hey all. got good and stuck today, never have i wanted a winch sooooo bad! so cruising ebay i ran across all these vortex winches - have been trying to find info/reviews online with little to no luck. anyone have any experience with these winches? looks like the price is hard to beat and it has a two year warranty. any thoughts or concerns?

 

Looks almost exactly like a Milemarker.... Which means chances are its just another knock-off like the Smittybuilts, Harbor Frieght, Summit Racing ones.

Slower than molasses, but cheap. Expect it to perform like a cheap knock-off and you will be happy.

 

Probably better then what you got now let us know how it goes......

 

thats a river, not a road!

 

could get a come-a-long . some thing like this http://www.cvfsupplycompany.com/hanpowpulcom.html but should go whit a 4 ton for a something until u get a winch

 

before the wrangler extracted me, my buddy came out to see if he could help and he brought a come-along with him. no luck, man - the jeep had to yank hard for 6 or 7 pulls before he dislodged me from this god forsaken hole. if you ever go looking for the blue hole in southern new jersey beware of this spot! thanks for all of your responses, though. peace/out

 

If in doubt, toss it out! (the idea). Don't skimp on a winch is what I would say. If it's too good to be true, forget it. Aim for a winch that has a good reputation. The smittybilt winches are gaining popularity and seem to be an overall good winch for the average winch user. They go for $300 and $400 so check em out. Milemarker's are also decent.

Also read the fine print of the warranty. Most winch warranties on cheap winches only cover what doesn't usually break. If the motor wears out, your done for and have to buy another one cuz it's most likely not covered. My milemarker had a 2 year warranty but it doesn't cover the motor and that's what failed on me.

 

haha where in southern NJ? I buried mine a few months ago in wharton. To be honest I would have much rather had lockers than a winch. A winch would have ment that I would have to go FORWARD which in my case was even deeper! If I was locked front and rear I could have just backed out...and most likely you would have been able to as well.

 

Thats nothing. I was follow my friend through an offroad park and came across some iced over water in a part of the trail. All the other holes we past were like 6"-10 inchs deep,... Well not this one. He started to drive on the ice and I slowly followed a little distance behind him, and just as his from tires get off the ice, CRACK!! the ice crack and hsi back end falls in and my entire XJ falls in,...

Almost made it across


Suckage


Tire is a 33x12.5 R15, that ice was like 6" thick


Then we had to get my Jeep out of it. It took forever! Tugging, hammering ice chucks and throwing them out of the way,.. man that sucked..

After i got out

 

i got a smittybuilt....and so did my buddy at same time he used his hat week and really pulled great he has a f250 on 38s, he was laying frame on trees and a rut, guy blocked trail and he tried over it...lol the winch pulled him and the huge trees outa the hole with no problems.....he bough the 10000,lb but theres not much difference in speed, just power.