So not the dreamy weekend vacation I've seen some post, but timing was too synchronistic to pass up. I just spent almost exactly that this weekend. $1,058 to be exact with tax.
It started as a repeating nightmare. Got the new UTV and snow plow just in time for the second snow. It worked great clearing the driveway the first couple times.
Brush Guard and Grill off, waiting for Kolpin Winch removal.
Then had a problem. The winch used to lift the plow up and down would go out, but not in. It would make a clicking noise, I would fiddle with it for 5-10 minutes and it would start working again. This went on for a few snows. A hassle, but got the job done.
I'm not much of a mechanic. I did internet research, checked the forums, and called a mechanic who said it was a bad controller on the winch. The nearest shop is over 2 hours drive from me. not to mention the hassle of trying to load it up on a trailer with a plow attached and non-working winch to lift it. I'm sure it would have been a few hundred dollars as well, just to roll up the shop door.
Close up of old Kolpin Winch and the "Connector" which is the little black box with all the wires just to the passenger side of the winch.
I ordered the part for $29, had it sent 2 day post, and put it on myself in about 45 minutes. Not bad. It worked great. For two snows. then it stopped working.
It had blown a fuse. Just like the little flat fuses in cars nowadays. I replaced the fuse, and working again. For 10 minutes. I replaced the fuse, and working again. For 5 minutes. I replaced the fuse with a larger fuse, and working again. For 5 minutes. I replaced the fuse with a larger fuse, and working again. For 5 minutes.
You get the idea. I went from multiple 7.5 amp fuses to multiple 10's, a few 15's, and a 20 amp before I gave up.
The definition of Insanity is what?
This UTV, plow and winch was only 2 months old! Arrghhh! The winch was a lower end "Kolpin" model that the shop put on there rather than the more expensive Polaris winch that was supposed to be on it due to shipment supplier shortages. Out of frustration, I looked around, found a Polaris winch for it and made the two hour drive there and two hour drive back.
Then settled in for the install. Watched a few videos, read the manual. Looked do-able. Remove a few parts and put back together. Well had to take off the plow, then the brushguard, then the hood, then the grill, then the old winch. Of course this was more difficult than expected because the wonderful engineers had designed the brush guard screws where you couldn't get to them. Not with a socket, not even with a box end wrench on one side. Had to use open end wrench and then could only make a quarter turn at a time. Argghh!
Running the wires up the engine compartment and into the cab.
Then removed the wiring. As I started removing the old wiring and replacing the new, I saw some differences. In particular, there was this one red wire hidden under the dashboard (which I had to partially disassemble to get to the switch connectors). Low and behold as I was tracing that wire out, look what I found. Not only a small gauge wire, but one that had been cut and spliced together with this cheesy little snap connector. Arrggghhhh!!!
AHA! Houston, we've found the problem!
Needless to say, that was the culprit. With that out of the picture and the new winch properly connected with new wiring, the new winch is working flawlessly so far. Yes, a few choice words for the twit that did this on my new UTV.
Picture from the box of the new Polaris winch. (Courtesy Polaris Packaging)
New winch mounted. It has a few additional nice features. It's 6,000 lb. capacity vs. 4,500. It has a wireless remote (that was shown in the top picture). It has a "Rapid Recovery" mode that winds the cable in 5x faster with no load on it. There is supposed to be a feature with the ride command that automatically raises and lowers the plow when shifting from forward to reverse, but don't have that working yet. Happy to just have it move on command.
All back together and ready for plow.
And of course, how about a little action. The wireless remote is handy feature.
So now we are ready for the next snow, and just in time, we are supposed to get another 8-12 inches this Friday.
Have a great weekend, my next will start with clearing snow!
