Winch Question

[caddyr2]

So I recently purchased a new '09 Ranger XP LE. I have an '06 Sportsman 500 and would like to steal the winch off the front of that and mount it on the Ranger since the Sportsman will get used less and less over time (Plus the winch was only used once in 3 years). The winch on the Sportsman is a Polaris brand 2500#. Does anyone see a problem with placing that on the Ranger? I know I should put a 3500# on but I want to use what I hae. It may never get used, and frankly, if I get that stuck its not a far walk to a 4wheel drive tractor/loader. I have been looking for brackets and see alot of them are advertised for name brand winches (i.e. Warn). Is the mounting the same whereas I can get a behind the bumper mounting bracket and mount this winch? Any help is much appreciated.

[ELK_HUN10]

The 2500 lb winch is light for your machine, get a tail block or winch block so you can double the power of your winch and you will be all right. This cuts your usable lenth in half so you will also need a long tow strap to hook onto something. Cabelas, Bass Pro plus several other companies offer winch mounting kits. You should not have too much trouble finding one designed for your machine.

[GRAZOR]

Like Elk said the 2500 is a little light but then like you said, a winch kind of just hangs there and gets little use in your particular drive conditions.

My style is very similar and my RZR has the Polaris 3500 winch on it. Except for snow plowing the winch has been used once! Same thing with my previous Sportsman 500s that all had Warn 2500 or 3000 winches.
Twice when I really needed the winch it refused to work due to corrosion inside from being wet and not being well sealed from the git go.

I think the 2500 might be fine to get you out of most stuck situations and the snatch block is a great idea.

Viper winch is a sponsor here and they always run some nice deals for us PRF members. The thought of uninstalling an old winch and reinstalling on a new vehicle just sounds like too much work to me. I would just bite the bullet, save up a little longer and buy a new winch kit from Viper with your PRF discount and probably spend half what a Warn would cost you. Get the one with the rope instead of steel cable and you will never go back to that junk.

Look at it this way. It took me about 4-5 hours to install my winch on the RZR. I think it would take as long to uninstall one from the Sportsman and clean up all the leftovers. So it will be a full days work plus buying the new mounting bracket and other stuff. If you just like wrenching than go for it and do what you have planned. If you are like me and your aching back, knees and a few other parts get the best of you or if you pay a shop to do this stuff, it is a no brainer. I have 2 buddies who have the Viper 4000 pound winches and both are very happy and bought other accessories with the left over cash.

Gary

[heath_jhns]

2500 is not big enough. You can try it but it won't last very long. Get at least a 4000 lb.

Heath

[caglezxj]

The viper winch is a good winch and for what you will give for the polaris 2500 you could get the viper 4,000.00 That's what most of us run.