Off Roading Atlas Winch

[MMcCallie]

Does anyone have experience with an Atlas winch? I'm considering a 16,800 lb winch for my 10,000 lb truck. I can buy two of these for the price of one Warn 16,500 lb winch.



The Atlas has what they call an AOPS system that senses line pull through pressure plates. It will keep the winch from tearing up any other mechanical or electrical parts. It is supposedly just a $40 part if it needs to be replaced.



I've only needed a winch about 3 times with this truck but would like to have one that will get this big truck unstuck. They are sold both on ebay or from gregsmithequipment.com. Anyone have one, seen one in use, or know someone with one?



Thanks,

Matt

 

[dd76522]

now that looks like butt!! i've got an elcheapo central machinery winch from harbor frieght and i would recommend it it's a rebadged milemarker and while it does work..... i've had it 6mo and had issues with it allready

 

[MickeyMiller]

Matt,



Thanks for the heads up! I have been looking at the lower priced, probably made in China, winches. I wonder if it would be possible to 'upgrade' one of these to survive occasional use? Quality relays and wiring shouldn't be too expensive; Pack gearbox with quailty grease and seal seams; Other potential changes???



I only want a winch for that 'occassional' situation where I do something stupid, not for constant use, but for that one or two times a year I need it to work! BTW, I am looking at a rear mounted 12k - 16. 5k winch.

 

[MMcCallie]

I just order an Atlas 16,800 winch that I won on ebay for $851. 85. I ordered an extra protective cover for it, comes with a mounting plate and fairlead.

I asked the guy I ordered from if this winch is as good as a Warn and if it is reliable. He did not answer the question directly. What he told me is that Greg Smith Atlas winches are made by the same company that builds winches for Warn and other name brand winch companies. He said he does not know what specific parts Warn builds their winches with, but that their company is excruciatingly specific about what parts are used for their winches.

He claimed that this winch will be totally reliable. Guess I'll be the guinea pig. I wonder if I am the first person to ever buy one. I am open to the possibility that I may have stumbled upon an excellent deal but realize that I may have just thrown my money away. I hope to be impressed and will definitely share warning if the winch should be avoided.

 

[ENafziger]

I'm looking forward to your feedback... get it on and give it a workout!

--Eric

 

[Glen Pratt]

Spray the winch and cable down periodically with Corrosion-X. This stuff is awsome in preventing corrosion. Corrosion Technologies Corporation

 

[zstroken]

I need a relay box for a M8000 that I have. Anybody got a relay box laying around?

 

[MMcCallie]

Winch Sent Back

Update,



I used the winch once in March. Went 4 wheeling on Switzerland Pass which is normally very tame. The snow made it challenging. We got to a huge drift covering a narrow ledge. We thought we'd use my truck to plow through the 4' deep snow. I would have made it, but I ruptured a hydraulic hose and lost my power steering and brakes being hydraboost.



I sat on the ledge for hours feathering the throttle and standing on the brake pedal, rocking the truck back and forth to keep from slipping off the cliff. My buddies ran the cable uphill to a small tree that somehow miraculously held up, no beetles had gotten to it yet.



We took a long time winching as the instructions warned not to run the winch for more than 1 minute at a time, to let the motor cool. The winch made a lot of noise but it worked, It pulled my 10,000 lb truck uphill through a 4' snow drift. I was happy about that. It was slow but it worked.



It was weeks later when I was checking things out that I noticed the positive winch lead on my battery terminal was in bad shape. The shielding had melted and the wire was showing black because the wires had burned. It was so bad that the the heavy duty stock battery clamp around my battery terminal had even melted and dripped! I checked it out and the winch did not work, just made a "click" sound like a bad solenoid. I also noticed some oil around the housing of the motor.



