low voltage will kill a winch. when your battery dies, it powers down and the winch (while under power) is needing voltage. when you supply a winch with a low voltage under a load, it will get the winch incredibly hot and melt it down. you likely have burnt up that winch. i see people saying get a warn, i will hopefully steer you away from that winch brand. i can assure you it is NOT the best on the market. getting a viper or promark are the only two i would use. everybody else on the market uses plastic gears inside in certain areas. viper and promark outback series winches are the only two that are all metal gears inside. the promark is geared lower and will pull as much or more than the viper, but the viper is a better quality and i think has a better warranty.
i personally have been thru 11 warns in my day, and when i finally got fed up and started looking for the best built winch on the market i ended up with the promark. i have had my promark 4 years now, its NEVER stopped pulling, it will either pull whatever you are hooked to, or break something in the process. it has never broken a part on my machine but i have pulled bumpers off folks machines, pulled a kubota tractor out of the mud, pulled a jeep up a hill once after it broke a trans, you name it and the promark will absolutely pull it. its never powered out, never stopped pulling, and never ran hot even after hours of pulling one night on a riding trip we got in a bad place in a creek and everybody had to winch thru. after everybody burnt their winches up, i had to pull every single person one at a time thru this bad spot and up the creek bank. i pulled almost 30 ATV and SxS thru a hole and up a bank for over 2 hours straight. never stopped pulling never ran hot.
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