What size winch is recommended for a KQ700? Is 2500lb big enough or should you go bigger? Been looking at winches on ebay, Venom, Xtreme, Viper, Gorrilla, etc. Does anyone have any experience with any of these brands? Are they any good? They are a whole lot cheaper than Warn, etc. Also looking at the AMSTEEL cable instead of the old steel cable. How does the AMSTEEL hold up? Thanks

Seems to me that 2500# is going the way of the 2000# soon will not be able hardly find one. For me I say get a 3000# you won't be sorry, when you need a winch that is no time to find out that had you gone bigger you "COULD HAVE" gotten out.

I have synthetic rope and don't think I'd ever have cable again.

Cob has good advise on his above post and if money is no object in your case is the way to go.

I've had Gorilla and had some problems. Manufacturer took care of them all but on my 700 Sportsman I now have a 3000LB Venom. Several I ride with have had them for a couple years now without problem and used them a lot plowing snow. I've used mine close to a dozen times this year and not a problem one! So far for the $135 I paid, I'm very pleased.

I have a 2500 on my king and the only time I have had to use it, it did fine. I wasn't stuck that bad, it was mostly due to the dunflop stock tires. I used cob's advice before and was happy with the outcome.
shawn

IMO, yes, the 2500 # is adequate.

(Some manufacturers use the same motors and gear reduction on different-rated winches.)

Regardless of which winch you choose, I'd recommend a SNATCH BLOCK; a device capable of doubling the extraction force of any winch . . .

Further, a snatch block provides the versatility of angle pulls.

Golden words. A snatch block doubles the winching power and halves the load on the winch line itself, all in one motion. Thus a 2000 lb. winch for that matter, will be enough.
I have a 2000 Champion on the back of my 700 King Quad and it has never failed to get me out on a straight pull, though there have been times I stalled it out and a blip of throttle was needed to give it a bit more to bite on.
So much torque is generated from a snatch block purchase though, that it's important to have a good anchor. Also make sure you have both eyes of your strap in the snatch block and not 'choked' on itself so that only one eye is in the snatch block, as the rated pull is doubled and the strap can fail unless it is substantially heavier gauge than the winch line.

All of the above said, a 2500 lb. winch or larger, is nice to have instead of rigging with a smaller one.
Good luck.

I have 2500 lb Warn's on both of mine and have no overload issues at all...Brand name is really what your pocket book will allow... Warn and Ramsey are at the top of the Heap ,,IMO

Greetings Everyone,
I'm new here and don't know what took me so long to sign-up.

My name is Peter and I'm the CO-CEO of Motoalliance and we are the home of the VIPER winch. Our business has been growing like crazy. We'll likely become advertisers on this site, but I just wanted to let you know that if you had any general questions about the winch market like our VIPER line or any of our competitors, I'd be happy to help. Take care.

Peter / MotoAlliance
www.motoalliance.com
1-866-527-7637

quote:

Motoalliance

Just holler at GOMER and he will set you with the advertising. That would be great to have ya join us. Be nice have someone that can answer questions as they arise.

Just remember the winches effective pull rating is usually a 5 winds on the drum up to the 1st full wrap on a straight pull.

Duty cycle also becomes important when your on long pulls or pulling multiple machines through a difficult area.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: gregfuller,

I researched and found out that the Warn 25's have the same motor and gears that the 30's do. The 30's just have the extra wireless remote. So I bought a XT25 with the synthetic cable. I bought Warn for the reliability and totally sealed new design. My buddy bought a $130 winch off ebay and the contactor failed in one weekend. He bought a Warn contactor and still uses it. It sounds like a sick cat.

That means he paid too much. Should have got the $70.00 Champion from Costco