Harbor Freight winch

i was wondering if the harbor freight winch is good or problem-matic. i dont really care about winch speed or amp draw. just a plan b

You get what you pay for. Might work for a couple of runs, but it will leave you stranded. Just get the Warn and never have to replace it.

depends on what you use it for. trailer mount for pulling rigs on, sure, garage mount for pulling rigs in the garage, sure, axle mount for sucking down the suspension, maybe, vehicle recovery, no, just skip it.

well i have to stand up for harbor freight here. im not usually one to defend their stuff but i happen to own the HF 8k winch. ive pulled with it a few times and its not showing any signs of weakness. as far as im concerned, a winch is the last effort of recovery. and if it gets me home then the winch has done its job regardless of how long it takes. its slow. and on hard pulls i would use a snatch block just in case. but other than that, its worth $300 in my opinion.

90txXJ said:

i was wondering if the harbor freight winch is good or problem-matic. i dont really care about winch speed or amp draw. just a plan b

Click to expand...

I just did a search for harbor freight winches and came up with alot of info. I don't know how to post the threads I found onto this thread otherwise I would post them here.

Kim.

Seeing as it's China copy of a Milemarker, I'd say it's worth the 250 when it's on sale.

FWIW, T-maxx, Warn, and Ramsey ALL use China parts in them.

and being HF, when it breaks, just take it back and get another.

I have had fair luck with Harbor Freight products, but I don't know if I would want to rely on one of their winches. I have noticed a 6500lb winch in Sam's Club. Sam's seems to have better quality stuff than Harbor Freight. Is anyone familiar with this winch? Is 6500 lbs too light for an XJ?

The original factory hidden winch option came with a 5,000 or 6,000 pound winch. 6,500 is enough for most stucks, but 8,000 is obviously better ... and within the same line of winches, probably a bit faster.

There's nothing wrong with the Harbor Freight winches other than being a bit slow. I know a couple of people who have them and they haven't failed yet.

a couple of my friends run them one on an xj and one on a rubicon. They both work fine with no failures they are just over a year old. I do have to say they sound like they are grinding themself apart when they are pulling but they haven't let them down yet even pulling out a fullsize bronco.

Storydude said:

Seeing as it's China copy of a Milemarker

Click to expand...

Wait, you say that like the MMs aren't made there...

get it there good enough and that seems like what your looking for. the people that say there crap most likely have no first or second hand experience

I dont have any first hand experience on these winches, but from what I have heard, and seen, they are not all that great. Yes, they work very well for what Brett said, axle mounted and garage pulling. They may work while pulling up a hill or anything else. But heres how I veiw it. You use a winch to get you out of something you are stuck in, be it wedged in a rock, or swallowed by mud. There is a reason you are stuck, mainly because your Jeep cant get out. Duh.

What Im trying to say is that you get what you pay for. Ive seen Warns that are being sold that are 10 years old, and are almost brand new. The HF winch might do you quite well for a couple years, but its going to be slow as heck. Then one day, it might break and opps, your stuck. Sorry about the rant, and Im sure its not really coherent.

Links to HF winches
Link 1

Link 2

All

right no first hand experience. its a decent winch, its as slow as dog piss running up hill but it pulls strong. if that is all you can afford then just get it, or save up for a warn. warn is of course better by all means, however this winch will get the job done as long as your in no hurry

The 8000lb winch is the ramsey rep8000 with a 1.8 horse motor very slow under load but I have not heard of any problems and harbour freight sells 100's of them a month.

Here look at this post over at Jeepfourm.
http://jeepforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=35271&page=1&pp=15

I've used the HF winch a lot! I've pulled everything from an entire group of rigs through a hole on the way in and on the way out, tree stumps, bushes, to concret pilons. I have never had a problem with it except like everybody is saying it is slow.

If you have the cash, sure buy the Warn or the MileMarker. Thats what I will do when this one takes a dump. But, if you don't, go ahead and buy it.

The link above has a lot of info.

ECKSJAY said:

Wait, you say that like the MMs aren't made there...

Click to expand...

There is China Quality, and then there is CHINA quality.

China makes some pretty good stuff....IF you pay for it.

Like the 4X6 Bandsaws HF sells...Made at the same plant as Jet, and Grizzly...Just to cheaper standards.

I'm still waiting for the China choppers to appear.
www.Diamond-choppers.com

Well

Let me say that I got stuck in the mud last summer and I was out with my 12 year old son and we had nobody to help us get out were were on land of a friends
Well there was a wall mart about half mile away and we walked there and I bought that 49.00 portable winch "I know your now laughing"
But that cheap little winch pulled my MJ 10ft out of axle deep mud in about 15 min.
And today I still have that cheap little dude and have used it oh 4 or 5 times and it still works?? So I can say that if your poor like me and cant yet afford what you might want I will vouch for the 49.00 winch that you can get at wall mart and it will pull a MJ out of the deep mud and it will pull a ZJ out of a mud pit as well (I had to pull a buddie out last fall)
Go ahead and make fun of me but that dam thing has worked great and has saved me several times. so I would think that HF unit would be outstanding
I have looked it over and looks to be well build "I am not an expert" just wanted to say that it really does not have to cost alot to get un-stuck
( i speak from expeirance) I do have picks of me using that little chepo to get out of bad stucks if you want to see that beast in action.
I am saving for the Mile Marker winch that is selling for $450 and that I hope will be on my ring by fall
But that chepo has beat the odds and Is better that nothing