Harbor Freight winches?

[AustinL911]

Awesome. Thank you!

Sponsored

 

[BAT]

Harbor Freight buying rules:
- Go ahead if it's something you only plan to use once or twice
- NEVER if its failure can result in serious injury or death (i.e. jack stands).
- Avoid if its failure can result in loss or damage in excess of the cost delta between it and a more appropriate tool purchase.
- Consumables are generally the lower end of acceptable provided they meet the above criteria
- If it's under $5 (or whatever dollar amount you're willing to piss away in the name of curiosity), go nuts... Provided it meets rules #1-3.

There are exceptions to these rules, but I'm only aware of two for sure (a very specific model toolbox, and a clip on eye loupe that was a $3.50 surprise).

If you want a winch hanging off the front of your truck, and you don't actually intend to use it. Go nuts. If you think you might actually need it, it's probably better to pay the money for a Warn or something and cry once.

That is dumb and no basis. I have many Harbor Freight items and they have outlasted many name brand items. One being a generator that is still kicking it for years of use for a fraction of the cost all the while name brand version is already in the junk heap someplace.

 

[BAT]

I also own a handful of HF tools. They don't all suck. Some of it is even the same as what you'd get at Home Depot or Lowes. Casters come to mind for instance. A heat gun has worked just fine for the handful of times I've used it over several years. I have a metal cutting miter saw and an air compressor that were given to me by a friend recently when he moved across country. The air compressor is completely unusable due to stupid cost cutting on stupid things (plastic air filter housing broke off with the nipple stuck in the head is one example, the poor alloy/casting in the same head another). The miter saw is NIB and completely unusable because it's poorly designed, and even more poorly built. Meanwhile, I have 9' (around $1K) of Harbor Freight toolbox in my barn, and I shopped every retailer to sample every manufacturer in the Front Range between Denver and Boulder. It was far and away the best quality at any price south of Snap On. I'm no marque chauvinist, I've just had enough HF tools cross my path in bad ways to have learned that lesson the hard way. Then relearned it a few times when it didn't stick. You have to be VERY careful, and really put in the time to assess whether or not a specific product (often in a particular run, as they switch manufacturers constantly) is worth the headache. The time spent doing that due diligence compared to the money saved is almost never worth it. There are things sold there that don't suck. Typically however, the difference in quality between the even just the big box store stuff is far greater than the difference in price.

https://images.harborfreight.com/hftweb/recalls/Jack-Stand-Recall-56371_61196_61197.pdf
https://www.motortrend.com/news/harbor-freight-jack-stand-recall-safety-tips/

I used the jack example explicitly because I had a half dozen of them recalled within the last year or so. Then they recalled the replacements as well. I might trust a $2500 beater to a HF winch. I wouldn't trust a $50K truck. I'd never put my life or the life of anyone else between a HF product and failure. I stand by what I said:

If all I was after was a winch on my bumper for mall crawling. Cool. Go nuts. If I had to rely on it in a dangerous situation, I'll happily pay for the Warn or some other manufacturer known for similarly consistent quality and reliability. The cost premium is cheap insurance. If it fails on the trail, and you need a trail tow, you'll have flushed all your savings several times over. That's if you're lucky.

I have a HF miter saw that is about 5 years old and it works great. Purchased it after we flooded from Hurricane Harvey and that thing got a major work out during the rebuild and is still cutting strong till this day for other home projects. Its like anything you buy it can be hit or miss. I've got angle grinders, etc all of which got tremendous use rebuilding and are still working fine.

 

[BAT]

Yes it will. May have to space the bumper out some from the winch plate. I think I did 1/2" for some extra clearance.

I'm looking at that setup currently as I have the Arcus Bumper. Did the Apex cause much drop in the front

 

[JTPatriot]

I'm looking at that setup currently as I have the Arcus Bumper. Did the Apex cause much drop in the front

Maybe 1/2"

 

[Lost1wing]

I have an older Badlands 12k winch that I use on my trailer. First thing to do was to take the planetary gear set out and debur everything. Remove all the grease and replace it with good quality wheel bearing grease. I used it for two years for about 15 or so pulls up a 18ft trailer without stopping. Not a problem for autos up to 6000lbs that roll. It didn't struggle dragging a 3600lb car up with front wheels locked and all 4 flat.

It did finally fail on me last year pulling a rolling tractor at 10,000lbs. The failure was found to be heavily corroded cables. Even the ones in the relay box. I replaced them with 2ga battery cables. It now performs better than new. It sits outside in the weather. Paid $279 and happy with it.

Now putting that functional piece of work on my 2020 Gladiator is out of the question.
I think I'd get one buried in the bumper instead.

 

[Jefe1018]

I've had good luck with Badland winches.

Ever heard of Matt's Off Road Recovery on YouTube? He hates winches, but when he needs them he really needs them.... and then he uses a Harbor Freight Badlands winch.

 

[texanjeeper]

Harbor Freight buying rules:
- Go ahead if it's something you only plan to use once or twice
- NEVER if its failure can result in serious injury or death (i.e. jack stands).
- Avoid if its failure can result in loss or damage in excess of the cost delta between it and a more appropriate tool purchase.
- Consumables are generally the lower end of acceptable provided they meet the above criteria
- If it's under $5 (or whatever dollar amount you're willing to piss away in the name of curiosity), go nuts... Provided it meets rules #1-3.

There are exceptions to these rules, but I'm only aware of two for sure (a very specific model toolbox, and a clip on eye loupe that was a $3.50 surprise).

If you want a winch hanging off the front of your truck, and you don't actually intend to use it. Go nuts. If you think you might actually need it, it's probably better to pay the money for a Warn or something and cry once.

