Page 1 of 2

How bad can they possibly be? (Aldi Winches)

Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 2:53 pm
by thehanko
This is for the tight arsed among us, but who dont want to be suckers.

Aldi Winches...

I have just bought a winch bar for my lux :armsup: and will eventually get a winch for it. My first mod (it will be a slow process until i start my new job).

However I dont think Ill drive so hard as to need it very often, its more of a back up option. Spending thousands on a warn is not really an option but maybe a tiger or ironman for an extra few 00's is.

I once got given a ultra cheap (boat winch style) winch which claimed to pull about 2500kg, what a joke it was even the elec wiring was too thin to handle the needs. But when I hooked my car to a tree it couldnt drag the 1700kg car with the hand break on. the clutch just smoked. freebie in the bin.

I noticed last week that aldi has a $450 winch approx 9000 lb.

How bad would it be? at least this one was designed to be fitted to a winch bar. would it just be very slow or would it simply let you down the one time you need it?

Maybe effected by water? can you water proof the solenoid etc?

Speed isnt the issue for me im never going to get into winch comps... well at least not in the forseeable future, just want a get out of jail free card really.

I had thought get an auto locker for the same money, but the problem is the better your truck the further into shit you get and the harder it is to get out again.

hobbies on a budget are frustrating.

ok have zipped up flame suit ready to get burned...

3

2

1...

Go but be kind.

Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 3:00 pm
by v6hilux
Good luck in getting one if they are any good.

Things might have changed, but they only do limited amount s of these type of things just to get you in the shop and I remember hearing about them 2 or 3 weeks ago. Has anyone actually seen one in the shop lately?

I'm thinking that after Aldi employees, their family and friends get hold of them, would there be any left for the people waiting 4 weeks for a review to get one?

No I don't know how good they are either.

Good luck!

Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 3:04 pm
by HotFourOk
I've always thought if you need to get the winch out, you're already in enough trouble to worry about a cheap winch breaking. ;)

Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 3:18 pm
by grimbo
quite a few guys on the 4wd action forum have them and have worked fine for them. As anything maintenance and correct usage plays a big part in how they last. For winch challenge truck probably not the best, for occasional use then should be ok

Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 3:41 pm
by thehanko
hmmm tempting then.

still a table full of them in penriff

Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 3:42 pm
by grimbo
ALDI are very good it seems with their warranties so might be worth a gamble

Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 3:43 pm
by thehanko
On Another note the new bar doesnt fit!

Just took off my front bar and mock attached the new bar. the mounts line up ok, but it sits too high against the body and wont fit against the front qtrs. so I either have to lift the body, or cut the guards, or modify the mounts.

grrr.

Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 4:02 pm
by thehanko
Thanks for the idea of the other forum, did some reading.

plenty of people have used them and are happy.

Apparently they are an ironman winch and iron man have the spares etc.

Seems the only people who warned against getting them were people that didnt own one.

Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 4:03 pm
by CWBYUP
I must ask

Why when you can get a good conndition second hand Warn XD9000 for $400 or $500 bucks ?

Nick

Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 4:10 pm
by grimbo
warranty?

Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 4:24 pm
by thehanko
sorry passing on missread info. the last lot of aldi winches were ironman, the new ones arent.

from all the reading i did no one who hsa one themselves had anything bad to say about them. but a few knew of friends of freinds who had issues.

As for second hand warn. I might be keen but they are hard to find.
Plus it would go on a company car so i can claim gst on a new one. so $400 for a new winch.

sounds like water proofing might be an issue - I wonder how far you could go with a strip of silicon around all the joins?

Speed is slower.

Sounds like the biggest issue is that they sell out quick - I probably wont be able to convince my self to part with the money in time. and seeing as my bloody bar doesnt fit!

Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 4:49 pm
by Guy
CWBYUP wrote:I must ask

Why when you can get a good conndition second hand Warn XD9000 for $400 or $500 bucks ?

Nick
Where ?
It is in unknown conditon (internally) you have no idea how hard it was flogged before ti falls into your hands .. you may be up for a 400 rebuild before you even use it.

Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 4:53 pm
by Gonzo
Well, with the current exchange rate you can afford a brand name winch.

http://expeditionimports.zoovy.com/prod ... __12V.html

I have a 24V version on my Unimog :cool:

Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 4:54 pm
by Guy
thehanko wrote:sorry passing on missread info. the last lot of aldi winches were ironman, the new ones arent.

from all the reading i did no one who hsa one themselves had anything bad to say about them. but a few knew of friends of freinds who had issues.

As for second hand warn. I might be keen but they are hard to find.
Plus it would go on a company car so i can claim gst on a new one. so $400 for a new winch.

sounds like water proofing might be an issue - I wonder how far you could go with a strip of silicon around all the joins?

Speed is slower.

Sounds like the biggest issue is that they sell out quick - I probably wont be able to convince my self to part with the money in time. and seeing as my bloody bar doesnt fit!
speed is not that important, snatch block and a strap .. keep the load on the winch down.

Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 4:55 pm
by RED60
thehanko wrote:and seeing as my bloody bar doesnt fit!
Is that an ALDI bar... heh heh :D

Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 5:05 pm
by thehanko
RED60 wrote:
thehanko wrote:and seeing as my bloody bar doesnt fit!
Is that an ALDI bar... heh heh :D
Aldi Bar he he. nah a second hand hilux winch bar I picked up, but it looks like its made for a vehicle with a 2 inch body lift. fits perfectly on the mounts but the bits that curve around the side are too high and hit the qtr panels.

Ill either... give it a body lift or cut the panels to make it fit or rebuild the mounts so it sits at the right height.

Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 6:04 pm
by zagan
I got one I havn't tried it, lol don't have a bullbar for the 4wd as yet.

it's a motozone brand which I'd say it's a aldi company name, anyway made in china, I got the 9500pound one, $500.

looks good, has the hand control + 2 remotes to control it.

has 28 meters of steel wire 8mm thick.

5 meters has to be kept on the roll, this last 5 meters is painted red to let you know.

has the 4way rollers.

2 cheapy gardening gloves but I have plently of riggers gloves.

tested to AS1418.2

can't think of much else other than it's all black including the frame for the 4way rollers.

Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2008 6:23 am
by mkpatrol
I bought one of ther high flow air compressors a couple of years ago & its a cracker. Now everybody is doing the same units from Repco to Kmart.

Cost me 100 bucks which was 300 cheaper than the ARB one, I figured that if it gave me 5 years of service I would still be ahead. I dont comp my truck, it is there for emergencies only and as long as I dont overheat it it should last the distance.

With your winch, if you look after it & dont overload/heat it it as love mud said then it should give you good service for many years.

As Grimbo said, Aldi have pretty good store warranties an the stuff is generally of a reasonable quality.

v6hilux said thay only do it to get you into the store which is partly true but thay have these sorts of specials once every 12-18 months, I have seen these winches, among other things, on sale three times in th last two years of shopping regularly at Aldi.


I would certianly consider it for my truck but I would keep my hand winch (turfer) handy as well, I would probably have both if I had a better known brand as well, especially in remote areas.

Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2008 12:00 pm
by Guy
mkpatrol wrote:I bought one of ther high flow air compressors a couple of years ago & its a cracker. Now everybody is doing the same units from Repco to Kmart.

Cost me 100 bucks which was 300 cheaper than the ARB one, I figured that if it gave me 5 years of service I would still be ahead. I dont comp my truck, it is there for emergencies only and as long as I dont overheat it it should last the distance.

With your winch, if you look after it & dont overload/heat it it as love mud said then it should give you good service for many years.

As Grimbo said, Aldi have pretty good store warranties an the stuff is generally of a reasonable quality.

v6hilux said thay only do it to get you into the store which is partly true but thay have these sorts of specials once every 12-18 months, I have seen these winches, among other things, on sale three times in th last two years of shopping regularly at Aldi.


I would certianly consider it for my truck but I would keep my hand winch (turfer) handy as well, I would probably have both if I had a better known brand as well, especially in remote areas.
The oild hand winch may be slow ... but it will get there in the end, plus you can use two at the same time on to keep upright ..one to move forward if need be, also good to resuce that vehicle that it is just plain to hard to get to with another truck.

Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2008 12:34 pm
by dank
I don't think you can ever rely solely on just an electric winch. The best care, best maintenance, best electrical system will help to improve the reliability of it but sometimes when the proverbial hits the fan, its possible that some link in the whole connection will fail....mostly electrical.

