# Crank down snowbear winch



## sgustaf59 (Jan 22, 2016)

Hi, new to forum. I have ~2011 snowbear and I went to go use it in this storm and the winch is dead. Is there any way to manually lower it. If I could get it down a few inches it would be good enough for now until I can fix it right. I think the older ones came with a crank, but this does not have one.


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## J.onathan (Nov 15, 2015)

I got a snowbear as well, bought it with a cooked winch. I replaced mine with a stronger aftermarket winch. 

I wasnt able to get mine to let out any more strap either... You could unbolt the strap where it attaches to the lower A frame. and use a comealong or ratchet strap to hold it in the up position for travel.


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## BC Handyman (Dec 15, 2010)

J.onathan;2101079 said:


> I got a snowbear as well, bought it with a cooked winch. I replaced mine with a stronger aftermarket winch.
> 
> I wasnt able to get mine to let out any more strap either... You could unbolt the strap where it attaches to the lower A frame. and use a comealong or ratchet strap to hold it in the up position for travel.


Yup, I know a guy that does this cause he got no winch, has been doing it for years.


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## sgustaf59 (Jan 22, 2016)

That's a great idea, thanks.


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## graycenphil (Mar 4, 2006)

Are you sure it's the winch that's dead, not the controller? You could try hot wiring the winch with jumper cables, just to be sure.


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## sgustaf59 (Jan 22, 2016)

graycenphil;2102779 said:


> Are you sure it's the winch that's dead, not the controller? You could try hot wiring the winch with jumper cables, just to be sure.


Thanks, that is exactly what I did, no dice. Does anyone know if there is a diagram out there that shows how the thing is built?


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## graycenphil (Mar 4, 2006)

I guess nobody has a diagram. I have heard that people replace the winch with one from Harbor Freight for $50 or so. Maybe get a new one, then take apart your old one and see how it works.

Or just take yours apart, and if you can't fix it then go get the new one.

Either way, let us know what you find out please.


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## sgustaf59 (Jan 22, 2016)

I will let you know, unfortunately the motor can't be delivered by FedEx because of all the snow!


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## sgustaf59 (Jan 22, 2016)

Well, I have learned something important. There is the old winch style based on a superwinch, and a new one based on the sp 3000. Seems like mine was the sp 3000 based model even though it had a superwinch decal on it. Now I have a nice $80 motor/paper weight. Considering just getting a Champion 13004 and adapting it to fit the snowbear. Some guy in the Amazon reviews adapted one for a K2 and says it is fine. In the end it will be about $200 with the mistake, still less than buying it from snowbear.


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## sgustaf59 (Jan 22, 2016)

The new winch came in last weekend and I installed it. Really easy, was able to use the supplied plate and drilled two new holes in it for attaching with 3/8 high strength bolts to the plow frame. Stuck the eyelet they provide where the u-bolt used to be and put a bolt through underneath to hold it in place. Spliced in the old snowbear electrical quick connects so that it is easy to remove and attach as needed. I ended up drilling through the firewall to mount the control module in the Jeep. The whole thing from start to finish was a few hours, and most of that was to make sure I did the right spot going through the firewall. The new winch works better than the original and if it breaks I can easily replace for $100.


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## graycenphil (Mar 4, 2006)

Nice work. Thanks for sharing it.


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