Dodge4me

I say there is nothing wrong with a "cheap" winch. I got a craigslist, new, Smittybilt and took the electronics completely apart, lubed everything, I sealed the solenoid to prevent moisture from ever getting inside of it (main killer of winches), and used electrical grease on every connection when putting it back together. I expect to get many years of use, without issue, out of it.
I say go for it and just do the same as I did in preventative maintenance.

ShutterBug

I have a Smittybilt x20 Gen 2 and pulled 2 Jeeps out of a deep hole this weekend. One of the other Jeeps pulled a 4 door out of the same hole with a Badlands winch.

Go for it.

nickjk33

For 80 bucks why not!

westchester

I didn't watch that attached video, was way too long -- what was the conclusion ? Good or bad ?

There's numerous budget winch reviews in 4wd magazines, the Badland winch won high marks. I have a 12000lb Badland on our Bronco with no issues.

Level 10 Off Road

There are also magazine reviews where the HF winches were dead out of the box. (Which I've seen myself).

From my understanding they are made at several different factories and depending on which one yours is made at will have a lot to do with whether it works well, or if it even works. Roll the dice.

Michael @ Level 10