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Costco Champion winches

N

Ned Kelly

1/2 ton status
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Location
Winnipeg, MB
Any experience with these or garbage?
My local Costco has the 12,000lb with synthetic on for $399...and in Canadian dollars!
 
If you occasionally need a winch they as great. If you are a heavy user get a warn. Caveat: I have a champion on a 72 highboy and it works well.
 
i work in the towing industry . . . .

they suck ! i have seen and dealt with more problems on cheep sh!T . .

some guys get lucky and some never find a problem .

i have had more times they don't work right than work good.

and the wiring supplied with them is real sub par . i just rewired one on a car trailer at work . it was copper coated aluminum wire and solid corrosion in less than 1 year .

the electric pump motor on the trailer for the tilt dove tail was solid corrosion in 6 months . we didn't even get to use it 6-7 times . and i was over 1.5hr's away when it died with the dove tail down . lucky the guy had tools and i cheated to get it up on its mechanical locks to finish my 5 hr's trip and the 2nd place i had to go i called ahead and they had a loading dock i could use . otherwise i would have been screwed .

my buddy has scored 2 used ramsey worm gear winches off c-list in the last year or so for cheep . tossed oil in them and a fresh motor and they work like tanks . i scored a brand new never installed 8k ramsey hydro winch for 800 bucks . new there 1400 and up .i also have 2 warn 8274 winches . 400-500 each and 1 was aluminum fairlead and synthetic rope . the other was newer motor and brand new cable .

again just my opinion .
 
bmxbryant9 said:
If they are from Costco lifetime warranty...
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Which is nice, but like the story told above, that warranty doesn't help when the darn thing breaks and Costco is miles and miles or hours away from where you are.

This is one of those instances in life where you're always better off paying more for something good up front, rather than going cheap and learning the hard way.
 
Ok, I will pass on this and stick with the m12000 I have and shuffle it between vehicles. Thanks.
 
I really doubt they are as bad as everyone thinks. Yes you get what you pay for but they are probably fine for how a lot of winches are used. If I am wheeling with buddies the tow straps come out long before hooking up the winch, its usually faster and easier to just get a tug. If you wheel alone or are going on expeditions spend the money on a top shelf winch. Keep a snatch block handy and double the pulling power. For that money you can buy a warn or you can get 2 costcos, one for the front, one for the back and still buy a few tanks of gas. I am not knocking the warn, they are great.
 
GoGoGirl said:
Which is nice, but like the story told above, that warranty doesn't help when the darn thing breaks and Costco is miles and miles or hours away from where you are.

This is one of those instances in life where you're always better off paying more for something good up front, rather than going cheap and learning the hard way.
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That's always my moto.
I don't care if it's warrantied if I am stranded somewhere because it failed.
Yeah when I get back to civilization I get to take it out go get a replacement and then get to install it all over again, yay warranty.
 
I agree, if something breaks out on the trail (or anywhere for that matter) it's always the hassle of fixing/towing/repairing where ever your stranded.
If it breaks in your driveway that is fine!
That is why I run D60's on all my trucks, even with little 35" tires...you don't break. Getting pulled out of stuck is easier than replacing axle shafts/ujts on the trail. Looks like I may pass on the Costco winch.
 
Sometimes nothing beats a hand cranked winch or come-a-long..nothing much to go wrong with them,unless you cant provide the cranking power ..even the best electric winch is useless when your battery is dead!.
 
I’ve had a 10k champion winch for about 10 years now. The only problem I’ve had was a solenoid going bad last summer. I think it was my fault though because I was pulling logs that were probably too big for too long and never gave the winch a chance to cool down
 
I think these winches will be similar to what happened with the so-called "ebay turbo kits...

6-8 years ago they were junk.

Now people are making big reliable HP with them. For half the cost or less.

Time will tell. Results may vary.
 
Justin V said:
I think these winches will be similar to what happened with the so-called "ebay turbo kits...

6-8 years ago they were junk.

Now people are making big reliable HP with them. For half the cost or less.

Time will tell. Results may vary.
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Kinda like the Badland winch from hf
They were ok, but then they got better.
 
I just noticed these Champion 12k are permanent magnetic motor vs series wound.
I think series wound are probably the better choice overall. Meh, what do I know...I've been spoiled by that dang front PTO winch on my K30!
 
I'd think that winch is probably best suited for a trailer winch or something that sees occasional use and you aren't risking your life with. I've bought cheap tools before and many of them are fine, but for something you depend on to work, nothing is more frustrating than when it breaks when you really need it. Warns are great and known to be reliable, but you'll pay a lot of money for that name. I remember this winch test from a while back. Take it with a grain of salt, I'm sure Warn probably pulls in a lot of advertising revenue...

http://www.fourwheeler.com/how-to/129-1107-massive-multi-winch-shootout/
 
I have one on my f350, been on it since about 05. I have broken it a couple times (with major abuse) and repaired it with parts from an old milemarker I had that burnt up the motor. Not as good as a warn, but for most people it would have been just fine.
 
Almost any winch used properly should work. Ya just Can’t abuse them hard and expect non issues with excess use simple as that. :thinking:
 
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