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Champion winches anyone used em?

52K views 35 replies 22 participants last post by  goody01 
#1 ·
Ok well I was down at the local tractor supply company today looking for led turn signals and shackle mounts and I saw a champion winch sitting on the shelf and was wondering if anyone has used one of these of known anyone that has and what their reviews of them are I tried google and heard mixed reviews but no real life experiences in any of the post the only real information I read was that a permanent magent is bad and series wound style is good I did however not check the one at tsc to see what style magnet it had well lemme just say thanks in advance
Thanks
V/R
Tim
 
#2 ·
If you are going to throw away money to have a hunk of useless metal on the front end by all means buy the cheapest winch you can find. That being said, why not just buy a winch made for an ATV?? it looks cool unless you know what a winch is really made for.

I would say dont buy one. You really dont need a winch unless you go wheeling up a 4/5 trail solo. I would say dont buy it. I would however go with a t-max, ramsey or warn if you can afford one and it better be atleast a 9,000lbs version or higher or else it is just a waste or time.
 
#7 ·
I would say dont buy one. You really dont need a winch unless you go wheeling up a 4/5 trail solo. I would say dont buy it. I would however go with a t-max, ramsey or warn if you can afford one and it better be atleast a 9,000lbs version or higher or else it is just a waste or time.
A) This is a load of crap, there are plenty of cases where self recovery is the only option or where a vehicle needs to be recovered and a winch and snatch block is needed.

OP, Im sure you can figure out not to buy an ATV winch. A safe bet is to go with a capacity that is 1.5-2x the weight of your Jeep. I run a Warn M8000 series wound. My Jeep is 5000lbs so 5000x1.5=7500lbs with 500lb safety margin. Most winches cone with wire rope to start, run that until its time to replace then move to synthetic. Use a hook that actually locks shut (safety hooK, any rigging supply place will know them. Never use an open hook.

The 10k Champion winch my buddy runs on his 6000lb ZJ works fine, got it from Costco for ~$550 CDN and it has an awesome warranty.
 
#4 ·
go for something in at least a 8000 and a series wound motor. a permanent magnet motor isn't as durable but don't think you need to spend big money on a warn they are the best but a mile marker or something like that isn't bad ether.
 
#5 ·
Check out these winches. I highly recommend the 12000 lbs model. I have one and it has a few dozen pulls on it and some of them have been extremely hard pulls. I have never had a problem with mine and the newest model has an improved wireless remote that looks more durable (mine still works fine though). Here's a link to their website and a bit of text from their site for those who don't like links :)

I personaly know the guy who sells these (duncan) and he is a great, stand-up guy who stands behind his product. Not sure where you live but these are sold out of Burlington, Ontario, Canada. If you are from the U.S then the currency exchange will work in your favor and the cost is $100 less.

TITAN WINCHES WEBSITE

BLURB FROM TITAN'S WEBSITE:

MODEL TW12 ( 12000LB )WINCH $565.00

(465.00usd )

The TW12 Winch features a powerfull 6.6hp Motor that is water resistant. The TW12 Winch features a low gear ratio ( 187.2:1 ) which gives it more pulling power and a fast line speed. The Winch also features a automatic overload coupling . this protects the motor and gears and will disengage the driveshaft if the winch pulls over 12300lbs and it will drop the amp draw back to 200amps. The TW12 Winch comes with both a wireless and hand held remote.

All our Winches are built to our exacting specifications to provide years of trouble free service for our Customers. The manufacturers Factory is ISO 9001:2000 and CE approved. We invite you to search our website and view the different pictures showing the integral parts that are used to assemble the Winches. As you will see only the best quality parts and motors are used in the construction of our Winches

Our Winches are designed to go " head to head "with other Brand name winches on the market. Many of these Manufacturers are introducing "economy" or value priced winches to compete with the TW12 Winch ( in price) these "economy " or value priced winches are powered undersized motors and in general are built with lesser quality parts than are used in their other Winches and our Winches.

Even with the lesser quality parts they are still priced higher than our Winch. We ask you to do some research and you will agree that when you check out the competitors line of winches that you will find that not only is the titan Winch a superior product Dollar for Dollar but the features and quality of the parts is by far the best buy on the Market at only $ 540.00 CDN for the TW12 Winch it is an outstanding buy and yet sells less than even the " economy " Winches."
 
#6 ·
I've got a champion 10k pound and honestly could not be happier with it. Yea there's other ones out there that have a faster line speed, may last longer and what ever. I got mine because I wanted the security of self recovery, and also knew I won't be using it every single time i go offroad. That said I bought mine at sam's club and it came with a receiver mount(i didnt need that but its a bonus) a snatch block, and wires to hook it to the front or the rear of your vehicle. The best part about it is sam's club return policy / warranty. I have one year to return it, and they take it back in any condition. So if it fails or gets really messed up I can take it in and exchange it. Their normal price at most sam's clubs is like 450, often on sale for $399. And i got mine on sale for half off, this particular store was trying to sell out of them and not carry them any more and i paid $229. At that price i can Buy 4 of these for the price of a nice brand winch, but i won't have to buy 4 because it will work fine for me.

