harbor freight 12k winch

[old69bronco]

a buddy of mine is giving it to me for free is it worth putting it on or should I sell it

[904Bronco]

Re: harbor freight 12k winch

a buddy of mine is giving it to me for free is it worth putting it on or should I sell it

"Something is better than nothing"

"You only get what you pay for"

"The thing that sucks the most is when you finally need something and it takes a shit right then and there"

I think that I would like some more info about the Spec's of the unit, along with is it new, used, or hammered? For an occasional wheeler it would probably work fine...

[Daddy4zack]

Re: harbor freight 12k winch

I heard they are ok.. just slow.. run it.. when you need it,, you need it.. test it out at home or safe areas before trusting it..

[old69bronco]

Re: harbor freight 12k winch

It is new never takin out tue box. And slow is better then nothing when stuck

[demesauce]

Re: harbor freight 12k winch

I believe they are Ramsey guys inside. I have the 8000 older version and have never had an issue. Although it only sees occlusional use. But hey, free is free

[TBS-POPS]

Re: harbor freight 12k winch

I have a 10k on the trailer. Always works, slow but sure. pulled a many a dead car on no problem. run it! As said something is better than nothing!!!!!

[California Monkey]

Re: harbor freight 12k winch

I ran one for a bit. Never let me down.

[ThrillHouse]

Re: harbor freight 12k winch

the thing with the harbor freight winch is this, if it runs right out of the box, it's good. sometimes it doesn't. don't run power cables that are longer than factory or the warranty is void. a friend made this mistake. but I know 5 guys that have ran them for years and never had a problem.

[pipelayer]

Re: harbor freight 12k winch

no winch is perfect run it and be happy, I will get a HF winch over others because the price is good and the insides are the same as winches 3 times as much money. But if you want to pay the money give me that one and go get a $1200 winch to make you feel better.

[CityHick]

Re: harbor freight 12k winch

I've had a lot of problems with various tools from HF so I've got a bad taste in my mouth with them, though I will say that I saw my buddy's EB get pulled from being stuck beyond stuck in a snow bank by a HF winch like it was nothing. Not the fastest winch but its hard to argue with free. Run it... since owning my Warn I've not needed it. Nice insurance having one on board.

[old69bronco]

Re: harbor freight 12k winch

Thanks for the info going to put it on and hope for the best and if it breaks I was free

[welndmn]

Re: harbor freight 12k winch

Being a cheap ass it's a toss up for me.
If you don't have a winch, you want that one.
But when you need a winch you don't want to be let down either.
I'm more of a fan of the Smittybuilt winches if you want a cheapo.

[Efibroncoman]

Re: harbor freight 12k winch

I'd say take the free winch but remove the solenoid cover and go through all the electronics and make sure all the connections have good contact and are tight. I haven't heard of any known failure points on the Chinese winches. I think the older ones are a copy of milemarker winches from when they were thinking of moving their manufacturing to china to save on cost. I'm not sure about the Badlands winches but there are a ton of non-name brand winches out there. I'd like to have a Warn but $2000 for a winch that I may not need is pretty expensive!

[71BRONCO71]

Re: harbor freight 12k winch

once you bolt it on... you're never going to need it.
If its sitting in the garage on a shelf, you're going to get stuck.

Murphy's Law.

[Henry66]

Re: harbor freight 12k winch

The best winch is only as good as the person using it.