amps I believe, idk I did some research when I went to buy one as well and I was kinda surprised at the statistics of all what they claim to what there rated for. I’ve had no issues with it thus far, I’ve submerged it plenty of time and been threw lots of water an mud, at one point I thought it gave up but actually it was the switch that did, I didn’t water seal it so that was on me, put a new switch on months later and it fired right up, made sure to seal it up this time lol. I also run a pulley block as much as I can and straps around trees and clevis’ to ensure long synthetic rope life. If you read the Manuel it also states letting out more line will increase you pulling strength, which I didn’t know either. Which would make sense when using a snatch block to double up. It’s all how you use it and if your smart you’ll be able to get out of any sticky situation
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Smitty Built for quality and price
I've read many reviews. So many rate high, that have never even used their winch yet. I read negative reviews on instructions for SuperATV. Some said difficult to understand directions and even showing wrong wiring. A few people I've talked with say they have never needed their winch. When you are alone and stuck in the middle of nowhere, you think I'd give $500 to have made a better decision. The Warn 4500 is $440. But I don't see the anything about the mounting plate. Being difficult to pair up AND expensive isn't a good selling tactic.
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Smitty Built XRC4 winch is very cheap and very very reliable. Check it out before you spend the money on the high priced ones. Amazon has a great price. The best winch on the market. If you buy a Warn, you are paying for the name.
yes they are expensive compared to others, and yes you have to buy a mounting kit separate, but I believe that’s most sxs that don’t have a factory winch anyway, so anyone you use will need a mount kit also (correct me if I’m wrong). But warn is good and I’ve used my 3500 quite a bit, hell just last night I pulled out a little Ford Focus in the sand buried to the frame. I used my snatch block, tree strap rope to go around the frame, and clevis to tie them together, and with a little gas on her end came right out, I’ve moved big down trees out of trail paths, it’s got me unstuck a good few times. Ive got a lot of use out of mine and besides the remote going bad due to water, it’s not had one problem. Biggest thing I would say is BUY a winch accessory kit with the snatch block, tree straps and clevis, AND USE IT every time you use your winch, it saves its life by cutting the load down. Yeah it takes longer to do all your rigging and more hassle but it’s worth having more pulling power and extending the life of it. I’m a firm believer now of using it all and getting better results
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I understand the concern with instructions. Instructions for winches are specific to the winch and its functions, and not to whatever machine you have or wherever you're mounting it. The winch mount instructions will be more specific to your machine. We sell a LOT, so you get those once in awhile when people are just buying a winch and not the mount for their machine. We have an awesome tech team on the phone lines if you ever have any installation questions. Plus, we have a bunch of installation videos that are really helpful.
I wanted to respond to comments you made earlier about where winch parts are made. I research Warn and found the VR is completely made and assembled in China. Other models have many parts from China. They still produce casings, gears and assemble in Oregon. I assumed totally made in the USA. I used to think the same about Harley. China has the capability to produce top quality materials. They just don't most of the time. About 25 years ago the company I worked for bought some Chinese pipe for a project. A couple years later they spent millions replacing all of it.
Most of my information came from RoundForge.Com
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I think I've chimed in on this subject before but I'll recap...I mounted my Warn Axon 55S with a KFI mounting plate to the large Honda front bumper. Wiring is so easy as it doesn't require extra relays and stuff. So far I haven't been able to stick my Talon but I had this winch on my lifted Subaru Forester XT before swapping it to the Talon. I had that Subaru stuck in the snow on the Wetum Ice Road, on a waaaay too steep mountain in Colorado, and in the deep Pennsylvania mud/clay and the Warn got me out of every single situation in absolutely horrible conditions. I had no help whatsoever on any of those recoveries. That car weighs over 3,500# and in the snow and mud i was completely bottomed out. Maybe all the other brands are just as good as Warn, but I won't be finding out.
I think I've chimed in on this subject before but I'll recap...I mounted my Warn Axon 55S with a KFI mounting plate to the large Honda front bumper. Wiring is so easy as it doesn't require extra relays and stuff. So far I haven't been able to stick my Talon but I had this winch on my lifted Subaru Forester XT before swapping it to the Talon. I had that Subaru stuck in the snow on the Wetum Ice Road, on a waaaay too steep mountain in Colorado, and in the deep Pennsylvania mud/clay and the Warn got me out of every single situation in absolutely horrible conditions. I had no help whatsoever on any of those recoveries. That car weighs over 3,500# and in the snow and mud i was completely bottomed out. Maybe all the other brands are just as good as Warn, but I won't be finding out.
I've been leaning towards the Axon 35 with the steel cable. I haven't read about steel cables breaking-but many synthetic have. I may pay more for the WARN name. But there is a good reason for the good name. If stuck, alone, in the desert I would probably give $500 to get out of that situation.
Just a follow up. I ordered the Warn VSR 4500 winch. Yes, the more expensive name that is made in China. But it is made to Warn specs and their quality control standards. I chose it over the Axon 3500 because it cost less and had a higher capacity.
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Very nice. Let us know how it works out and what mounting/wiring solutions you use.
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