Harbor Freight 12,000 lb Winch is WORTH the hype

[62chad]

I mean if you have a badlands bronco it's pretty much a requirement to buy a badlands winch...

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[WhiteMamba]

I’m not counting on Harbor Freight when it matters.

 

[Blksn955.o]

I just watched it. Sure looked like mount flex is what caused the ball rolling for it's demise. I'm not sure a warn would survive that kind of deflection either.

Agree 100%. The top cover cracked is a big indicator of flex and in the video at the first point of failure you hear a pop and something moving behind that bumper. In another Badlands review where one failed due to using a 10k mount that flexed the same thing happened with the top cover flexing and the unit flexing and failing.

Pulling stumps is heavy heavy work that I dont know if I would expect a 12k winch on a straight pull to do much other than fail on a decent size trunk/root.

 

[Jdyount]

That guy is an absolute tool. "Complete dissection" my ass. He took the broken cover off the winch then spent 5 minutes trashing HB and fanboying Warn without even finding the root cause. Clown. I'm sure Warn has factory defects. I'm sure Warn has failures due to improper installs. I'm sure a Warn has caught on fire. Complete waste of a review.

 

[WuNgUn]

I've heard good things about this Apex winch.
What we really need soon are good aftermarket front bumper options with integrated winch mount.

Nah.... I wanna easily remove mine in the winter and the 98% of the time I'm commuting to work

 

[NatureMan]

Harbor freight has always had great winches. Now they have a pretty one

I will be building a mount for one one day, probably in a parking lot on a roadtrip.

Make sure to keep your pants pulled up, or wear suspenders.

 

[edgeflyer]

A winch is an insurance policy. You'll wish you went with a good one when you need it.

 

[Dom]

That guy is an absolute tool. "Complete dissection" my ass. He took the broken cover off the winch then spent 5 minutes trashing HB and fanboying Warn without even finding the root cause. Clown. I'm sure Warn has factory defects. I'm sure Warn has failures due to improper installs. I'm sure a Warn has caught on fire. Complete waste of a review.

After watching his original video and how he was totally impressed by the winch, then seeing this. It really feels like Warn put some coin in his pockets or threw a few winches his way to criticize the failure. I was expecting him to take the whole thing apart and really get into it. And that pull he was trying was not moving. It looked like he had his truck plus another vehicle attached to his truck. How much force was he applying and how would that relate to one vehicle trying to assist another vehicle in distress? I don't know, this video just felt like a smear job.

 

[mpeugeot]

Agree 100%. The top cover cracked is a big indicator of flex and in the video at the first point of failure you hear a pop and something moving behind that bumper. In another Badlands review where one failed due to using a 10k mount that flexed the same thing happened with the top cover flexing and the unit flexing and failing.

Pulling stumps is heavy heavy work that I dont know if I would expect a 12k winch on a straight pull to do much other than fail on a decent size trunk/root.

First off, you should mount the "top cover" elsewhere since it comes off easy and has a remote mounting kit that comes with it. You can place it (and the electronics) somewhere where they are not even going to be exposed to the elements. So that solves that problem right there.

Also...

 

[Blksn955.o]

First off, you should mount the "top cover" elsewhere since it comes off easy and has a remote mounting kit that comes with it. You can place it (and the electronics) somewhere where they are not even going to be exposed to the elements. So that solves that problem right there.

Also...

Agreed, I was aiming at noting the flex of the mount matched other flex of the mount failures in how it showed up in the cracked cover. I do not think the winch is to blame more the fact the winch performed beyond its intended rating and failure was due to either mount that was pushed beyond the mounts design or poor mount choice.

Trying to pull a stump with a straight pull is going to find the weakest link fast and since there was flex at the winch evident in the top cover and you see stuff moving under load I would like to see the winch mount as I bet there was some flex damage to it...that said a 12k rated winch mount would have probably failed on a stump doing a straight pull.

 

[johndeerefarmer]

The duty cycle of that Badlands winch is 5 percent (45 sec @ max-rated load . What is the duty cycle of a Warn or Smittybilt?

 

[mpeugeot]

The duty cycle of that Badlands winch is 5 percent (45 sec @ max-rated load . What is the duty cycle of a Warn or Smittybilt?

Depends on which one. I gather that the Warn Zeon has a considerably higher duty cycle. It is also geared differently and has a larger drum (which may be partially why it has a better duty cycle).

I couldn't find good duty cycle numbers, yet for the Warn or Smittybilt... I am looking.

The HF however was 5% (45 sec at Max Rated Load; 14 min, 15 sec Rest).

Most are rated in 10 min vs 15 min cycles... I did see some Warn winches (the G2 Heavy Duty) that didn't compare favorably with that, but that's not even the same thing as what the typical vehicle winch that people buy from Warn.

 

[johndeerefarmer]

Those cheap Chinese welders are 20% duty cycle or less and I wouldn't have one. I want to be welding not waiting. Same with a winch. I want to winch myself out and keep moving. The HF might be for those beer drinkers that get 6 beers to the mile meaning they sit and drink more than they off road...

 

[UncleBuck]

I also have experience where a recovery forward was not possible and back was the only way. Imagine sliding into a ditch with a giant tree directly in front of you.

Besides that, a receiver mounted winch is very practical for those who only occasionally need one as it’s not a permanent heavy fixture on the front bumper and can sit in the garage on your morning trips to grab a coffee or your daily commute or whatever.

And you should tell Matt from Matt’s off-road recovery YT channel where he often recovers several vehicles a day, that a receiver winch is old and impractical.

Everyone should research the various options and do what’s best for them. There’s no best solution for everyone here. Especially with the Bronco and it’s cameras and ACC limiting bumper mounting options.

Matt also runs the Badland winch on his recovery rigs.

 

[mpeugeot]

Those cheap Chinese welders are 20% duty cycle or less and I wouldn't have one. I want to be welding not waiting. Same with a winch. I want to winch myself out and keep moving. The HF might be for those beer drinkers that get 6 beers to the mile meaning they sit and drink more than they off road...

Most of them are, but not all, thankfully... There are even a bunch that won't keep a stable arc for shit... However, there are those rare few that work. You just don't want to be the person who has to learn the hard way. I will give you an example they aren't all shit, my Dual MIG 180 (#43026) which I purchased before 2000 for $299 and still works fine today (although I have upgraded a few things along the way).

35 amps 100% duty cycle *** 45 amps 100% duty cycle
60 amps 65% duty cycle *** 80 amps 48% duty cycle
100 amps 30% duty cycle *** 140 amps 18% duty cycle

Now, at 140 Amps, yes... it was under 20%, but I almost never used the 140 Amp setting because I wasn't welding 5/16" plate to 5/16" plate very frequently.... which it would do at 140 Amps. Mind you the Miller 175 (which was more than double the cost at the time) would only manage 25% duty cycle at 140 amps. So, yes, the Miller was "better", although it didn't have features the HF 180 did like a spot welding feature or reversible polarity. Also, the Miller 175 certainly wasn't $300 better, and the Miller 180 was $1200 at the time. Not everything Harbor Freight is junk - Just most of it!

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