Aldi winches

[Bazza Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Bazza]

I see Aldi are selling their winches again, from the 1st September. $399 4300kg
Bazza

[PradOz Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close PradOz]

arent these the same as the supercheap brand except rebadged??

[Bazza Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Bazza]

Possilbly. There's probably heaps of them out there, rebadged and all made in China. Who knowns and who cares. As long as they work, and you get you moneys worth, their probably a good buy. Ive know brand name winches to fail or be unreliable, just as well as the no-name brands. It all depends on your perspective.
Bazza.

[PradOz Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close PradOz]

i think i am right saying you have fitted a winch now?? what big name brand or "no big name brand" did you decide on and how had it been?

[Bazza Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Bazza]

Yes mate. I bought an Aldi winch last time they were selling them. It's just taken me longer than I thought to fit it. My plans were slowed down a bit while I waited for Toyota to complete the bull bar mounting kit fix, and replace my older winch cradle with the newer style one.
The winch was fitted to my son's 4wd Triton for a while, but now it on my Prado. As I said before, I'll use it untill it breaks and then get someting else. It just hasnt broken yet. I know some guys that have use the Aldi winches ( and other cheap winches ) for years, with no problems. I also know some that lasted a few months. Luck of the draw.
Bazza.

[PradOz Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close PradOz]

when did you buy yours?

have you used it much and is it limited in use in any way, eg length of time of use or ???

did you pull it apart before fitting and regreased or rewired, or did you do as i would end up doing, just fitting it

i am like a lot of people - i cant justify the expense because of my limited use or need for one. and yes i know you have to way up the option of needing it one day and it failing if you had the cheaper branded one. my belief here is if that happened i would not have had a new warn etc anyway so i would have been stuck anyway. so if it failed it would be a case of just doing $400 rather than thinking i should have had the dearer one. i think having the cheaper one at least gives me the opportunity of at least having one rather than not having one at all, but as it stands now i fall into the category of having an empty space. i can even get a 2nd hand warn for around $700 but even then i cant justify the extra cash as funds are very limited in my case and i would want to have it stripped down and checked which is out of my field of expertise. thanks for your opinions and the info

[Davros Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Davros]

Maybe I can answer some of your questions.

I had an Aldi winch on my last vehicle. I stripped it down before mounting to my ARB comercial bar. This was because the clutch lever was on the opposite sie to the hole in the bar, and it was simple enough to pull apart and reverse the two ends. I used better grease when I put it back together, and I sealed it up with automotive silicone.

The winch worked great, and was still working well when I sold that vehicle a year or so later.
I only ever used it twice for what it was designed for, and it did the job.

My friend has a warn mounted to the front of his 100 series, and an Aldi winch mounted on the back. He has used the Aldi winch about ten times over the past twelve months, and hasn't used the warn.
He says he would buy another Aldi winch if needed.

I am having my bullbar recall done on Tuesday. I will be fitting an Aldi winch next week too.

Steve

[D4D Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close D4D]

Really, you can't justify $1000 for a $50K vehicle?

[Brains Find all posts View Profile Close Brains]

D4D,
Some people can't justify $150 for a battery tray for a new Prado!!

[PradOz Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close PradOz]

Really, you can't justify $1000 for a $50K vehicle?

you would have been off road more times this month than i have been in 6 years (just my best guess)

also, throw into that i havent worked since losing my job due to a spinal injury caused on the job requiring me to have spinal surgery with 2 discs removed from my spine. that also factors into my statement of not being able to justify the $1000 for my $50000 (didnt spend that much btw) vehicle. i dont think swmbo would appreciate it if i said i need to spend a cool $1000 from her annual salary of <30K that just happens to feed a family of 5 and has done so for the last 5 1/2 years

so, no i cant justify spending $1000 on my prado that cost me less than $50000. it and me just may have to stay wherever it gets stuck

and now you know; sometimes its not always as black and white as you may think!

[D4D Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close D4D]

you would have been off road more times this month than i have been in 6 years (just my best guess)

Why buy a winch then? Get some Maxtrax and/or go out with friends.

[kav Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close kav]

paying $1000 or even $1600 doesn't guarantee anything . ill back the aldi against the warn and back it with anecdotal evidence for 2 separate occasions . as for maxtrax the only 2 times ive had to use my winch are situations that not even a road made out of maxtrax would help .

[PradOz Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close PradOz]

Why buy a winch then? Get some Maxtrax and/or go out with friends.

why? - i have a bar capable of fitting a winch. i would like to get back off road again now that i am getting on top of some of my "damaged body issues" and if i can get off road again, yes i will go out with friends. i dont want to have to rely on snatching if i can be winched out and not all of them have a winch. one friend doesnt even have a bar and we would end up going out alone. if someone i am with has a warn or other super dooper brand winch and wants to use that than great, i would be all for it and grateful to them

and, because if i can muster up enough cash i will. i would love to have rope fitted to save on weight but again all comes down to money for me at this stage of our lives. if i adopt the attitude of not spending any money on the cheaper stuff and wait until i can afford the premium branded stuff, it wont happen in the near future for us. we have to prioritise our spending (just like everyone else too) and 2000 on a warn or 400 on an aldi or supercheap , well i guess the aldi / supercheap brand wins for me just now. if it stuffs up so be it. no doubt i would be pi55ed off if it happened but what can i do

so if i do get a winch, i think its: better the winch you got, than having nothing at all - even if it is a "cheapy"

[D4D Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close D4D]

Fair enough, each to their own.

[prado887.1 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close prado887.1]

you would have been off road more times this month than i have been in 6 years (just my best guess)

also, throw into that i havent worked since losing my job due to a spinal injury caused on the job requiring me to have spinal surgery with 2 discs removed from my spine. that also factors into my statement of not being able to justify the $1000 for my $50000 (didnt spend that much btw) vehicle. i dont think swmbo would appreciate it if i said i need to spend a cool $1000 from her annual salary of <30K that just happens to feed a family of 5 and has done so for the last 5 1/2 years

so, no i cant justify spending $1000 on my prado that cost me less than $50000. it and me just may have to stay wherever it gets stuck

and now you know; sometimes its not always as black and white as you may think!

Meh I see the point from both sides and $1000 is not always reliabilty (I have a mate with a patrol brand new $1800 winch got out in the field 2 mts later she no work![and yes it was fitted by professional 4wd shop]). It can happen to any bit of gear. If $400 winch saves your vehicle just once even if it pulls enough to allow you to drive out or have someone help It is $400 well spent.
Ryan