So, they sent me a new motor and positive lead. Just got around to installing it with the help of a couple buddies. The motor worked but not as expected. With the handheld controller in place, the IN made the winch unspool and the OUT made the winch spool in. We decided to see how well it was working and unspooled at least 50'. We were winching it back in with no load and the winch started slipping. The motor was getting hot so we took breaks to let it cool. Then it seemed the clutch was no longer working. Also at this point, the winch finally started going the correct way IN and OUT.



I tried shaking the winch and that seemed to get it to grab on occasion. The winch motor would spin very fast making a high pitched sound so I knew the motor was working. Finally, the clutch seemed to quit grabbing at all. We gave up after spending hours trying to make it work.



We cut out the bars I had welded in front of it and I shipped it back to them at my expense. They had offered to ship some new parts but my not knowing what was wrong and this being the second problem, totally different from the first made me frustrated enough to just send it back. I'm expecting they will either fix it and make it work or hopefully just replace the unit.



They claim that the problems I've had are totally unheard of. They say they have lots of these winches out in the field and have never heard of anyone having any of these problems. The winch is very heavy and I'm tired of having a winch that doesn't work. If I get it back and still have issues, I guess I'll have to save my money to buy a Warn. I'll post again if I have more problems. Oh, I should add that I have seen no signs of rust or corrosion.

 

[MMcCallie]

BTW-they claim the clutch now no longer grabbing is part of their built in safety device but it makes no sense to them that it would be activating under no load so they do agree something is wrong. Said they would check it out the day it arrives. Also, the manual lever has at times been impossible to turn between engaged and freespool. When in freespool, the winch often would not freespool, felt extremely heavy, impossible to unspool by hand. That will hopefully be remedied as well. They said they test everything on the winches and parts before they are shipped out.

 

[MarkMiller]

Warn is the Cadillac. The old 8274 is the most beloved winch in most 4 wheeling circles. There is even an Australian company (don't know the name only the country of origin)that makes a kit to put a second motor on it to increase the durability.

Ramsey also seems to last a long time. Many people I have spoken to have had the same Ramsey for a dozen years and no problems. Ramsey also makes a commercial duty line of electric and hydro winches. These are what I am used to as nearly every tow truck has one on it. When it comes to severe use, there is no better test. So Ramsey should also be on your list of desirable winches.

There is also a newer addition to the winch scene called T-Max. There is a pretty good following for them in Jeep circles and the products look good on their spec sheets so you might want to check them out.

Look on the Pirate 4x4 site for a lot of opinions on all the brands.

Personally, I used Ramsey at work, and the occasional Warn at work. Both are quality in my opinion. I need a winch for the front of my 99 QC that is seeing more severe use and I will probably put a T-Max on it.

Good luck
Mark M

 

[MMcCallie]

I thought the synthetic lines weren't rated high enough for that much weight, but haven't looked into it for a while. My concern, especially on the rocks, would be that it would fray more easily than a metal cable. I so miss wheeling in Colorado. My friends have been sending me pictures, trying to make me jealous enough to move back. I'm surprised you had to use a snatch block, looking forward to the pictures.

Yeah, all of the tow truck drivers I've ever talked to use Ramsey. I've read a lot of negative posts on the internet about T-Max so I will definitely stay away from them. I had a Warn 9. 5 on my Scrambler back in the 90's and it never gave me a single problem. I'm still hopeful I'll end up happy with what Atlas sends back to me.

 

[MMcCallie]

I imagine you can fit a lot more length of line with synthetic rope than big steel cable. I just heard back about my Atlas winch and will try to reiterate. They have no idea how the first motor burned up but it literally burned the varnish on the inside of the field coils, evidently got super hot.

When they got it, they hooked it up and the motor just spun. They were able to get it in gear but the motor still spun. Upon interior inspection, it was discovered that one of the hardened brake bearings had fallen out and gotten trapped between the overload and the drum, which snapped the drive tang. The drum housing was chewed up and had overloaded everything. This bind is the reason it wouldn't shift in and out of gear.