I'm sorry but that just sounds really snobbish....it reminds me of the gun snobs that think you have to pay a lot of money for a good gun. That's just not true, but they try to convince everybody you have to spend a certain amount of money on something for it to be considered good. I'm sure that Harbor Freight items may have better alternatives in certain situations, but for those of us who can't just go out and buy a $1,000 winch, it sue might be an alternative and I bet it lasts longer than once or twice. Just my 2 cents.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I'm sorry but that just sounds really snobbish....it reminds me of the gun snobs that think you have to pay a lot of money for a good gun. That's just not true, but they try to convince everybody you have to spend a certain amount of money on something for it to be considered good. I'm sure that Harbor Freight items may have better alternatives in certain situations, but for those of us who can't just go out and buy a $1,000 winch, it sue might be an alternative and I bet it lasts longer than once or twice. Just my 2 cents.

Remember - whatever someone has is always the best, anything else is 3rd best or wimpy. To admit that something else may even possibly be good is to make their decision look less than perfect. If I paid a grand for a winch, of course I'd say HF winches are total crap. But I'd be unable to prove it because............... see below..............

I checked many dozens of reviews - including some on YT - one of those the guy was pulling through and over massive rocks, what I'd call bounders, Those wheels had to go almost straight up. He bent the winch plate - the winch only needed a new solenoid cover.
Others had been using those winches for quite a while, in some crazy situations.
I guess all of those people are fools.

 

[bleda2002]

Matt's off road recovery uses these. Seem to hold up just fine even in a commercial setting. He even used it to recover the golden nugget (an old Suzuki lb20) and pulled it up a river.

Only knock I can find against it is it gets really hot if you are using a heavy duty cycle and can damage the line, but that's true or most winches if you don't follow the duty cycle guidance.

 

[spectre6000]

I'm sorry but that just sounds really snobbish....it reminds me of the gun snobs that think you have to pay a lot of money for a good gun. That's just not true, but they try to convince everybody you have to spend a certain amount of money on something for it to be considered good. I'm sure that Harbor Freight items may have better alternatives in certain situations, but for those of us who can't just go out and buy a $1,000 winch, it sue might be an alternative and I bet it lasts longer than once or twice. Just my 2 cents.

Sorry if it sounds that way. My tool box, all 8 and a half or so feet of it, is right off the HF showroom floor. The comment was certainly not intended in that light. Just the voice of experience. If you're burned enough times, eventually you learn not to touch the stove. I don't know a thing about cheap or expensive guns, but this is a car forum so let's use a car analogy: We're talking Jeeps, not Maybachs. I'm not touting the superiority of German luxury tools over the plebes' Craftsman. But you can't argue that a Volkswagen isn't a million times better than a Yugo despite not costing much, if any more (at the time). There are a lot of alternatives to HF that are just as cheap. If you're scraping the bottom, HF has the benefit of a generous return policy, and may be local to you to make that a convenient thing. Otherwise, it's not like Kobalt and Husky really cost all that much more, aren't just as convenient, with just as generous a return policy, only that extra $2 (or whatever the case may be) means the tool will work more than once or twice if you give it a hot supper. Is it really worth the small handful of dollars you save to risk the failure? It's your truck and your money. If you want to shoulder the risk of a HF tool failing you when you can least afford it to, that's your prerogative. You pay (however many dollars) a month for insurance, I don't see how a winch is any different. Skip it for the legal minimum, or pay a little extra for the event something bad actually happens. I've got a lot of scars proving the wisdom of the comprehensive coverage.

 

[texanjeeper]

Sorry if it sounds that way. My tool box, all 8 and a half or so feet of it, is right off the HF showroom floor. The comment was certainly not intended in that light. Just the voice of experience. If you're burned enough times, eventually you learn not to touch the stove. I don't know a thing about cheap or expensive guns, but this is a car forum so let's use a car analogy: We're talking Jeeps, not Maybachs. I'm not touting the superiority of German luxury tools over the plebes' Craftsman. But you can't argue that a Volkswagen isn't a million times better than a Yugo despite not costing much, if any more (at the time). There are a lot of alternatives to HF that are just as cheap. If you're scraping the bottom, HF has the benefit of a generous return policy, and may be local to you to make that a convenient thing. Otherwise, it's not like Kobalt and Husky really cost all that much more, aren't just as convenient, with just as generous a return policy, only that extra $2 (or whatever the case may be) means the tool will work more than once or twice if you give it a hot supper. Is it really worth the small handful of dollars you save to risk the failure? It's your truck and your money. If you want to shoulder the risk of a HF tool failing you when you can least afford it to, that's your prerogative. You pay (however many dollars) a month for insurance, I don't see how a winch is any different. Skip it for the legal minimum, or pay a little extra for the event something bad actually happens. I've got a lot of scars proving the wisdom of the comprehensive coverage.

I understand, and yes of course if you can do it, going with a more expensive tool is sometimes the way to go. I'm trying to standardize on DeWalt myself, I think that will get me a really good tool for what is a little more than the other brands but not as crazy-expensive as, say, Milwaukee.

 

[MaysvilleStig]

I'd say go for it. If you're budget conscious like me. Check out Viper winches. I've used them on every ATV I've had for years so I bought their 12K winch. Their website is called moto alliance. I got the wire cable and put my own synthetic on it. Good luck!

 

[BAT]

Am hoping maybe smittybuilt will have something of a good discount. I would like to go with something a bit smaller and lighter than the Apex 12K but guess if the deal is on the Apex then will see. For me it won't be but something that will get used other than occasionally right now but hoping to start taking some trips to PINS, etc and have a feeling I will see some use with it there or other trips. I could use one right now to pull an old tree out the rest of the way from what I have dug out so far

Sponsored