Hey guys, love them or hate them, Harbor Freight is doing another one of their sales. In my experience, they allow you to stack coupons in the store but not online. I was able to price a 5,000 lb Badland winch, a Drillmaster angle grinder, and a free LED light for $190.

 

Anyone ever have any experience with a Badland winch? Their reviews on Amazon mention that they are not massive duty winches, but get the job done nonetheless. Is 5,000 lbs enough for a 2000 OBW, given that the wagon is only 3,500 lbs and will have the car's engine assisting it?

I forget which one I got but it was one of the smaller HF ones and it's been fine. 

 

Keep in mind it just has to slide or roll a vehicle.  You and I can easily push a car, but could never in a billion years push a 2,000 pound rock. 

For what it's worth, this is a pretty impressive video. HF winch pulls out a Deuce.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ig7s2N9EZps 

 

That being said, I've been looking at winching videos all day. From what I've seen on YouTube, the HF winches can pull some serious weight. However, what I'm seeing a lot of them being used for is pulling huge rigs out of really deep stuff. That's not what I'm using my OBW for. 

 

I have gotten it stuck twice now, and neither time was as extreme as needing to be pulled through some exotic muck trail on some famous land. Once I got high centered, and another was me in a ditch on three wheels. 

 

I believe that a 5,000 lb rated rear mount winch with a pulley system (doubles to 10k) will be enough for me to get out of what I find myself in. I want my winch to be a tool used to pull me backwards out of trouble, not forwards and deeper into something else. If I'm stuck, I want to turn around. For me, getting stuck is a sign I need to take my two open differentials mounted to a station wagon to some milder terrain, LOL!

Edited December 13, 20169 yr by miatapasta

I run a 5000 HF winch hvent used it much but seems fine to me

For a truck you want the winch rating to be double what the truck weighs, so most winches on a pickup should be in the 15,000 lb range.  You want to be able to drag a dead weight that way. 

 

With a 5000 lb winch and what you plan on using it for you should be OK and if you double the line for 10,000 it would be even better.  Just get a winch recovery kit that has a sling and snatch block and you should be good to go. 

 

Just be aware that on most of these winches they don't have much more than 50' of cable so that could restrict you on where you hook up or if you need to double the line over.

Scott, glad to hear you've got the same one as me. 

 

JP, you're right. Every time I've gotten stuck, it's the end of the line for me. It is my daily as well as my toy, and if I get stuck in the future, the last place I want to go is forward, ha! It'll be mounted to the rear bumper. Most of the trails I travel are wooded areas with trees aplenty.

 

I actually picked up the 5000 lb HF winch yesterday. I coupled it with a Drillmaster angle grinder and they tossed in a free hook LED light. $187 total. I'm going to take off the bumper cover this weekend and see what the metal support bar looks like. The winch came with a mounting plate too.

Edited December 14, 20169 yr by miatapasta

the 5000 will pull you that few feet you need to get unstuck, coupled with a second snatch block it will pull you up a hill, I did test on that, don't use it to pull out the stuck fullsize truck

I would also pick up a couple of pieces of fiber winch line just in case you can't connect to a tree within your winch cable length. 

 

I once stuck my ATV with nothing within 200' of it to winch to except for a couple of rocks right behind me.  I ended up running my winch line over the ATV to attach to those rocks to get unstuck.  I now carry 200' of mule tape cable pulling tape.  It is rated to 2400 lbs and can be used for anything that you need a rope for, not to mention being long enough to almost reach anything that I need to get to for a attachment.  The nice thing about it is that 200' of it doesn't weigh enough to even notice and coils up into a small little package.

Thanks man. I put together about 75 extra feet tree saver straps, snatch blocks, and extra line. Should have no problem with the trails I ride.

I've had those rear bumpers off on a few cars from the early 2000s and there really isn't much bumper to attach a winch to. Weld some reinforcements to the bumper beam if you plan to use that.

I haven't been able to get there and inspect it myself, but thanks for the heads up.

 

What's your opinion on winches on the front bumper? I've looked at that pretty extensively and from what I can gather, it looks pretty stout. 

You really don't want to attach a winch just to a bumper but the the actual frame member that the bumper attaches to.  Have you looked at placing a 2" receiver hitch onto the rear of your car and then using a removable winch bracket for the winch to mount to?  That way you could perhaps rig up a  hitch mount up front and then use the winch in either location.

 

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200307349_200307349

Edited December 16, 20169 yr by jp98

I had thought about a trailer hitch mount. Thanks for the idea.

 

I was wondering what your opinions are on this too. I was looking at the spare tire well as a possible place to mount it. Practically it's nice because it's concealed, safe, and out of the rain. Functionally though I was wondering about the strength of the metal plating that makes up the tire well.

 

Alternatively, I know the rear bumper is plastic, but with reinforcements I can see it pulling me out of level ground soft mud. Heck, we pulled it out of a ravine with a wheel off the ground with a storebought ratchet strap and 3rd grade comparable knots. Could be the availability heuristic, though.

 

If there are any other ideas, please toss them up. 

 

 

 

With any winch mount you want the sturdiest mounting spot that you can find.  And if you cant find a real sturdy one then you need to add reinforcement so that it is.  If you don't you just might have a lot of repairs to do when the body material starts to peal apart when you are winching.  And once it starts it will peal apart real fast if you are not watching it. 

 

I would still look real hard at where a receiver hitch mounts to the body.  This is going to be the best spot to attach either a receiver or a piece of metal that the winch will mount to.

The hitches bolt into the frame, with the same bolts that hold the bumper on.

It would be pretty easy to weld up a mount for the winch.

That spare tire well will bend with a good kick. Need something tougher than that. Plus with the winch in there you're going to be dragging the winch cable across the rear hatch striker and the trim plate. Bend that striker and you won't be able to shut the hatch.

Here's the hitch mount I made for an older [EA82] wagon:  http://www.dynahoedave.co.nf/hitch.html

 

It would have worked for a winch also.  They key is to spread the loading to lots of points.

I think you guys will find this useful. I started mounting the winch up today. 

 

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/161507-2000-ob-off-roaddaily-duty-wagon/?do=findComment&comment=1345244