I bed lined the whole winch and leave it uncovered. No problems yet even through extreme winters and salted roads. Only problem is getting the winch to free spool in -40*C lol the winch line is pretty much frozen together so I have to spool out and have someone pull.

You can see in these pics how the mud just freezes to the winch, if it had a cover on it there would be no way of getting it off when you needed it without a hammer or a knife

 

Depending on the life span of a winch in Fort St John B.C. you should contact Warn to do an add!

 

Covered in the winter...



Uncovered in the summer....

 

 

I run synthetic so covering it is a no brainer, but I would cover it regardless. I wouldn't leave my lawn mower uncovered outside, so why would I want to abuse something that is there to get me out of trouble. And if you have a cover, why take it off in the summer? I leave mine on until I use it.

 

My Warn is about 12 years old and on my third Jeep. It has never been covered. No rust but a little age is evident. I'm about to switch to synthetic line, so I may have to start covering it, never thought of that before.

 

I realize this is an old thread but I'd like to hear from more people.

 

Since switching to synthetic line on my Warn M8000, I have kept it covered to protect it from UV rays.

 

Wire cable on a 30 ? Year old Ramsey 9k, oil the cable every once in a while, no broken strands or burs, still wear gloves though when using, no cover.

if I ever run a synthetic I would definitely put on a cover

 

Same as DAT here. No cover all year and just lace the hell out of the winch with WD40 seems to protect it and lube the cable with Fluid Film twice a year.