Badland winches - Harbor Freight? Are they junk?

[mrstang01]

See Harbor Freight is pimping their new line of Badlands winches, anyone used one? Are they junk, or good to go. I assume not for hardcore, but would one work for a tow rig?

[WideJ]

I'd throw one on the trailer, but not the rig.

[Todd W]

Originally Posted by WideJ

I'd throw one on the trailer, but not the rig.

this.

their cheaper ones are also useful around the shop, tractor, yard, etc... always useful on a portable mount... some more tube, and pulley and you can make alil-lift too

[OKMudn]

Smittybuilt....not a huge hit on the bank but money well spent.

[montanatrout]

ya get what ya pay for

[fart_plume]

My basic rule of thumb is if it gets you out of a jam once, it was worth the money.............

[Hyena]

Originally Posted by OKMudn

Smittybuilt....not a huge hit on the bank but money well spent.

so true. love mine. theres only a few things i buy at harbor freight and winches would not be on of them.

[yotee]

haters will hate.........





i've been rockin the chicago electric 8k winch for 7 or 8 years and it hasn't let me down. all the way up the hill on the way out with no wheel drive on fordyce from the first river crossing back tward the trailer

[RustoleumWhite]

Originally Posted by mrstang01

See Harbor Freight is pimping their new line of Badlands winches, anyone used one? Are they junk, or good to go. I assume not for hardcore, but would one work for a tow rig?

I noticed they got more expencive with the new name... other than that, no idea.

X3 (or what ever) on the Smitty. I know lots of folks have had good luck with the HF bigger winches, but other than the very rare super sale, the Smitty is the same price if not cheaper and a pretty proven performer.

Compering them, (smitty in preson, HF at the store), the Smitty apears better built.


my .02

[cmarjeep]

Just got the email about these. Looks like they improved it with a series wound motor instead of magnetic and a few other things. I did notice the duty cycle is only 5% which is kind of weak.

But with the sale price of $449.99 minus 20% it comes to $359.99. Not too shabby for a 9000lb winch. I think thisvnew line is more comparable the Smittybilt winches which I've heard good things about. I'm gonna wait until some reviews come out to see if it's decent.

[ColoradoCJ7]

I just thought I would bring this topic back up now that the prices is even lower. I just got an email and the 9k Badland Winch is now only $279.99 with the coupon. Normal price is $399.99.

For that money seems like pretty cheap insurance on the trail for those with limited budgets.

Here is the coupon good through 7/13/11

[soflmuddin]

the series wound motor is a good change. i have had a couple hf winches and the permanent magnet motors were always the weak point. the magnets would come unglued from the housing and wad up. x2 on the smittybuilt. i had a xrc8 that would out pull a warn of like size and way faster. most manufactures use the same motor for their 8-10k winches so i always run the 8k for the line speed and use a pulley block if i need more pulling power. this method has yet to fail me.

[302B4]

Love my smitty xrc 8.
x2 on the snatch block.

[TOAdisco311]

Originally Posted by fart_plume

My basic rule of thumb is if it gets you out of a jam once, it was worth the money.............

Maybe, but then the 2nd or 20th time you need it and it craps out. It's getting harder and harder to wheel money wise(I haven't been in awhile), so it sucks to waste tons of time/$ because someone decided to wheel a trail with crappy gear. Breakages happen regardless of money spent on equipment, but on a critical pieces of equipment you should try to be prepared.

Save money where you can, but consider what will happen if/when something breaks/craps out. I know I feel like shit when I'm holding up a group regardless of what broke.

[smewhtguy]

I paid 269 shipped for my XRC8 if you watch the sales at 4 wheel parts they can be had cheap. I buy some HF stuff but not going to try a winch.

[mikeg1005]

I'm a cheap ass by nature but I'd spend good money on recovery gear...

The general notion with cheap winches appears to be this... they are slow as ballz and the eventually crap out.

I'd rather not have the 2nd one happen when I'm needing to get out of something serious.

MIke.

[bgredjeep]

They had a small section about these in the new Peterson's mag this month. Said it was designed by a former MileMarker eng. To me that means it will be slow, but it does look a lot better than their old style winch.

[mudtruck44]

Maybe I'm wrong but I would guess that the 12 year old Chinese boy at the end of the assembly line either puts a Badlands, T-Max, Smittybuilt, Bulldog, Mile Marker, ect... sticker on that thing and throws it in a box. Looks identical to some of the others.

[offroadman1973]

Originally Posted by WideJ

I'd throw one on the trailer, but not the rig.

that was my plan!!

[flatlander757]

Originally Posted by bgredjeep

They had a small section about these in the new Peterson's mag this month. Said it was designed by a former MileMarker eng. To me that means it will be slow, but it does look a lot better than their old style winch.

They failed to mention that the MM engineer is a 3ft tall Chinese kid

[ZukIzzy]

Originally Posted by flatlander757

They failed to mention that the MM engineer is a 3ft tall Chinese kid

Who can do trig better then all of us even Dan.

[KacksterK5]

Mudtruck nailed it.

[jd350az]

Engo was also started by a former Mile Marker exec wasn't it? Does mile marker have anyone left or are they all the same and said chinese kid just puts whatever sticker on he feels like? heh

[colyer4x4]

I would stay away from HF stuff, especially electronics, I have a handful of HF stuff and it is all stuff that if it breaks its not big deal. I wouldn't trust HF with recovery/rescue. PASS!

[MONSTERMUDDER]

Originally Posted by ColoradoCJ7

Here is the coupon good through 7/13/11

Damn that's tempting

Thanks for the Coupon