Thanks to ATV Torture for the following review on the XTR 3000 winch!
Upon commencing Project RZR, we knew one thing was for certain: the low center of gravity and weight of the Polaris RZR certainly justified us installing a winch.
In shopping for our winch we found that there are several manufactures on the market to choose from these days. You gotta love the World Wide Web. With our criteria being that the winch needed to be waterproof, it needed to have remote capability either via wireless or wired, and it needed to have some sort of manufacturers warranty that ensured us in the event that for some reason the winch failed, our investment would be protected.
In our search we came across a few models meeting our specifications; however, one attracted our attention even more due to the lower price as well as many positive testimonials.
We found ProMarkOffroad.com (formerly GorillaWinches.com) to be a full service, completely informative site which answered all of our questions about their products completely. Gorilla Winches [now ProMark Offroad] was founded in 2003 by several powersports enthusiasts who had a vision of creating a company which made premium quality products available to consumers at factory direct pricing.
When we called ProMark Offroad we were greeted by a customer service rep whose knowledge about the Gorilla Winch [now ProMark Offroad] product line was perfect. The rep answered all of our questions and it was decided that this was a winch for us to try.
First Impression
We set our sights on the 3000 lb ProMark Offroad XTR Package which comes complete with all necessary mounting hardware, an aluminum Hawse fairlead, rubber line stopper and Blue Steel synthetic winch line / cable.
To control the winch, ProMark Offroad provides a remote tether cord with in and out switch. This cord allows you to control the winch remotely from up to 10’ away.
Additionally ProMark Offroad also provides you with the standard thumb rocker switch to control the winch from inside the cab of the RZR. The vehicle specific mounting plate is sold separately; however, when you factor everything included with the winch kit, you still get a fantastic value.
Here are the specs of the Gorilla Winch [now ProMark Offroad] XTR:
- Limited Lifetime Warranty
- 50’ Blue Steel Synthetic Rope
- Waterproof Motor
- Upgraded accessory package which includes a 4 post contactor, handlebar thumb switch, aluminum hawse fairlead, spring hook and strap and a 10’ corded remote control.
Everything arrived extremely quick and all the contents were packaged extremely well ensuring no damage would occur during transit. Best of all, when you order from ProMarkOffroad.com, you get free shipping which is impressively fast.
Installation
We began installing the ProMark Offroad winch mounting plate on the Polaris RZR. ProMark Offroad included very detailed instructions with the mounting plate to make the installation as simple as possible.
Unfortunately the Polaris engineers never intended for a winch to be installed on the RZR. At times during the plate install I felt like I was trying to free myself from some sort of ATV Chinese finger trap. The installation of the mount install is tough, but not impossible. Let it be said, this was in no way any fault from ProMark Offroad; it is just simply a tight fit.
Once the mounting plate was installed, it was time to begin wiring and mounting the winch. ProMark provides you with all materials, including wire ties for securing the power and control cabling to the vehicles frame.
One thing that impressed me the most was that ProMark Offroad provided us with more than enough power and ground feed cable. Very few manufactures we have dealt with in the past did this. We usually had to add extra power cable or replace the cable all together.
We followed the instructions on wiring the ProMark Offroad winch up to the RZR’s battery power. The instructions were easy to follow which streamlined the install step by step.
After the installation was complete, we tested the engagement and disengagement of the drive clutch. This worked well, so on to our next step, which was to test the function of the rocker switch and the corded remote. These two steps functioned 100%.
Another great thing about the ProMark Offroad XTR winch is the limited lifetime warranty. ProMark Offroad guarantees the XTR winch to be free of defects and workmanship for the lifetime of the winch. Additionally, they warrant the electrical components for 18 months. This seems to be an industry standard for several manufactures.
Ride Report
With the ProMark Offroad winch installed and our final tests and safety checks complete it was time to test the XTR winch for what it was made for. We set out to determine how much amperage the winch would draw when under a pull load. We knew this test would vary since the level of consistency would have multiple variables, but at least it would give us an idea of the types of current loads this winch would induce against the RZR’s charging system.
We determined that the ProMark Offroad winch when pulling the empty RZR up a 15 degree grade unloaded would cause a 12 Amp Draw at 20 feet of cable. As the cable wound in, the current draw became slightly less.
We felt the best way to thoroughly test the ProMark Offroad winch would be to perform a recovery of a 1000+ pound vehicle up a steep off-camber incline 15 yards. The ProMark Offroad winch performed flawlessly without the aid of a snatch block. I was extremely impressed at the performance of the winch after this recovery effort. In fact we tried a similar recover with another manufactures winch which actually failed in its attempt pulling the machine out.
Switching the winch from it’s engaged state to free spool takes minimal effort and is accomplished with just a quarter of a turn. This is far better than other winches I have used which require nearly a half turn to engage or disengage the winch clutch; that’s if it isn’t already jammed up with mud and grime.
Call me old fashioned, but I had always been one to prefer steel winch line. The ProMark Offroad XTR winch comes with 50’ of exclusive Blue Steel synthetic winch line. This line is extremely strong, lightweight and is much easier to handle than the traditional steel cable.
Another great thing about the synthetic line is that there is less chance of the line whipping back in the event of a cable breakage; this synthetic line will not do that. Needless to say, I am sold on synthetic line now and will never even consider going back to steel winch line.
Conclusion
It’s good to know that you can hit the trail and be confident in all the equipment that you outfitted on your machine. The ProMark Offroad XTR winch provides me with the confidence to get me out of any trouble that I get myself into. The XTR is very competitively priced and offers many extras when compared to other manufacturers winch packages.
After our intentional abuse of the ProMark Offroad XTR we feel that this is one tough winch. The waterproof ProMark Offroad XTR winch in my opinion easily competes with some of the more expensive winches currently on the market that cost twice as much. With a limited lifetime warranty, you can rest assured that your investment will be taken care of in the event the winch would fail.
If you are on a budget and are looking for a tough winch, you need to seriously give the ProMark Offroad XTR winch some consideration; it is certainly up to the challenge.
Note: This winch review is republished with permission from ATV Torture. See the original winch review and the complete Polaris RZR project at ATVTorture.com.
