Shocks, Surprise, and Downright Lies: Harbor Freight’s Bargain Winch VS. Warn

Teardown and mechanical review of Harbor Freight’s bargain-basement Badland 2000 pound winch and the classic Warn A2000. Which one pulls out the victory?

[@gregpratt6926]

I bought the HF 49 dollar winch but it came with a remote control that fits on your keys . Been on my UTV for 7 years and haven't had a problem with it. Use it daily in the winter running the snow plow. Never expected it to last but it's still going for 49.95 no complaints

[@JohnDoe-df2zz]

Nice Video. Ave is always good for some comic relief mixed with actual knowledge. I even bought some of his swag to decorate my shop. I wish you the same luck. Keep it up.

[@DB-yj3qc]

I've been using one of those H.F. winches for many years and it's held up. The same hand controller on my 4 wheeler. Just used it today.

[@nicholasproietto2500]

I might use a winch twice a year, why would I pay big bucks for a Warn? Harbor Freight is perfect for guys like me who need a tool but not all the time. I have an HF zxr 5000 lb winch on my car hauler. So far it's not let me down yet.

[@Gen01Lee]

My 2017 brute force came with a Warn vantage 2000lb winch. It does alright but kinda weak and slow. I was wondering if a HF 2500-3500 or Tractor supply 2500-3500 would be an upgrade or waste of money? I need one for my car dolley so worst case I could use it on that. But I’d like to get the best option.. thanks for the video!

[@samstung9110]

Wow that is actually surprising, I just picked up on of those harbor freight winches today and I was looking at used warns yesterday, thank you and for that a subscribe and a like.

[@nunyabusiness4651]

Half my tools cost a fortune, the other half are from harbor freight, They all served me well.

[@oldmanpatriot1490]

I absolutely love your wit.. It gives me hope for the future of 'Merica...

[@Cbsaiyan]

I'm catching up on all your videos your going to have to do 3x a week lol love these videos keep it up brother

[@bobkoskovics2530]

That fuses and circuit breaker resettable and they’re work

[@thedoubtfultechnician8067]

How does it reset? Is it thermal?

[@donsgotmoney]

@@thedoubtfultechnician8067 Yes, Its the same type used in road tractors. You may have to wait 30-45 minutes, but it will reset. I guess the best possible situation is to use the correct amperage rated CB for the job to hopefully avoid it having that issue.

[@JDeWittDIY]

Did the commutator cleaning stone come from Amazon?

[@georgegouvas27]

whats the warn price tag

[@rickmcdonald1557]

I love it when HF kicks ass and does it for half the price~!! Harbor Freight was never created for High Flying Know-it-alls and if you have the extra bucks to spend on "The Name" of a tool then good on you but most of us are normal low budget dudes trying to get by 'till it's time to push up some Daises~!! Long Live HF~!!

[@cartervaradi2979]

Bro their Apache brand gun cases are AMAZING! I ended up buying 2, one for actual guns (go figure, and another is going to be for recovery gear on my Crosstrek. Just gonna mount that baby up top on the crossbars and call it a day!

[@davidmcgee2126]

You didn’t have to say it I know that you know that I know what and why I’m watching 😂 If he he’s watching. He’s probably proud of what you do

[@bkdexter79]

I had to subscribe to your channel just for your humor!

[@thedoubtfultechnician8067]

Usually people unsubscribe due to my humor. How unusual!

[@nathan00campbell]

i built a truck bed crane for my M35A2 deuce and a half. Truck is 24v NOT 12v. The badlands winch runs cooler on 24v than 12v. Ive worked the hell out of it and have had no problems at all.

[@kevincallahan3146]

Subscribed because you used the cut off saw to open the box. This is my kind of channel.

[@thedoubtfultechnician8067]

You got a better way??? You should check out AvE- I stole that bit from his “boltr” video series. I’m a lame knockoff of him.

[@RoughRidersTV]

Could some of the differences been due to the Warn being 25 years old so older tech vs the HF being new? They still did it on the cheap but I am assuming there has been some advances in the 25 years since the Warn was originally made.

