Do most of you guys w/ATV's have Winches for them? Do you use them a lot?
I got one of those ebay 'Gorilla winches' last year, for mine. Ive used it a few times for pulling an occasional pallet of logs or my original reason for getting it, was to use it for pulling smaller cut trees. It was a good concept, but IMO it was way too slow, its much easier to hook a chain and pull it out than to use the winch. I dont ride my ATV out on open trails, just use it around the yard.
Yesterday i was out in the swamp (back yard) and got totally stuck in mud, it was up to the foot rests, all 4 tires totally buried in mud. I could not get that sucka out of the mud rut -which was well over a foot deep. After about 20 minutes of moving back and forth ~=10 feet, i broke down and used the winch. The nearest tree was about 40' away.
On a side note, it was a good lesson in safety boots. I always wear my boots when working out in the yard, last night, on a whim i decided to go for a quick ride after dinner, so i just went out with the shoes i was wearing - sorta flip flops.
It was fun walking the 40 feet though the mud/muck in flip flops :fing20::fing20: i was about ankle/shin high in mud :duh::ROF
Anyway, got the winch hooked at about 5' height on the nearest tree and it pulled me and the ATV out of the muck like a champ
It was the first time ive ever 'NEEDED' that winch and i was very happy to have had it.
Do you guys have winches? how often do you 'Need' them?
