[caglezxj]

I wanted to start a topic about what winch you prefer. I would like to know what you look for in a winch as well, like cost,durability, spare parts, etc. Also about customer service. How many people here are looking for a winch? I am signing on moto-alliance as a sponsor. They sell the viper winch and anyone who has experience with this winch please speak up.

I have had 3 vipor winches, 2 - 3,000lbs and 1 - 4,000lbs. I prefer running a heavy duty winch on the Ranger thats why I use the 4,000lb. I look for a company to offer spare parts, or be able to send a product back for repair. Warranty of a product and it be durable. I used the 3,000lb winch's alot. I had a 700 sportsman and honda rincon 700 that loved the mud. I never had a issue out of any of those. I have used my 4,000lb once since I had it. The mounting bracket that came with my Ranger Kit worked perfectly. They supply a handle bar mount rocker switch and a corded remote. I had a contactor that was bad and called there customer service and they sent one out free of charge. They also offer spare parts once your winch is out of the warranty.

 

[bob]

I have the Warn 4000lb winch that was an option when I orderd my XP. I just got a snatch block, and I now need a tree-saver strap. Any input on where to get a strap would be helpful. thanks.

 

[Bigdog800efi]

what length and What # strength

 

[caglezxj]

Hey,

Our sponsor FoxValleyATV.com can "hook you up" on the strap. :2funny: I would post up in his sponsor section and ask him about his straps. Plus this would help add topics to his area. He has some really good deals. BigDog800efi is the go to person for foxvalleyatv. Lets keep this topic based on winches.

Josh

 

[ALAG3]

I just purchased a Venom 4000# winch for my Ranger, but previously had a 2500# Warn on my Yamaha Grizzly. I posted a question about Venom winches on another forum and 10 out of 12 responses were positive. When it came down to it, the Venom is a fraction of the cost of the Warn, so I figured if it died prematurely, I could replace it several times and still be ahead of the game. Not to mention, this weekend, my Warn stopped working! I have not used the Venom yet, but it is installed and seems to be a nice piece of equipment. The company also offers replacement parts on their website.

 

[GPER]

I have a Warn 8274 that I have had for almost 30 years, I can still get parts when I need them. I did get some Christmas money that I was either going to get a winch or I should get a trailer to haul my Ranger on.

 

[vanillagorilla]

i got a 4000lb gorilla. got a buddy of mine who has an online store and he sells them. like he said before if it peters out and u buy another it is still cheaper than a warn. but we haven't had but three of them go bad. we sent them back to gorilla and they sent us new ones.

 

[caglezxj]

I have always wondered if gorilla, venom , viper are tied together. I will have to ask one day.

 

[Code Blue]

I have the Warn 4000lb winch that was an option when I orderd my XP. I just got a snatch block, and I now need a tree-saver strap. Any input on where to get a strap would be helpful. thanks.

I went to my local 4x4 shop and found an accessory kit (in a heavy pocketed bag) from Warn and it has everything you need for winching..

 

[ALAG3]

yeah that kit is probably my next purchase. I have a snatch block, but would like tree strap also and it comes in the kit.

 

[Code Blue]

I wanted to tell everyone about a cool option I put on both of my razors. But first a little build up, I was out with a buddy 2 years ago in my ranger and we high centered in the snow. Now two things happened that I'll never forget, never tell your buddy who is in a full leg cast " will be in and out in no time", and never open your ranger glove box only to discover your winch trigger (hand control) is back at the house in the trailer..

Now for what I've done.. We installed in-dash rocker switches and wired them into the existing wiring and now you can use either the remote trigger or the rocker switch. This is just one of those ideas I thought would save someone else if I passed it along. Those rocker switches came from NAPA..

Happy winching everyone..

 

[vanillagorilla]

your winch kits didn't include a rocker switch with it. everyone that i had got had one in it.

 

[Code Blue]

I bought two from my polaris dealer for the Razor and nether of them came with one. These are the Razor specific winches, Warn RT30, polaris part #2876446

 

[vanillagorilla]

makes since i reckon. they probaly guessed that not too many guys would want to be drilling holes in a new ride to mount a switch.

 

[caglezxj]

I have both on my ranger and like the idea of being seated or standing outside.

 

[Code Blue]

I have both on my ranger and like the idea of being seater or standing outside.

Now you get why I did it, got spoiled on my two Rangers..

 

[motoalliance]

Hi Guys,
Just wanted to let you know a bit of the history of VIPER, VENOM, GORILLA.

We, at MotoAlliance, first started selling VIPER winches on E-Bay a few years ago and we were importing them through the guys that run Gorilla winches. It was going well until one Friday afternoon, one of our employees (Matt), decided to up and leave abruptly and within a few months he decided to compete with us by starting his own winch company called Venom (to confuse everyone with Viper.) Then he also set up Xtreme winches (same winches as Venom from what I can tell) to try to corner the E-bay market.

We worked with Gorilla for awhile after that, but then decided to go our separate ways as we found our own manufacturers for winches. We have a decidely different business strategy than the other two. We are a full-service, full-blown ATV accessories business that offers much more than imported winches (plows, brushguards, extenders, tires, etc.) We produce many of our products in house with our manufacturing wing (that also does millions of dollars for Graco, Toro, and 3M.) And we only work with the top factories in China for our winches -- getting our VIPER winch produced in the same factory that supplies some of the Ramsey parts. We also offer full business hours and toll-free customer service. And finally, we work with dealers all around the country.

Gorilla and Venom, by contrast, are just middle-man importers. I don't know about the quality of their winches but there are substantial differences from what I can see. We don't aim to be the cheapest winch out there -- because we know what has to be sacrificed in terms of quality to get as cheap as some of the others. We do aim to have the BEST combination of price, quality and service.

For example, our synthetic rope is the patented AMSTEEL-BLUE material that is used by the military and ocean liners -- and we put five-foot rock guards on it to make it last. We've offered it for several years. Gorilla copied our stuff by using some knock-off from China and they named it "Blue Steel" to try to confuse everyone. They offer it more cheaply than our AMSTEEL-BLUE -- but we have been told by our China rep. to not use that knock-off stuff and riders at the Minneapolis ATV Convention told us they have seen a ton of it break. So we are willing to pay a bit more to have the best stuff out there; rather than go with some cheapy product. We believe we'll be in business for the long run with that idea for all of our parts. Another example has to do with the fact that we pay more to have waterproof contactors; while Gorilla and Venom buy the cheap kind.


So that gives you a little idea of how the three companies are related. Hope that helps.

Peter
CEO / MotoAlliance

 

[Big Orange]

Just purchased our Viper Max 4000 from our sponsor MotoAlliance. Should have it in a few days.

 

[ALAG3]

Thanks Big Orange from supporting our sponsors!

 

[caglezxj]

Thanks for making the purchase through our sponsors and thanks for being part of the Polaris Ranger Forum. :coolsmiley: