This month's review is on the all new Released Winch made by John Scott. You may have already seen a similiar winch John was making years ago under the name "Pimp Wincher".
These winches are built to order in Tampa, FL. While there is no official webpage you can find them on the Released Winches store on eBay. There you can buy any part from the frames and spools to pillow block bearings and sprokets. They also have the complete set up for $1499. (minus the rope and handle) When WakeFactory ordered this winch it took two weeks for them to assemble it and to get it to our door.
We actually went through hell because our winch showed up damaged. When we contacted John about this he told us that Fed Ex was supposed to crate ship it and they did not. We weren't the only ones, four other winches were also damaged due to poor shipping and handeling. Luckily ours was the least damaged of the five. So we didn't have to return it, we could just get new parts. The extent of the damage was a dented gas tank, bent spool side and a bent roller fairlead tab. John offered to replace all these parts but we opted to fix them ourselves except for the gas tank. John shipped us a new one of those. After numerous emails with John I am convinced that this was ALL Fed Ex's fault.
The winch's frame is made of Aircraft grade aluminum, making it the lightest winch available today. All the welds were top quality "dime stacks". The total weight of the winch comes in at just over 87 pounds. It comes with a square aluminum tube on the back so you can plug it into a trucks receiver hitch.
It's powered by a genuine Honda GX200 engine with a rev kit and a high flow K&N style air filter. This engine produces 6.5 horsepower making deep water starts a breeze. The engine is a pull start but an electric start is an option through Honda. The engine transmits it's power to the spool through a Comet TAV-2 Torque Converter. Which makes the engagement much smoother than a winch with a triple "go-cart clutch".
What really sets this winch apart from all the others on the market is it's spool. There is a quick release pin, that when pulled allows the spool to rotate without the torque converter belt rubbing or the engine having to turn over. When walking the rope out there is absolutley no resistance. This especially comes in handy if you are swimming the rope out. The spool's barrell diameter is also adjustable with three different settings. This allows you to fine tune the winch for the amount of rope you are gonna use. For longer ropes "up to 2000 feet" use the smaller diameter while shorter ropes require one of the larger settings. We only have a 600 foot rope with the spool set as large as it will go. This combo is producing torqy starts and speeds fast enough that we had to slow it down by turning the wide open throttle screw on the carb in a few turns. The entire spool assembly is also made from aluminum to help further reduce the overall weight.
Other features that come standard are an ATV roller fairlead made by Warn industries that allows the rope to pull from many angles. It also has a removeable axle with small inflatable tires. This makes moving your winch as easy as pushing your grandma's mower. A brake kit is available for an extra $80.
While we did go through alot of trouble with the shipping mess I would still recomend this winch for many reasons. One it's light, two people can carry it over a small creek where it would take 4 to carry other winches on the market. Second it's the second cheapest winch on the market. The only one cheaper that we found was the LaSewer winch offered by Kyle Walton. The first winch I ever rode behind was a LaSewer and it had all kinds of problems. Third it comes with a Honda engine, enough said. And last it looks good with it's polished aluminum fram and functional "Release Spooling".
So if you are in the market for a winch please consider Released. With the 700 to 800 dollars you will save over the others you can buy yourself two new boards, because you're gonna be going through them alot faster with all the new Jib spots you will undoubtably be finding.
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