I don't have piles of money laying around, my Warns are not new the 6000 lb winch on my flat fender is like 20+ years old, and the HS9500i on the Cherokee is over 10 years old. So although they may cost more the value is there. Cheap isn't always less expensive.
Why are you even looking at a 12000 lb winch? If you want to buy a cheaper winch buy a 8000 lb - 9500 lb winch from Smitty built or Rough Country, etc. They are more than enough for a 4000 lb rig, and a 12000 lb winch that doesn't work when you need it is not as good as no winch.

 

You realize that warn has entry level winches around 500. I paid 550 for my m8000 shipped.

 

Like what was said previously alot of people are on a very tight budget these days and don't have 500+ Dollars to spend, so they and me personally can only afford to pay 300 for a winch. I know WARN are bad *** winches and are tried and true but that's not what this thread is about. Its about the lower cheaper end winches and if anybody is running them how are they? Do you like them? And are they worth buing? So please stop filling this thread up with posts about WARN winches.

 

Read the side note.

 

Since you asked for opinions about a HF 12000 lb winch, here is mine.
No way would I ever advise anyone to buy that winch. If you can only afford 300.00 for a winch, Smitty Built, Rough Country, Rugged Ridge, and others have 8000 - 9500 lb winches in that price range that will be more than capable of extracting a Cherokee from trouble, and they are all better rated winches.

 

Also If you're worried about it not having enough pulling power you can always use a ****** block.

 

YES! it took us 3 pages, but someone finally said it!!! ****** blocks are awesome. some good vids on YT where ****** blocks saved the day.

 

****** blocks are good for redirecting a pull, but with a good battery and cables, no way you should need a double line pull from an 8000 lb winch on a 4000 lb rig.