Works great for the price! The only reason I gave it a 4, was because the fit and finish isn't as nice as some of the more expensive winches (WARN). The cables seem a little cheap and the covers (seen in picture) that protect/cover the terminals on the motor are cheap and don't last long before discoloring and cracking and looking bad. I have a 9k and a 12k model. They both seemed like maybe they had a little extra cable on the drum than would fit. No big deal, just shorten it. Or run it like it is. It just seems to rub the case when almost all wound up if it's not perfectly spread out on the drum. The winch seems like it could be a bit noisier than a similar WARN I had, maybe.
Other than that, I have abused it way beyond how it was intended to be used. Overheated it dragging large shipping container around till it would stall or trip the overheat safety. No cool down periods or anything. I bought mine from HF and figured it had a warranty and wanted to see if it would last before the warranty ran out. There is no way it could be abused harder than I have done. This thing is solid! I'm buying another one this week. For the price, you can't beat it for what it is. If your building a show truck or something, and are concerned about looks and a name brand, then maybe look elsewhere.

Bought at Harbor Freight. Used it to pull out shrubs that were deeply rooted. Mounted on removable front hitch plate on Jeep Commando. Winch worked fine. Never overheated and pulled both Jeep and shrubs. The only thing I've had a bad time with is the cable does not stay tightly wound on the drum. I have secured it three times to trees and light poles and have pulled the Jeep to tension the cable on the drum. Next use it basically unwinds on the drum. End up doing this drill each time. It does have a spring loaded tensioner, but it doesn't seem to do any good.

Just bought this winch today at Harbor Freight for $299. Don't understand how they are getting away with selling so expensive here. When you read the reviews just remember that Harbor Freight equipment reviews are made by lots of people who buy things that they don't know how to use and dive right in without reading the directions that they would have never understood anyway and then break their new toy. And of course they are going to blame the product. The problem could NEVER be them! Respect the duty cycle on this winch, just like any other electrical equipment, and it works fine.

Put it on a receiver mount, wired qd's front and back, used it several times and it always works. Not the most heavy duty winch out there, but for using a few times per year its all I need.

only used it 1 time so far....but it worked great....pulled my 1 ton diesel dually out of the snow while plowing with no trouble at all....it is a little slow but it did the job....I bought the hitch receiver mount plate but it is way too light weight for this winch....I made my own and had no trouble at all