4WD Winches 101

A month wouldn’t go by without a letter to the editor of this magazine, or a question to one of the staffers or contributors out in the field.

“I need a winch. What’s the best one to buy……..?

Usually, of course, this is followed quickly by a qualifier...along the lines of ‘I don’t want one of those expensive ones….I don’t need anything flash!’

Ah the typical canny Kiwi, you know, the one with the short arms and long pockets. The one who keeps his fellow battlers on auction sites in business…………until whatever he buys at a price he knew was too good to be true proved to be a self-fulfilling prophecy and he was back to square one .

Don’t worry, Paul Ashman, from long-standing New Zealand winch importer, Traxion, has heard and seen it all before. And he still feels for those caught out in what he agrees is a classic Kiwi conundrum.

“We’ve all heard about people bringing in container loads of winches and selling them off for $500. But these things are cheap for a reason,” says Ashman. “ They’re unlikely to be well-made and when they do go wrong six months from now you won’t be able to get parts or backup for them and you will  have spent your $500 for nothing.”

It’s a common refrain, of course, and one Ashman and others in the game for the long-term, see all the time.

“New Zealanders are very much attracted by price alone. They still want the good quality product but they demand a cheap price.”

So how do you change that?

Most, says Ashman, do it the hard way.

“They have to make the mistake themselves,” he admits.

And when they do?

 “You’d like to think they’ve learned from it and buy a decent quality winch and not make the same mistake twice!”

By Ross MacKay

For the full story see the November issue of NZ4WD