[@thedoubtfultechnician8067]

Harbor freight copies most of their designs off of brand name tools… I think part of the advantage of this is they can learn from other people’s mistakes. Which is the only thing that’s better than learning from your own mistakes.

[@RyanM-ke2gu]

Love me some AvE, but you speak less maple mush ;-) Just found your channel, subbed.

[@thedoubtfultechnician8067]

It’s a deceptively tricky language to learn, therein lies its beauty.

[@bobkoskovics2530]

The brushes don’t run on the on the commentator there’s a gas pocket between them when they run that’s why they don’t drag if they’re scratching or tearing there’s a misalignment with your brushes. Bushings are better than bearings bushings can take more side pressure than a bearing

[@Jimaria1]

Just bought the same thing. My plate bolted up just fine. Only bought it because I have a 2WD UTV. Small UTV!! May never get used.

[@dariodalcin5177]

We wanna see the thug of war

[@TishaHayes]

I gave up on WARN years ago when I had one that spit its guts out while under load. It was only lifting 800 pounds and there was a loud POP! and it just dropped the load. Nothing weird or janky going on either. It was a straight pull, through a pulley to lift an 800 pound dead load.

[@craigditzenberger4551]

Sometimes HF surprises you with a half descent quality product. I take the win when I can get it.

[@salmonforever6088]

Well done.

[@foolicooli]

Glass fiber polyester plastic mixes are stronger than chinesium metals all day. I ran over my flashlight and pinched it between a control arm and knuckle while lowering a car down off a rack..

[@thedoubtfultechnician8067]

I’m beginning to see that now

[@t.l.robinson2162]

I have 4 Badlands 12,000 lb winches. I've never had a problem and I regularly overuse these winches. I am very happy.

[@Cbsaiyan]

The math ain't mathin for that mount lol

[@gregr1672]

I used Warn Winches on my repair trucks daily for many years. Never had problems ! I had them on all our crane trucks with my welder,torches, hydraulic jacks .I pulled rail cars with them !!! I have HF 12 k lb bad land zxr on my personal vehicle ,it was a gift from a friend for pulling logs on their property! It shuts off constantly ,has a 5 % duty cycle ,that's 45 seconds heavy pulling requires 14 min rest period for the HF Winch !!! I will replace this soon with a Warn Winch , No one buys Chinese Products because they are quality ,its all about cheap ! Screw that !

[@thedoubtfultechnician8067]

Sadly even Warn’s entire VR line is made in China. It doesn’t matter where it’s made, it matters how it’s made.

[@danielsmith8659]

In my experience a cheap warn basically isn’t a warn. Like the old vanguard series …. You might as well buy a Chinese winch because guess what a cheap warn is ….. a Chinese winch. I’ve had no issues out of the badlands vxr winches ….grant it I don’t use them a whole lot…. They aren’t getting submerged in water , etc….. they are just there for the occasional emergency , and they have worked every time .

[@thedoubtfultechnician8067]

Or “made by John Deere exclusively for Lowe’s” Powered by Briggs & Stratton…

[@danielsmith8659]

@@thedoubtfultechnician8067 yep…. It’s just a sticker now a days

[@jaykanngiesser3454]

Is AVE your uncle?

[@thedoubtfultechnician8067]

He’s everybody’s uncle!

[@nateross14]

The newer Badlands 2000/2500 lb winches are still a great bargain, but the performance quality/value is less than than the older Chicago Electric winches. My Chicago Electric 3000 lb ATV winch from 2004 was the same price new or cheaper than the newer Badlands 2500, but has significantly more power and line speed, as well as thicker plate construction than the latest Badland model. The old winches were better.

[@otrotland5377]

do you think it might run a trommel (soil sifter)

[@theadventuresofchris1409]

STAY STUCK BUY harbor freight !!!!!!

[@adamr8628]

Yeah, HF built better than Warn for a fraction of the cost

[@jreviews5924]

😂 my little Zxr badlands winch outlasted my super winch tigershark.