I had not filled out and mailed in the warranty card, which had to be sent within 90 days. They are sending me an entirely new winch, though this one could be repaired, as if it were under warranty. Not sure if the new winch will be under warranty or not but he will try.

It appears that when I installed the new motor I pulled out too many pieces and didn't get it all together correctly. They have no idea what caused the initial meltdown. I'm hoping the winch will arrive in time for me to reinstall it so I can use it next weekend in Colorado. Today is Friday and it won't ship until Monday and may take a week to arrive so I may be out of luck. I sure hope to find the replacement winch to be entirely trouble free.

 

[AABEN]

Sound to me you had the hot to neg ! that would make it run in the wrong direction. I also like the synthetic cable. You will not get broken wires in your hand.

 

[MMcCallie]

While the cables were still hooked up red cable to positive terminal, black cable to negative terminal, the winch was at first going backwards and suddenly started going the correct direction on its own after about a 1 minute cool down break. Made absolutely no sense to me.

I moved away from Greeley, CO in January 2008 and have been missing Colorado badly since but haven't found a job that would make it feasible to move back so I'm moving to Wyoming.

We usually run Moody Hill to the base of Crystal Mountain. I like the view from Storm Mountain. Kingston Pass is nice and high, Wheeler Lake is pretty brutal. Used to wheel Bunce School a lot like the sand pit before they closed it. Pole Hill Road has nice views, Johnny Park has some fun rock shelves to play on, Left Hand Canyon is a bit high traffic but nice.

Haven't wheeled west of Idaho Springs. I don't even remember the names of many trails, just following my buddies, but they were all fun! I've met guys who've wheeled Colorado for 30 years and still have hundreds of trails left to try. Thanks on the bumper, its turning out pretty well but I am doubting myself on the exo-cage.

 

[DonCurley]

I have been using Warn winches since the 70's and have had them on all of my 4x4's ever since. And I just got a Warn 16. 5Ti on my '07 3500. I have never had one fail me or even look that bad from a cosmetic perspective after years of heavy use or exposure to the elements.



I don't know anything about Atlas winches, but I can attest to the truly dismal record and reputation Milemarkers have. Pure junk. And I know Warn winches aren't cheap, but I really think this fits into the "you get what you pay for" thing.



Also, that story you got about Atlas winches being made by the same company that makes Warn winches is questionable. As far as I have ever heard or known, Warn manufactures their own winches (even if they may use parts from one source or another).

 

[MMcCallie]

Greg Smith Equipment did not tell me the Atlas winches are made by the same company that makes Warn, Superwinch, Ramsey, Milemarker, etc. They said they build them with parts from the same suppliers, convincing me that their winches are built from parts equal in quality to those of other manufacturers. New replacement winch is arriving later today. I'll have to try to get my truck stuck in a coolie and see if the new one works.

 

[MMcCallie]

The new winch worked perfectly when I tested it before installation and after. They told me parts had broken in my original causing the meltdown. I went wheeling in Colorado again this winter and the snow storms had brought down a bunch of trees. There was a massive tree down that my friends' Jeep wasn't going to be cable of moving. So I took the lead and we started hooking up the winch to the tree.

We couldn't get the winch to freespool. The clutch lever was very difficult to move back and forth, had seemed like it wasn't going to move at all but finally did. What was far more frustrating was that the winch also wouldn't motor out or in. I was furious. Fortunately my truck was able to move the tree on its own so that we could all pass.

Next morning I really wanted to see what was going on with the winch. It still wouldn't unspool so we used one of my friend's Cherokees and had them back up with their winch hooked to mine. That's how much force it took to get the winch to free spool. It was then still difficult, but possible to pull more cable out by hand.

Motor still wasn't doing anything at all so my buddy started messing around and wiggling wires on the back of the winch motor and all of a sudden, it worked. Connections seemed tight, but when he wiggled a wire, the winch suddenly started working. He held the brake on his Jeep and I winched his Jeep a few feet to my truck. He said the winch felt very strong.

