Badland winch from Harbor Freight

[Tonka Bronka]

Badland winch from Harbor Freight. Are these winches the real deal, or are they junk?

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[LSU Jonno]

All of the YouTube reviews have seemed really positive. I’ve pretty much decided this I’m going to give it a try.

 

[Thed]

Good enough that I'm persuaded to try it out. HF is mostly cheap junk, but there are some gems in there from time to time.

 

[Ripcurl]

No personal experience with them but I've seen them trashed on forums for being made in china junk.......yet others will say they are a decent value

check the warranties people are offering too because many will expire before you ever have to use it

 

[chtucker]

All of the YouTube reviews have seemed really positive. I’ve pretty much decided this I’m going to give it a try.

How many of those reviews were given the winch for free?

 

[Stampede.Offroad]

... from Harbor Freight. Are these winches ...

Is it a winch; probably.

Will it work for the average person in an average situation; probably.

Can you find something of higher quality, greater reliability, and a higher cost; definitely.

 

[LSU Jonno]

How many of those reviews were given the winch for free?

Most, but not all. They inform you of that in most of the videos. Several videos show them putting the winch through the grinder... You should check it out. They at least made me decide to give it a whirl.

 

[Tonka Bronka]

It almost seems too good to be true for the money compared to a Warn. A winch is a tool that when you need it, you really need it. You’re either saving $1200 or throwing $600 away. That’s a tough one.

 

[Tonka Bronka]

Most, but not all. They inform you of that in most of the videos. Several videos show them putting the winch through the grinder... You should check it out. They at least made me decide to give it a whirl.

I’ll have to watch more video. I know it’s stupid but it would be cool to have a Badland branded winch on a Badlands Bronco.

 

[chtucker]

It almost seems to good to be true for the money compared to a Warn. A winch is a tool that when you need it, you really need it. You’re either saving $1200 or throwing $600 away. That’s a tough one.

I just never trust paid reviewers. But I know that the winch market is saturated with offshore made products. Smittybilt, HF, there are a bunch of decent "looking" products out there.

The VR winch series from Warn is not double the price of the HF. Warn has a few different ranges of winches... very few of them are made in the USA anymore. I am not sure anything but the 8274 is USA made here anymore...

 

[LSU Jonno]

I'm waiting for this guy's second video to drop on the Badland:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMIjEnXruVHtvgSVf6TgfUg

Several guys did 2 videos:

1. initial impressions/install, and
2. real-world-use performance review

I haven't seen a completely negative review yet. Some have been more positive than others. The first category videos are useful, but what you really want to know is real-world use. If you just do a youtube search for badland winch there will be more videos than you care to watch. One guy intentionally got himself stuck like 15 times in a weekend to get a ton of use out of the winch, it worked great each time. That's probably 10 times more than I'll ever use it...And even if it craps out, I can buy it 3 times before I exceed the price of the equivalent Warn. I won't be wheeling alone so I'm not worried about getting stranded.

 

[DeltaBravo]

Buy warn. Buy American

 

[Tonka Bronka]

Buy warn. Buy American

I would like to, Are the Warn products made in the USA?

 

[vrtical]

Warn VR line is fully made in China.

 

[Tonka Bronka]

Warn VR line is fully made in China.

Guess that answers that question. Thanks.

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