Harbor Freight winches?

[Alan_Hepburn]

Got an email from Harbor Freight this morning - looks like they've got a sale on the Badland ZXR 12,000 lb winch with wire rope for $279.99. I haven't been planning on getting a winch in the near future, but the price is intriguing. I know everybody seems to be going with synthetic rope lately, but for this price is this a good deal or should I pass?

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[Jeeperjamie]

Seems like a pretty good deal. I ran the older style badlands on my JKU for 5 of the 7yrs I owned it and it did great, it was the 9000lb one. I have the 12000lb apex one now with synthetic rope and I love it. Haven't really used it a lot yet but I did pullout 2 semis at my job and pulled out a few brush and trees around the house. If you don't like the steel rope you can always swap it to synthetic. Not sure what the apex is selling for now but I would have bought the one you mentioned if I had not gotten such a good deal on the apex. Couldn't pass up less than $400 with the 2yr warranty added in. I think it was $380 total.

 

[Alan_Hepburn]

Thanks Jamie - it sure is tempting! I notice that it comes with 65 feet of wire rope; in my reading I've seen mention that many winches come with 100 feet of rope. I don't know if that would be a severe limitation or not. Also people say that the "duty cycle" of this winch is somewhere around 5% - pull for 45 seconds and then let it rest for 15 minutes. Is that much worse than higher priced winches? I don't see that spec on ANY winch I've looked at.

 

[Gator McKlusky]

They put out a Super Coupon today, and there is not an Apex products restriction. I was able to buy the $599 version for $479. If you can splurge, I say got for it.

 

[usnavycdr]

They put 65 feet of cable for 2 reasons most likely.
1. It's cheaper
2. Less cable = shorter pull time = easier on motor

I'd limit long pulls if you replace the wire with synthetic.

 

[JT850]

I have the Badlands with steel cable. Love this thing.

 

[spectre6000]

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.

 

[JTR178]

I have the Badlands with steel cable. Love this thing.

Thanks for posting that video. I bought that winch about a year and a half ago when I had my TJ and never mounted it because I couldn't decide if I wanted to switch out the front bumper or not and have been hesitant to buy the winch plate to mount it on my JT bumper because I was unsure if would fit on the MOPAR steel bumper.

Edit: Just realized that's your channel, which winch mount did you use? $100 difference between Warn and Rusty's.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

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.

Seriously? I have some HF items that I've been using for years - some I bought as throw-away things (touch up spray gun for example, have used it several times and it rivals guns at 4 times the price). I've got a pair of HF jack stands I've used to hold my trailer off the ground for storage - they aren't large enough for my vehicle use but they are actually well done - save for the finish.
There are YT videos out there showing how well their winches work, some serious Jeep people have abused them, even to the point of bending winch plates - and the winch worked fine.
My HF winch has been fine. The internals are actually well done.

One does have to be careful with some HF things, but their winches have a good reputation and very good reviews even after being used really hard.

(their new torque wrench (Icon) is actually more accurate in review testing than some of the well-known brands)

 

[Jeeperjamie]

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's total BS, I've owned 3 Harbor Freight Winches over the years, one 12000lb winch that's over 14yrs old that is still being used on a car hauler to this day. A 9000lb one on my JKU that got used religiously and my current Apex 12000lb winch that's a year old now that I've used used a few times already to pull a couple 18 wheelers out at work. I also got 2 sawzalls of the same brand, one 7yrs old that's still being used and another that's 3yrs old. Some of their stuff might be cheap and crap but a good bit of their stuff is as good as you will get at Lowes or Home Depot. Don't tell people false info unless you have personal experience with the apex and know it's crap. It's got plenty of good reviews. I'm not saying warns not a good winch but for the money your not going find a better winch than the Apex IMO!!!

 

[Mac]

I saw that winch last time I was at HF, couldn’t believe how physically large it was. I have a number of HF tools, recently bought a engine hoist it worked perfectly and seems well made.

 

[JT850]

Thanks for posting that video. I bought that winch about a year and a half ago when I had my TJ and never mounted it because I couldn't decide if I wanted to switch out the front bumper or not and have been hesitant to buy the winch plate to mount it on my JT bumper because I was unsure if would fit on the MOPAR steel bumper.

Edit: Just realized that's your channel, which winch mount did you use? $100 difference between Warn and Rusty's.

Yea started a channel to share with friends and decided to have more fun with it. I went with maximus 3's winch plate. So far so good

 

[A 2]

My thought, and works with other scenarios, if you are thinking of getting a winch because it’s a good price, the badlands will be a good choice. If you are thinking of getting a winch because you are planning on a 5 day deep woods excursion, it’s the wrong winch.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

 

[spectre6000]

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.

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