So, hopefully it will now work more consistently. I really hope I don't get myself into a situation where I once again really need it. I should have saved my money and gotten a winch I know will work every time I need it. If the winch will continue working flawlessly for the next 20 years I will honestly be quite satisfied and will feel that I got a decent deal. But if my experiences continue to be equally disappointing, I'll be replacing it with a real, working unit.

 

[BDaugherty]

I've used and been around Milemarker, Ramsey, etc cheap winches. That "premium" price for a Warn will seem like a bargain when it works as advertised that one time that you REALLY need it to. Buy a Warn winch once and keep swapping it onto new trucks forever.

 

[MMcCallie]

Time to post an unfortunate update. First I'll say I had a year of reliable use from this winch while living in Alaska. I would have been in huge trouble a number of times without a working winch in very remote locations with snow averaging around 4 feet deep. However, I'm now unable to get this winch to work at all and am hoping for ideas that might get it working again.

I was pulling a Jeep stuck in sleet on the farm and using a snatch block and plenty of cable so the load was well under capacity. I always run the winch for only about a minute and stop a minute to wait for it to cool. I was using the wireless remote from in the vehicle where I was increasing voltage with the throttle pedal. The winch was working fine until after a minute long break it would just click and drop my batteries to an extremely low voltage without winching in or out with out without a load. I expected some sort of grounding out but have found no changes in the wiring.

At most I've since been able to get only a single rotation in either direction before the winch will stop. Once it stops I usually hear nothing more than a click when I depress the button on the remote. A couple times I heard a groaning sound. Cables do not feel hot and there are no signs of wires melting like with my first failed winch.

I've had my Optima yellow top batteries tested as well as my 300 amp alternator and they checked out fine. I've also tried another pair of Group 31 Optima yellow top batteries with no better results. I am unable to get the winch to spool the cable back in. I keep the cover on the winch when not in use so it is almost as clean as new. The lever still is as it always has been since new, very difficult to shift between engaged and free spool but it is pointing fully forward. I have always had to use the winch motor to spool out any cable as it is too stiff to spool out by hand. The cable is wound smooth and tight with no binding except for the 30 feet or so that won't spool back in and is wrapped around my grill guard.

I've been fortunate to get by for so long with such a cheap winch but this winch gets very little usage and should have lasted longer. I've had this winch on my truck almost exactly 3 years and have had to use it less than 2 dozen times if even that many. It is so odd to me that it was working as it should and then in the midst of use it quit. The fact that if I wait a couple minutes between tries and can get it to turn about 1 rotation makes me think it might be salvageable. I don't have the money for a WARN now but had I been able to forecast all of the troubles I've had with this winch I would have made the wiser investment. Any ideas that might get this winch working again?

 

[DonCurley]

Matt,



Sorry to hear about your winch essentially going belly up. That said (and not to be uncharitable), but you were cautioned by quite a few folks in this thread to beware of cheaper winches. In the long run (some in the short run), they just typically don't end up lasting or getting the job done.



My first advice would be to dump the Atlas and get a Warn, but since you can't afford that, repair is probably the only route. I am no electrician, and if you aren't either, maybe you can find someone local to you to work on your winch. It does sound like something in the motor is going/gone. The trouble is, repair by someone knowledgeable may be costly, and if you have to ship the winch for repair, the shipping charges for something that heavy are likely to be prohibitive.



Have you contacted customer/technical support at Atlas? That may not do any good, but it's at least a place to start. And it's probably not this simple, but have you looked at or considered replacing the motor brushes? Also, how easy is it to get any needed parts for your winch?



I sincerely hope you have luck in all of this, but you may unfortunately be in a situation of throwing more good money after bad to get your winch operational again, remembering that it is a winch that is likely not worth the additional investment.



Don