[@jbmemphis2151]

@@jreviews5924 I had good luck with this exact winch on a Honda 420. Would you still recommend it? I’m between the badlands 2500 or the champion 3000

[@elirenigar9357]

Get the big 10k winch!

[@Deltathegoldenretriever]

Bro we need your Canadian accent back you can’t hide the people love you 😅

[@cts9915]

Just keep studying aVe.

[@towman4850]

for someone that seems to have lots of knowledge on winches, i am dissapointed in how your winch line looks like spooled onto the drum. the rats nest will severly damage your wire rope.

[@thedoubtfultechnician8067]

Sorry dad I’ll do better

[@georgegouvas27]

warn is made in china also,

[@donsgotmoney]

Everything is made in china, if its going to keep the bottom line low, its made in china.

[@oldtanker2]

I'd rather have cheap metal over what is a proven plastic part? Some of that cheap Chinese pot metal is worse than some high quality plastic. I've owned a HF winch. Never again. I replaced it with a Warn winch, both rated at 3,000 pounds. The Warn winch far outlasted and out performs that HF POS.

[@jvazquez53]

On the HF, you get what you pay for. To compare a HF winch to a Warn is like compare a Toyota Yaris to a Lexus. The Badlands 12,000 winch are having problems , look at the videos in KZbin.

[@adamr8628]

Watch the video. The WARN actually turns out to be a bigger piece of junk.

[@aaronvance7201]

Toyota owns Lexus.

[@adamr8628]

@@aaronvance7201 Yes, I hear what you're saying to him. Of course they're the same company, that may be why he used those examples. The Lexus typically has more features and is a higher end product in general,. It would be debatable if the quality control was different or not on the more advanced Lexus. It definitely has more advanced features and options at a higher cost.

[@tyleralexander6368]

I got a junk warn that never works if you want it free

[@adamr8628]

@@tyleralexander6368 I'd take a junk warn

[@allee6096]

It's just 60 dollars.. 60.. Dollars..

[@joelstanhope7231]

An ave video

[@khoatran9482]

More SUBS!!!!!

[@lenjames]

I enjoyed it...AVE has some real competition.

[@thedoubtfultechnician8067]

Blasphemy!

[@seaturkey5608]

Old vs new isn't fair regardless of brand

[@electriceye683]

👍👍

[@petermccuskey1832]

Having worked off road all my life at age 65 now. WARN IS WAY OVER RATED. can show you my junk pile.

[@mildlydisinterested]

What winch brands and models do you recommend?

[@petermccuskey1832]

@@mildlydisinterested mile marker has been the greatest reliability.

[@aheroicdose]

Lol ave is a tryhard, this is a case of the student surpassing the teacher

[@mike-bj4dk]

you bought wrong plate i bought it for 6 bucks fits perfect

[@_JamesBrown]

Sigh...

[@Hollywoodhouse74]

Some people just dont know how to use tools. Then they complain because there to stupid to realize the truth... u treat ur tools good they last.. u abuse ur tools.. they fall apart... lame

[@alexamaya5836]

Copy cat!!!

[@vaderdudenator1]

You picked up where AvE left off when he got sidetracked into political garbage

[@Redact63Lluks]

AvE went to hell, so copy all of his aesthetics, he no longer has the character to fill the boots he built. I wish he didn't go so blase about his values.

[@samcoon6699]

Hmmmmm.....so, you spent 47 bucks on a 2000 winch & mounting plate and you are surprised when it's internals aren't as good as a WARN? Which I'm pretty sure you paid a lot more for.

[@thedoubtfultechnician8067]

Did you watch the video? I was surprised that the harbor freight seemed BETTER built than the Warn. Sheesh.

[@minig6463]

Sam Coon check out @10:32

[@J2000Z71]

Get your own gig.. shameful…

[@thedoubtfultechnician8067]

Sorry daaaaaad

[@toob247]

in the worrrrrld. Jeremy clarksomething