Winch remote vs handlebar switch, picked wrong one first

Last fall I finally got tired of hopping off the quad to work the winch every time I got stuck in the mud near Pembroke. I bought a cheap handlebar mounted switch because it looked cleaner and cost 30 bucks less than the wireless remote kit. First real test was a deep bog hole and the switch wiring got soaked, started shorting out, and left me standing in water up to my knees trying to yank the cable by hand. Ended up buying the wireless remote the next day, it worked right out of the box and I can stand back on dry ground while the winch does its thing. The handlebar switch might be fine for light duty but if you ride in wet conditions like we do up here, the remote is worth every dollar. Anyone else had a winch control fail on them in the bush, or do you just stick with the manual cable?

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mason_ward1mo agoMost Upvoted

Funny, I actually went the other way on my old Kodiak. Had a wireless remote die on me when the batteries froze up in January, ended up using the handlebar switch all winter and it never missed a beat. Maybe it's just the kind of mud we got here, but I'd take a hardwired connection over something that depends on a battery I always forget to charge.