Thoughts/Input on Harbor Freight 12,000lb Badlands winch

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howard270

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I have read a few threads/posts on these winches. I have a coupon to get the 12,000 pound winch for my pickup for just over $300. This will be mainly used to drap logs out of the trees to where I can more easily buck them and load them in the trailer.

It will also be used for the occasional mis-judgment of mud puddles and slick spots, cause you know it does happen.

Please let me know if you guys have any first hand experience with these. I usually know HF items are crap, but this seems like a reasonable deal considering the pulling weight and price. Speed doesn't mean a whole lot, since I do this to relax and enjoy it.
 
I bought their 9,000 lb one a few months back. I can't complain. At all. It may not be a Warn but it's pulled it's fair share of ####. Get the 2 year extended warranty for 70 bucks for some piece of mind. This was my 5,000 lb chipper on Friday.

attachment.php


This is my little 300 dollar winch working it out. Wasn't without effort, but, it's paid for itself.

VIDEO0010.3gp - YouTube
 
Harbor freight winch

I bought the 5,000 badlands after pouring over as much info that I could get my greedy hands on and only have praise on its performance so far , I intend to work it as hard as I work myself , would buy another or a few sizes up .
 
I've heard they are a decent winch but don't own one. If my warn ever croaked I would try one of those, a 12k winch with 2 year warranty for $400 sounds pretty good. Should be just fine for what you're planning on doing with it.
 
I have a Warn on my Jeep and a Ramsey on a hitch mount for the pickup and other vehicles . The winches definitely come in handy in the woodlot . I don't have first hand knowledge of the HF winches but from what I have read in magazines and on offroad type forums they seem to be a good value for the money . A 12.000 lb winch for that kind of money is a bargain . If that is all you can afford I know that I would rather have a HF winch than no winch at all.
 
When i bought my f250 it had a warn whinch bumper but no winch. I dont like the way it looks but was really good to stand on when working under the hood. So i thought why not keep it and put a whinch in it. I got the 12k one from HF and didnt get to use it for 3 months, but the other day removeing my inground oil tank the little back hoe couldnt lift it out so i used my whinch. It was pulling the machine back at the same time pulling the tank out of the ground. I was very happy with it at that point.
 
Thank you everyone for your input. I have read dozens of reviews and the consensus is don't submerge it and it is fairly slow. I am fine with both of those limits. I just wanted some input from guys who have had first hand experience with them.
 
The brushes went south on my Ramsey QM5000,I could damn near buy that HF 12,000 for what they want for a new set...

I have bought 2-2000lb and 2-3000lb HF winches and they have never let me down,except for the 3000lb remote controlled unit.The circuit board got wet and the remote quit working so I just hard wired in a set of buttons.
 
next time i have an influx of cash... I'm getting an Engo 10k for my jeep. $325 to my door.
 
The brushes went south on my Ramsey QM5000,I could damn near buy that HF 12,000 for what they want for a new set...

I have bought 2-2000lb and 2-3000lb HF winches and they have never let me down,except for the 3000lb remote controlled unit.The circuit board got wet and the remote quit working so I just hard wired in a set of buttons.

That is the one thing i didnt like, the box that has the relay in it seems cheap. I made so longer cables and mounted mine under the hood, the down side is you have to open the hood to hook up the controler but it seems to stay dry.
 
Well, I ordered one. $353 delivered to my house with the warranty. Hopefully it will be here in a few days and I can get a mount made and show you guys some pics and videos.

This should make my firewooding a lot faster, instead of having to pack away everything, go to the shop to get a loader, then having to work for my dad an entire afternoon before he will let me use the loader for about 15 minutes, driving back to the shop, working a few more hours for him, then getting to finish up the firewooding that should have only taken about 2 hours to begin with.
 
Like everybody is saying ...it should do you fine as long as you remember it's not a Warn.

Most of my buddies I wheel with have tried them and then went back to Warns or Ramseys .. the loaded line speeds of the HF units are complete BS. When they get hot they get sloooow...then go poof!

I myself have cooked a 8K and a 2.5K HF unit because I treated them like my Warn 9.5Ti.

Get the cheapo with the warranty and beat the piss out of it ..then take it back.
 
Missed a "deal" on a new WOOD POWER Winch in an auction today. Brand new. Only price I could find online was $980 + shipping. So I tried to snipe the auction at the end at $275, but another bidder sniped me at $300. :angry:

Don't know anything about those brands, but for $300, figured I would give it a try.
 
The reviews say they are ok but slow. Like it was said, it's not a ramsey/warn, or unmentioned superwinch. I have never used one, only have Warns, and Ramseys. All these new 10 and 12k winches are a far cry from the Warn "big frame" winches m12000, 16.5ti, etc. I just scored a used m8274 for $250, works, with a mounting plate (sweet!!!). tried and true 30 year old design. Also picked up a Ramsey re8000 worm gear winch (big old powerhouse(for sale in SE PA $600).
It's a good idea to put a weight on the winch line also, in case in snaps, it will have a somewhat controlling effect on the whipping line. Out one winchline at work broke(20,000# tulsa PTO winch), thank god nobody got hurt, the 100' of wire was under the truck it was mounted on in about 1 second, would have hurt or killed somone if it hit them. You can buy winch line weight, use a sweat shirt, ty of an old pair of pant legs, fill the pants with some sand/dirt/etc, tie the top of, you get the idea.
 
I have one

Get the extended warranty and return it for a new one every 2 year.
I've found a winch mounted on the loader of my backhoe for firewood is almost worthless. I can't get the cable to spool back on straight for the life of me. Cable will kink quickly.
The synthetic rope might be the ticket.
 
I've always thought about buying one and then having someone who knows a lot more about circuitry, etc...than I do take a look at it. Part of the problem with HF stuff is they tend to skimp on certain components even though the overall unit might be relatively solid. I used to run the veggie oil filtration system for my Ford off of a HF "Blue Pump." It's basically a cheap 10 GPM pump that is meant for clear water, but has a reputation for blowing up. I got it for $25 (normally 50) on sale, and looking around online, I found a how-to for keeping it trouble free. For less than $30 worth of parts from an electrical supply house I put a thermal protection circuit on it (they would always jam, heat up, and melt down inside-sometimes catching on fire in the process :msp_scared:) and upgraded the capacitor so that it wouldn't blow on startup as they often did. I wonder if beefing up a HF winch would be as easy?
 

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