OK be honest whould you put their cheap winch on your truck?

Who knows it might pull you out once or twice..

http://www.harborfreightusa.com/usa/itemdisplay/displayItem.do?itemid=3633


Not quite sure I would but at $349 it makes you think about it... right?

I'm getting ready to add 2" receivers to both ends so that I can mount a winch when I finally get one. I currently carry two $20 come-alongs and a "portable stump". A come-along has saved my ass from time to time, so you better believe I would be proud to have one of those el cheapo winches! It would probably do everything I need it for. When not wheeling, it would be covered anyway, so who would even know what you have? Besides, I don't give a rat's ass about brand names. I don't feel like I have to impress anyone. I figure I would be more impressive winching myself out than being stuck with no winch at all.

they work fine, but they're slow. if it's all you can afford, I say go for it. it's better than nothing.

I believe it was Costco selling the Milemarker 8000lb winches for ~$300. Reviews about them complained about their slow speed and something about the motor being less-than-the-best, but at least it's a well-known company. Brand-name = reputation, which is something Harbor Freight has in a very negative way. I spend oodles of dough at HB, but only on things either impossible to screw up or trinkets that won't kill me when they fail. I wouldn't use their 'farm jack' for instance (HighLift knockoff) but I use their floor jack because I never have to be under the truck without jack stands (also HB, but in that 'impossible to screw up' category).

Gummybob has a MileMarker, I believe. He whipped it out (snicker) on Log Corral Trail and it performed just fine. The line speed wasn't that bad IMO.

-Spike

Companies don't typically build a brand name by having crappy equipment. A good brand might overcharge for their product over time, but it's not crap. I guess you could factor in the thought that you could buy two cheaper winches instead of one Warn and come out even. But consider what could happen to you and your truck if a cheap winch fails while you're offcamber on the side of a mountain, or even just doing $1500 worth of body damage on a tree. For that kind of equipment I'll buy the more expensive, higher quality version. Go cheap on lights or something.

My winch has more than paid for it'self in the 4 years I've had it.

I don't have mountains. Just mud. You want to comeplain about line speed? Try a come-along.
Why would you depend solely on a winch in a potentially dangerous situation? You should connect a safety line in a situaltion like that. You wouldn't jack up your truck and crawl under it without using jackstands. Why would winching be any different?

4Wheel Parts has the Milemarker 9000 for $389 + no sales tax till 4/15, you can't beat that. BTW, Milemarker is the company that makes all the winches for the military, not that I thnik "milspec" is the best you can have, but it certainly isn't the worse.

quote:

Originally posted by -Spike-:
I wouldn't use their 'farm jack' for instance (HighLift knockoff) -Spike

LMAO, you haven't looked ontop of Mattman's truck have you.

The Chicago Electric battery charger I had from HF caught on FIRE when I was trying to use it to jump start my riding mower (it did have a 50A starting mode).

Now - I probably exceeded the recommended cranking time and the rest time between cranks... so there was some user error... but no matter how stupid the user is, catching on fire is not an acceptable failure mode.

I love them for some stuff... but I'm through with them for electrical things and safety-critical things.

Oh, I replaced the toasted charger with a Die Hard one from Sears

The costco one isn't a MM unless they're selling it under another name. I saw it there last weekend and I can't remember the brand name, but it wasn't mile marker.

It's a mile marker knockoff. They make them with the same details and stuff, but there are differences. Some parts are identical, and some are made of cheaper metals. I bought a used Warn 8274 for around 400 bucks, it rocks. It's fast and powers in or out. They still make them but new they are 1000 bucks or more.

quote:

Originally posted by Thanatoz:

quote:

Originally posted by -Spike-:
I wouldn't use their 'farm jack' for instance (HighLift knockoff) -Spike

LMAO, you haven't looked ontop of Mattman's truck have you.

Actually, I have.

-Spike

Nothing wrong with their farm jack as long as you replace the pins with hardened ones. Mine lasted for years, and Gumybob has it now.

The original pins are flimsy and tend to fold up, rendering the jack useless.

I have a lot of HF tools...I have a whole second set of tools for my garage from HF. They're definitely not of the best quality, but since I'm just a weekend wrench and don't want to spend thousands on tools, it was a good choice for me.

This is a real common topic on the sheepforum.com. Someone posted some pics of a Milemarker 8000 and a HF 8000 side by side and they looked identical! I buy lots of tools at HF but then I don't have to make a living by wrenching so lesser quality ain't no problem for me. Most of the sheepforum guys recommend Warn or Ramsey. Some of em get pretty steamed over betting your life and rig on a HF winch. Personally I bought a Warn 9500ti--but I say go for what you can afford. If you just use it for recovery it'll pull you out on those infrequent times you need it. If you're wheeling someplace like Johnson Valley CA or HTH in AZ where you have to do a lot of winching just to complete the trail, then that's another situation entirely. Then you go for a Warn or Ramsey.

quote:

Originally posted by Nissan-Okie:
Some of em get pretty steamed over betting your life and rig on a HF winch.

I haven't been involved in a recovery operation yet where anyone's life was involved... Yes - recovery can go badly wrong and people can get hurt - but that has more to do with improper techniques, wire rope (as opposed to synth winch line), improper use of shackles and recovery straps etc.

If the winch breaks and the motor stops turning... no big deal... get another guy to recover you.

Maybe it varies with different types of wheeling...

I get annoyed on the scuba forums when people go off about scuba regulators being "life support equipment"... it has the same kind of pompous ring as "THINK OF THE CHILDREN!!!". Sure - if your scuba reg breaks you've got a problem... but trying to compare it to hospital machines is kinda dumb.