So far only 'problems' is that it has a slow line speed when under load but other than that its a pretty darn nice winch. My brother has had his for about 5 months longer than me and used it quite a bit more and also no complaints from him, its just kinda slow but it gets the job done.
 
#8 ·
I have a Smittybilt XRC 10,000lb winch that I bought from winchdepot.com for $360 shipped to my door and it has pulled my jeep and other people's rigs out of some pretty bad spots. Not to mention it has been submerged in mud holes on multiple occasions and has taken a ton of abuse.

Last sunday I went on a trail ride with my local club and one guy had a champion 10,000lb winch that had been through hell and back. It was on a multimount hitch and had been hit hard against a rock or something because it was pretty messed up but the thing pulled 3 or 4 rigs in a row through a tough section one of which was an f-250 mired in mud and hung up on 2 stumps.

Ironically the only winch that failed that day was a Warn 8,000lb. I thought it was pretty funny.

For $40 I bought a lifetime no questions asked total coverage warranty from winch depot that covers everything on my winch including the cable.
 
#14 ·
I have a Champion 7500 lbs winch that has been to hell and back. I bought it at Sam's Club for approximately $300.00. For an additional $39.00 they sold me a 3 year full replacement service agreement. I knew that I would be using it. In fact, the first three years I owned it, I tried to kill it, but couldn't. This winch is over 4 years old and is still going strong. It is S_L_O_W as snot, but it works great and has proven to be Tonka built. YMMV
 
#16 ·
I have had mine for about 2 years and it works great! Sand, Mud & what ever I have need it for it has not let me down! It has been under water too. The only bad thing it is a bit slower but works great under load...
With winch off.


Winch on front.




Winch on rear.



Winch not in use.


Winch working from front of Jeep
 
#20 ·
I have a Champion 7500lb. winch. I've had it for about 5 years and it has held up great. I do not know exactly how many pulls it has, but I would say probably 20 or so off-road and I've also used it in my landscaping work to clear out trees and pull stumps out of the ground. It is a little slow, but it is durable. The only bad thing I can really say is that when I first got it I was pulling some bushes out of the ground with it for an entire day and I think I might have overheated it and it quit working properly. I pulled the motor off and the magnets were cracked. It was still under warranty, so they sent me another motor. That was about 4 years ago and I have since learned how to take care of it. I probably just jinxed myself.
 
#21 ·
revival of the lost thread.

im looking at buying a winch fairly soon. anyone want to add to their posts about the champion 8k.

i found one for about 400 at tractor supply
 
#27 ·
they are cheap at tractor supply right now guys, i know this thread is old but tsc is having a sale on the winches. they have warn and champion winches on the jack isle
 
#30 ·
Bringing a pretty old thread back to life to see how the Champions are holding up. I just got a 10,000 pounder off a guy for $300. I thought what the heck, might as well take a chance for a fraction of the price of a warn. Sounds like they guys that own these have no problems and the ones that have never used them speak bad about them....probably because THEY NEVER USED ONE. I have read here and there that the magnets will crack if over heated so I will just keep the run time down. Probably going to go with a synthetic line for safety though. Those steal braided ones scare the crap out of me after I saw one cut a 2" tree in half.
 
#35 ·
Well mine is no longer in service...I had a 10k and I hit a tree last summer and didnt find out until a few months later when I went to use it that I broke the winch. Mine had the chrome handle on top like warns do and that handle some how broke its gear inside so its stuck in neutral, i can turn it forward and back but it doesn't engage the winch, unless you play with the gear until it catches but it can't handle any load on it. Anyone know where you can buy parts for them? I'm sure just replacing the gears inside it will make it work fine again. Or even just the gear attached to the handle it self I think would fix it.
 
#36 ·
this an 8000 pound champion
not worth the money. for about another 100 bucks you can have a warn.
I had bought one of these p.o.s.'s and about the fourth time i used it , the casing snapped! its junk dont buy one and getting someone to service it is a joke!

Product Description
champion_power_equipment Pull your 4 x 4 truck or SUV out of mud, sand, and snow with this powerful 8000-lb. winch built for heavy jobs. Comes equipped with 95' of 5/16" galvanized aircraft cable on a 2.48" x 9"L drum, roller fairlead for short side pulls, free spooling clutch, flat bed mounting channel, D-shackle, clevis hook, and hook strap. Includes snatch block to double pulling power and convenient remote switch.

• Series Wound Motor (3.6 hp)
• 294:1 Gear Reduction Ratio- - 95 ft. x 5/16 in.
• Universal Mount/ Flat Bed Mounting Channel
• Roller Fairlead
• Power In/Out Controller
• Snatch Block
• D-Shackle
• Clevis Hook
 
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