KFI Winch in Mud. This is What Happens.
When we first unboxed the SE45W winch from KFI Products, we had big dreams of going out and getting stuck. We knew the 4500-lb winch could, in theory, pull us out of anything. But deep down, we knew there had to be something out there it couldn’t handle. We were wrong.
This post has been a long time coming. Let me tell you, we have been stuck plenty of times. But when you go out to ride with the intention of getting stuck, it’s a lot harder than you think. The first real good day we had to try this out, we started at one of our favorite spots. Beth nearly drowned us the first time we went here. It’s a good thing she wasn’t driving this time because the water was a little higher than we expected.
High water or not, we were on a mission. We set off in search of an obstacle. We found it in the form of a ditch on a friend’s property. The plan, if you can really call it that, was to winch ourselves up the ditch and then back down. We didn’t get too far before we needed some assistance.
We’re still not sure why we have the remote out in this photo. When we installed our KFI winch, we mounted a switch inside the cab. I think we started using the remote outside of the cab and just kept on with it when we climbed back in.
We were incredibly impressed with the performance of the KFI winch. It pulled our almost 1300-lb Sandrail through some really thick mud like it was nothing.
You may recall that this was not a particularly well thought out plan. Eventually we reached a point where there was no moving forward. The irony that the Sandrail is the ONLY Odes model that does not come without a rear winch was not lost on us. I predict another custom KFI winch install in our future.
Fortunately, we had friends around who were more than willing to help us out. (That’s our story and we’re sticking to it.)
Unfortunately, there really wasn’t a good way to turn around – so we made our way back down the ditch in reverse. Again, thanks to our friends who were willing to pull us. And think, it only cost us a few jokes at our expense.
Of course, just because we’ve gotten ourselves stuck and unstuck doesn’t mean we can call it a day. Getting back onto dry land only made us more determined to get someone else stuck in the mud. Naturally, we volunteered the one guy there without a winch. (Although after this ordeal, we’re seeing KFI winch in his future too!)
Once we were sure he wasn’t going anywhere, we were happy to lend a helping hand.
When the day was done, we contacted KFI to give them a preview of what we had been up to. They responded right away with some really great advice.
Make sure you use your winches (ours and others) even when you do not need them to help keep the motor dry from condensation, especially when riding in wet conditions. The best maintenance is to put your winch into freespool and run the winch in and out until the motor housing gets warm (NOT hot) to the touch… This will help burn any condensation accumulated from riding as well as various weather conditions.
Since we’ve started with KFI, we’ve begun selling their plows in the store. We’re asked on a daily basis why we recommend KFI over any other brand and the answer is simple: their focus on customer service. Not only do they make great products, but they make them incredibly user friendly. Their directions are written so that someone who is brand new to doing their own maintenance can install and maintain their products. And honestly, going out and pushing a product to the limit is a lot easier when you know that it’s from a company who will stand behind you.
Disclaimer: All of the riding and footage used in this post was taken on private property with the owner’s permission. No laws were broken and no crops were harmed.
