Man you just cant beat that harbor frieght hahha
Just when you thought somthing couldnt get any cheaper....harbor frieght rolls one out hahha

Amilla

looks ok, i've never heard of the name brand "Chicago Electric.." before, anybody out there using one of these 5500lb winches?  the price sure is right!  not overly heavy either.

Check ot the WS-8000S for $299
http://winchking.com/gpage.html3.html

This winch had a very positive write-up in JP Mag a couple of years ago.  It has a Series Wound Motor.  A search of the forums returned only positive reports.  Much higher quality than the HF.

I use a warn 2.5 or 2500 on my zuk. I was stuck in gumbo mud at our hunting lease and hooked up to a bush and winched myself out 20 ft like it wasn't even stuck. Check out the pic

I PULLED A 2005 ESCALADE BURRIED TO ITS AXLES IN DRY SAND 20 FEET BACK TO THE ROAD.
USED MY 6000 WARN.  HIS BUDDIES SAID NO WAY THAT SAMMI HAS THE BALLS TO DO IT. 
USING THE WINCH THE SAMMI IS JUST AN ANCHOR. HIS GIRLFRIEND MUST HAVE TAKEN A DOZEN PICS OF ME DOING THIS .

thanks for all the input guys.  i'm still leaning towards the 4500 milemarker since a lot of others seem to be happy with the smaller winches being used out there, and the weight is right.  i'll dig up this post later on when i actually get something mounted.   speaking of pics, does anybody have pic of winches mounted without winch bumpers?

Watch for line speed on the smaller winches. Some of them get the weight rating from gearing not hp. I figure if I want gearing thats essentially what a snatch block is. I am going to put this M4000 on my new rig.

(EDIT FOR BAD LINK)sorry

http://www.warn.com/atv/winches/40ci_winch.shtml

I was looking at line speed and it seems to be the fastest I can find for the winch weight. I plan to switch to synthetic rope and a plastic fairlead to lighten it even more. Im guessing total weight to be about 17lbs.

Mike

interesting..  i obviously don't know a whole lot about winches except what i am looking for.  the gear ratio on the milemarker 4500 is 294:1 & hp is 1.9hp.  is this a potential problem/weakness with a small winch?  i don't want to buy junk, but it has to be light and affordable.  i really hate having a budget......

I ran a Warn 5000 for about 8 years with no problems at all!  If I felt like It was too heave I would just snatch block it and it would still work great!  I just removed it and gave it to my buddy because I am tired of pulling EVERYONE out.  I never used it for my self so I figured I would just pass the Legacy on!!!!

There ya go right there, thats is the biggest down side to having a winch.  The second someone gets stuck, your number is dialed or your name is yelled.
Happens everytime, only thing to do is charg em hahah.

Amilla

I PULLED A 2005 ESCALADE BURRIED TO ITS AXLES IN DRY SAND 20 FEET BACK TO THE ROAD.
USED MY 6000 WARN.  HIS BUDDIES SAID NO WAY THAT SAMMI HAS THE BALLS TO DO IT. 
USING THE WINCH THE SAMMI IS JUST AN ANCHOR. HIS GIRLFRIEND MUST HAVE TAKEN A DOZEN PICS OF ME DOING THIS .

i cant wait till i get to use my mile markr 9500 on somebody

Sorry for the bad link guys. This was the winch I was talking about.

http://www.warn.com/atv/winches/40ci_winch.shtml

Ive seen these on ebay for $380 new in the box

line speed of 136 to 1

also make sure to get a winch with a mechanical brake.

As far as pulling anybody out... when they see the size of this winch they wont want your help!

Mike

wow, that is a small winch, really light!  the performance specs look are really similar to the milemarker i've been looking at but the warn is just so much lighter.   smaller dimensions too, hhhmmm.  thanks!