Harbor Freight Winch questions

[Indyharleyguy]

Hey All, I'm looking into putting a winch on my M1009. I was wondering what you all thought about the Harbor Freight BADLAND APEX™ 12,000 lb. winch ?
I know nothing about winches but this one looks good to me?
Thanks for your opinions.

 

[DeMilitarized]

Hey All, I'm looking into putting a winch on my M1009. I was wondering what you all thought about the Harbor Freight BADLAND APEX™ 12,000 lb. winch ?
I know nothing about winches but this one looks good to me?
Thanks for your opinions.

From what I can tell they are decent winches. Not the best but not a throwaway

 

[MarcusOReallyus]

They have been talked about here a lot. Those who own them say they are happy with them if they keep in mind they are not a top-of-the-line brand. Use it lightly and it's good. If you are a hard-corp off-roader who will need to use it heavily, pass. But for occasional use, it's fine.

 

[Skinny]

My group and myself had always had great luck with the Smittybilt units. Probably similar price points or construction. I doubt you will find a bad cheap winch.

They are all above and beyond the old Mile Marker 8000 from decades ago which absolutely sucked. The $300 winches of today are pretty good.

 

[MDSA]

I bought the harbor freight 12000 lb winch several years ago and have had no trouble with It. Pulled vehicles and trees with no problems except once it got a little wam after extended use, so I gave it a rest. Then back to work. At least two people have borrowed it to extricate themselves from sticky situations

 

[ssdvc]

I thought about the Harbor Freight stuff and it does get decent reviews for what it is.

Speaking of Winches (and not to hijack the thread), I've had this one for a while, but have decided, for now, to keep my 1009 stock. Can anyone identify this winch and guess at a value for me?

 

[Jbulach]

Very old Warn M1000. Looks unused, price would very wildly, especially depending if you have the solenoid pack and controller. Would call the rusty cable worthless, even though myself I would service and use it. Edit: just looked again, may be not rusted?

 

[MarcusOReallyus]

Yeah, the "what is it' is right there on the label. As for value, that's essentially NOS (New Old Stock). Dusty, but never used. That gets you a premium over used price, but it does not get you new price.


I'd look up the equivalent current version from Warn, and see what it goes for in the real world. That's your high end, to keep as marker. You don't want to be asking $400 if the new version goes for $300, for example.

Then I'd check on some 4x4 forums and see what folks would give for it. Check eBay, check Craigslist in your area.

 

[kblazer87]

I thought about the Harbor Freight stuff and it does get decent reviews for what it is.

Speaking of Winches (and not to hijack the thread), I've had this one for a while, but have decided, for now, to keep my 1009 stock. Can anyone identify this winch and guess at a value for me?

I would be interested pending price and shipping

 

[ssdvc]

Thanks for all the input. The cable reel is not rusted, just dirty. I believe I have the solenoid pack and controller, just have to remember where I put them (moved twice since I bought it.

All that aside, If it goes up for sale, the winch itself is VERY heavy. Shipping that setup would be expensive.

 

[xenocath]

I have followed a few offroad recovery crews on you tube for the last three years. they use these winches. They rarely use them as you are supposed to and they seem to take the beating and keep on working. I have one and have had no complaints.

 

[Skinny]

I had a real winch in my old rock crawler. A Warn M8000. That was 15 years ago. Since I sold that truck every one myself or my friends bought were Smittybilt.

Sure you know it's 100% Chinese. But they all have worked well and done some tough work. Sure, we aren't doing competition rock crawling or an expedition through an African jungle. But for day to day stuff you can't beat a $300 winch these days.

That money used to buy you a Mile Marker only and they sucked balls. Slow and made of plastic. I think the new stuff is same quality as that entry level Warn I used to have. Same performance too.

Definitely spend the few bucks and get a synthetic rope.

 

[kblazer87]

Hey All, I'm looking into putting a winch on my M1009. I was wondering what you all thought about the Harbor Freight BADLAND APEX™ 12,000 lb. winch ?
I know nothing about winches but this one looks good to me?
Thanks for your opinions.

I have a friend with a rock crawler jeep and he has used a badland 12k for 6 or 7 years. Still going strong and works pretty good.

 

[Karl kostman]

I have no problem with some harbor freight stuff but here is my BIG concern, there is a time and place when YOU are going to really need that winch to be 100% functional and your NOT going to be able to treat it "gently" will the Harbor freight winch take care of your needs when it really counts? I try my best to to eliminate as many possibilities of failure as possible especially when it is CRITICAL that this winch works 100%. Those are questions only you can answer!

 

[kendelrio]

I prefer stock.... PTO driven....



(Apologies for the threadjack... I'm just so stoked to have that stinking truck!!!!)

 

[Mullaney]

I prefer stock.... PTO driven....

View attachment 856537

(Apologies for the threadjack... I'm just so stoked to have that stinking truck!!!!)

.
There is something to be said for a mechanical winch for sure. I have seen M37's hanging from a winch cable with no wheels on the ground... No real answer for WHY. But there aren't a lot of vehicles that can do that - and a battery powered winch can't.

 

[Skinny]

PTO winches are cool if you have four legs and three hands to make all that work. Lot to be said for progress when you can tap a button on a key fob to pull cable.

Of course it leaves more shit to break. I used to have a hydro winch on my TJ. Plenty of pull power and cool factor. It still sucked. Only pulls if you leave the steering wheel alone.

Again, in extreme wheeling you want the finesse of electric. I wouldn't mix that up with durability of a farm workhouse like a PTO.

But you would never want that teetering on 3 wheels with the tires creeping and all you need is a quick bump. Electric wins every time.

As far as needing it 100%, sure but that's what a snatch block is for

Makes your winch perform 200%...

 

[Indyharleyguy]

Thanks all. Can I see some pictures on how you mounted them on the front of a CUCV.

 

[Indyharleyguy]

Darn no-one has any pictures of their winch on there CUCV?

 

[sneekyeye]

Ive got the regular 12k harbor freight winch mounted upside down behind the front bumper. I cut out the front flat license plate area and put a roller fairlead cover on it. It has a Daystar urethane winch hook isolator so the hook nestles in sideways and hides easy. I put the winch box remote mounted to the fender next to the washer jug. It's wired in direct to the front battery with the included parallel circuit breaker pack. I had to buy some additional wire and I sheathed most of it with some cheap mesh wire loom with heat shrink on the ends.