Need ATV winch recommendation

[itsnlkthing]

I figure there are a number of ATV owners on here so I thought I would seek out some advice. I need to put a winch and a plow on my ATV before the snow starts flying. I'm not looking to drop a $1,000 if I can avoid it but I need a good setup for a pretty decent sized driveway in CO. This will be on a 2014 Yamaha Grizzly 450.

Thanks,

[ElkNut1]

Be careful using a winch for an entire bad winter! If winters are some what mild it will be OK. If a harsh winter you will find yourself using the controls quite often in lowering & raising the winch cable a ton! When this happens you will find you wear your winch out in a hurry. The brake on the winch will not hold the blade in position, eventually it will creep on you & from there it gets worse. Just a heads up is all.

ElkNut1

[itsnlkthing]

Is there an alternative to the winch that I should be considering or just be aware that too much raising and lowering could cause problems? Alao, is synthetic cable better for this application or does it matter? Thanks!

[ElkNut1]

Not sure about the cable question? But what happens is the brake/clutch on the winch starts to weaken, I don't believe the type of cable comes into play there? Not sure of other alternatives but will say you could get a few good years out of the winch/plow setup if you don't get tons of heavy snows in your area where you were using it 4-5 times a week for several months.

ElkNut1

[Lefty]

I have a manual levered lift, I bought because I didnt want to buy a winch. After using a couple ATVs with winches for plows the strong arm method is a lot faster
Met a fellow who has a winch was designed for plowing, only has a short lift and drop webbing instead of a cable It might have been Artic Cat brand
But now I use a 22 HP Kubota

[itsnlkthing]

Thanks Lefty, the Kubota is on my future wish list but for now I was only able to justify the purchase of the ATV when we bought the house.