looking to put a winch on my Polaris 500 HO. Internet points me toward a Warn. Can I get some experienced opinions from the group? The task in mind is to pull logs.
Warn is probably top of the line. I have one but do not use it much for logging; mostly for the snow plow. Probably the reason I don't use it much for pulling logs is that if you read about winches, you need to not run them to hot; they need to be cooled after a few minutes use just like you would a starter motor. But if you need them, they can be handy. In the woods I've used ours mostly for pulling trees that are hung if I don't feel comfortable sawing them down. Sometimes you have to anchor atv of course as there is not much weight there to hold.
Are you just trying to pull them to where you can get a chain or strap to tow with the wheeler? If that's the case, you might be further ahead using a tackle block and length of wire rope using the 4 wheeler itself as the winch. Backwoods is correct about these little winches having a very short duty cycle.
Thanks for the reply. My immediate need or want is to move a couple logs into a good position to start the structure for a bridge to cross a brook. But I also see being able to pull wood from areas that are wet. And I was also considering the convenience of having that ability build right on to the machine instead of hauling rope and come-a-long and then looking for a convenient anchor. I do take Backwoods Savages' point about needing to anchor the machine itself sometimes.
I bought a small 3,500 (not Warn) ATV winch and put on my tractor to winch logs out of the swamp. It only takes a couple of minutes to start getting way too hot and slowing down. I wasn't even doing any big stuff yet either. I wasn't going to invest in all the tackle I was going to need to actually slide out big trunks for a small winch I was likely to strip out the gears on. I''ve hoofed a couple out and am considering just buying a log load as soon as I can find one.
I've run super winch on my jeep and quads. American made power. Yes, warn makes a great winch, but you'll pay top dollar. Superwinch makes a great winch for a great price.
I have an industrial 8k to 10k Superwinch , built in the UK , ran that winch with 2 batteries and kept throwing snow on the motor to keep it cool on one job , awesome winch .
One of these but with a 12v motor . Superwinch Hydraulic Planetary 8,000-10,000 As dependable as it is I still wouldn't use it to winch out logs , I'd rather hook a cable to the hitch and pull out or use a log arch . The Portawinch looks like the winner in portability and speed as long as you use a non stretch rope , the lewis winch looks real slow on the videos but I haven't seen one in action .
What I'm hearing is that for the limited amount of dragging I might consider doing, it's probably not worth getting a winch. Seems to be more useful to pull the machine out of bog. Thanks.
With an ATV winch, most of the time you are going to start dragging the ATV before a big log even considers moving. They are for getting unstuck or lifting a plow. That's about all they are good for. Source: Warn 2500 owner.