Look at the comp guys who are spending 10k on their winches. At the neerim ENgel round I saw more than a few winches fail. Of course this is extreme use but it goes to show that nothing is bullet proof.

If i was you Hanko using your vehicle to get to kayaking spots (i'm a kayaker too :cool: ) go the Aldi. when you get it pull it apart and give the gearbox a good grease with high quality molybdenum grease or something similar. look for drain holes on the motor. Either make sure they are on the bottom of the motor so water drains out or seal them up and fit a breather kit.

Good tip is if you go through any water or deep mud at the end of the day spool your cable out and winch it in. Running the motor for a few minutes will heat it up and dry it out...hopefully reducing corrosion. Good habit to get into. that way you know everytime you go out that at least you winch cable is ready to go. See if you can mount the control box high up in the engine bay somewhere to keep it out of the water.

Go for the ALDI, look after it, make sure your vehicles electrical system is up to scratch and as said previously it'll give you years of good service.

Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2008 12:49 pm
by thehanko
boaters rule! what you paddle?

good tips im sure. am pretty well decided on grabbing one. just got to get the balls to part with the money.

Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2008 12:58 pm
by juls
Gonzo wrote:Well, with the current exchange rate you can afford a brand name winch.

http://expeditionimports.zoovy.com/prod ... __12V.html

I have a 24V version on my Unimog :cool:
How much was postage?

Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2008 1:05 pm
by dank
thehanko wrote:boaters rule! what you paddle?
Nothing with that logo in your avatar :rofl: ....RAD180 and Huka

I go by the same name on a well known PA forum too ;)

Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2008 2:00 pm
by oldmate
speaking of aldi and boats... I bought an inflatable canoe from aldi. cost all of 70 bucks. It hasn't sunk yet, so i'm giving it the thumbs up for quality.

Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2008 2:58 pm
by thehanko
oldmate wrote:speaking of aldi and boats... I bought an inflatable canoe from aldi. cost all of 70 bucks. It hasn't sunk yet, so i'm giving it the thumbs up for quality.
yee gods inflatables... dont even start me :roll:

Dank.... Kiwi boats mate not far off inflatables :roll:

ha ha its all good. I dont bother with PA anymore, too much wingeing and slaggin off etc etc, it might have changed since I was last there but it just didnt seem to be about guys who want to go paddling anymore - too many people with vested interests posting biased opinions etc (much like my thoughts above on kiwi boats, whoops), too much politics and opinionating rather than boating.

I am also biased which is part of the reason I dont go on there anymore, I didnt want to be part of the problem.

And besides I found another forum to waste my time on :roll:

:armsup: yay for all boaters :armsup: yay for inflatables :armsup: and yay for kiwi tubs :armsup:

:armsup: And yay for aldi winches :armsup: well i guess time will tell on that one ;)

Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2008 8:45 pm
by Cossie
Last time I was in Aldi I didn't see any shelves full of winch spares? Maybe I was looking in the wrong place? Oh no, thats right, I forgot, they're disposable. :rofl:

Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2008 1:01 am
by fudly
if your still lookin for a cheapish winch
http://www.dealsdirect.com.au/p/electri ... lb-5440kg/

not sure what there like i just noticed it when i was browsin

Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2008 1:48 am
by bogged
love_mud wrote:Where ?
been plenty on this board, tradingpost and other places. Highmounts have been sold on here for $600...
It is in unknown conditon (internally) you have no idea how hard it was flogged before ti falls into your hands .. you may be up for a 400 rebuild before you even use it.
$50 for a service will tell you quick smart, and you will have something better than a Lucky Fats winch.

last thing you wanna do while hanging off a hill on a cable is to have the winch fuk up and your a corpse. You will be happy you spent a few more bux on one.

Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2008 10:29 am
by thehanko
fudly wrote:if your still lookin for a cheapish winch
http://www.dealsdirect.com.au/p/electri ... lb-5440kg/

not sure what there like i just noticed it when i was browsin
I would never spend 500 on anything with a 30 day warranty. But thanks for the link.

aldi winch

Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2008 10:56 am
by scuba steve 22
bought a chinese winch off ebay $270 new 18 months ago
got me out of the sh%t more than once
still going strong
dont know if there the same but look like it
id buy another but im a tight arse