- If we here at TrailBuilt have a product that sucks,
we're gonna tell you it sucks.
Hey, what's up, guys?
Josh from TrailBuilt.
Fortunately, in today's video, that's not the case
for either of the winches that we're gonna go through
with you guys, as we take a closer look
at what the differences are exactly
between a Warn ZEON 12-S and the Rough Country 12K PRO,
both of which can be found right on our website
at TrailBuilt or by clicking the link
in the description below.
The reason for comparing these two winches is,
one, right now at the time of this video,
we only carry Warn and Rough Country winches,
and two, we have each of these winches mounted
to a couple of the vehicles we have here at TrailBuilt.
The Rough Country PRO 12-S started its life
on my International Scout where I've had to use it
on multiple occasions and now,
it's living on the front of one of our videographer,
Zach's Jeep, where he's had to use it
on a few different occasions as well.
The Warn at 12-S spends its days living
on the front of our Anthem wheels, Power Wagon,
and it, too, has also had to be put to work.
This gave us enough experience that now we can give
you guys some real-world feedback
on the performance characteristics between the two.
This way, if you guys are on the fence,
trying to decide if you wanna save about 1200 bucks or so
and go with the Rough Country winch
or spend the additional money and go with the Warn winch.
Speaking of price, the Rough Country 12,000-pound PRO S
with synthetic rope lists for 550 bucks on our site,
whereas the Warn ZEON 12,000-pound capacity winch
with synthetic rope runs for 1700 bucks on TrailBuilt
And our particular Warn winch is the non-platinum edition,
just for some additional clarification on that.
Plus, obviously guys, both Warn and Rough Country
do offer the option for steel cable and traditionally,
will be lower in price, which these prices
that I just mentioned are current
at the time of filming this video.
First things first.
What has our experience been with both winches?
Well, the biggest thing is
that they both pull like freaking mules.
In fact, I'm pretty confident in saying
that we were at max pulling capacity on each winch
in different situations and neither one of these winches
is willing to give up at any cost.
There is no doubt that if you're looking for sheer strength
that either one of these are not going to let you down.
In fact, the Rough Country has sustained the most abuse
over the last couple of years and is still going
as strong to date as what it was when it was brand new.
The first extraction we used the Rough Country winch for
is from when a wheeling buddy of ours broke through some ice
in a shallow pond about three or four feet deep or so.
So, not too bad.
However, the shelf ice on the edge of the shallow pond
would not let him out.
His 38-inch tall tires were no match for the shelf ice
that was about two or three feet high and there was no way
to back out of it either because of the soft, deep mud
at the bottom of the shallow pond.
After trying for a while to get out and not being able to,
the next best thing to do was to winch them out,
which we did use the Rough Country on the front of the Scout
with two anchor vehicles hooked up to the back of the Scout
to keep it from sliding forward.
Even with that setup,
along with running a single snatch block,
the Rough Country just kept pulling and pulling
and ended up dragging both the Scout and the anchor vehicles
closer and closer to the Jeep that just kept getting
jammed up underneath this outer shelf ice,
which, by the way, was about three feet higher.
Then, after repositioning again, we did hook up
another winch vehicle with a line parallel to ours
using another snatch block along with an anchor vehicle
on his rig, even stacking logs and stones
and pretty much anything we could find
under the tires of that stuck Jeep.
Eventually, we ended up pulling them out,
but not without some carnage to the front axle.
We actually ended up having to pull him so hard that
the Leaf Spring mounts on his CJ-7 ended up tearing off.
But anyways, the Rough Country 12-S PRO
never even flinched a bit during the hour,
maybe hour and a half or so,
that it was working its ass off.
And the other time the Rough Country was really put to use,
even more than pulling out that CJ-7 was when we ended up
getting the Power Wagon stuck up in Michigan.
We actually got it buried.
At this time, we had already installed the Rough Country
onto Zach's Jeep and fortunately we did before this trip
as it was the only thing that saved our asses
from an expensive tow truck bill.
But even pulling the heavy ass Ram
out of this thick, silty mud for hours,
the Rough Country never grew weary or tired of pulling.
In fact, we even got Zach's Jeep stuck,
trying to reposition it
and it just kept working and working.
We did end up eventually using the Warn
on the front of the Power Wagon after we were able
to winch it far enough backwards with Zach's Jeep
that we could get the front of the Power Wagon
facing in the right direction,
where there was actually some dry ground.
And of course, the Warn made pretty sure work
of getting the Ram out of its predicament.
But after five hours of pulling between
the Rough Country and the Warn,
we left victoriously, albeit sunburnt and tired AF,
but both winches performed exactly
how we expected them to without any failures.
I will say, though, that mostly due to our negligence
that at one point we did start over working
the Rough Country when we got to the point
where there was too much line on the drum.
In fact, we almost had all of the line on the drum
while winching because we didn't stop and back up
to let the line out until there was only about one wrap
or so on the drum and that's where you get
the most pulling power out of the winch.
So we ended up working it so hard that it started smoking
from inside the electric motor housing
of the Rough Country winch but that was our
hey-dumb-asses-it's-time-to-take-a-break warning.
But even after overheating the Rough Country
and letting it cool down, we went right back at it again
and it just kept pulling and pulling until the job was done.
Now, we did have a snatch block hooked up there as well,
so that definitely did help us
in doubling the power of the Rough Country winch.
And even after being on Zach's Jeep
throughout the entire winter this year here in Wisconsin
without a cover on it and using it again
just a couple of weeks ago, it still works like a mule.
Although the winch in button on the wired remote
does tend to stick occasionally,
and the synthetic winch rope is just now starting to show
some fading to it, mostly due to our own negligence, again,
for not having it covered for the last couple of years.
The point is that we have more than got our money's worth
out of it already and even if I had to buy another one,
I would still be 500 bucks ahead of what a Warn costs.
Yeah, the Rough Country doesn't look as good as the Warn
or has the Spydura Pro synthetic rope on it,
which is a higher quality, stronger,
and more UV-resistant rope compared to the conventional
synthetic rope on the Rough Country,
but if you want the premium product,
you gotta pay the premium price, right?
Now, with that said,
the Warn definitely has its advantages as well
and the additional money is absolutely worth its value
in quality and here's why.
First off, before we get into Warn's advantages,
both winches do feature a series wound electric motor.
Series wound motors, which are extremely efficient
at higher speeds and less prone to overheating
compared to permanent magnet motors.
The Rough Country houses a six-horsepower motor
that pulls 360 amps at max capacity
and the Warn lists a max amp draw of 469 amps,
while pulling at the max capacity of 12,000 pounds.
But it doesn't list the horsepower rating
of the motor on the Warn.
Both motors of the Rough Country and Warn
are attached to a three stage planetary gear drive system,
giving the Rough Country a final drive ratio of 265 to one
and the Warn a 216 to one final drive ratio,
making the Warn's line speed faster than the Rough Country,
but also making it work a bit harder at the same time,
which even though Warn doesn't list
the horsepower of their motor, the extra 109 amps of draw
tells you that it plenty compensates
for that shorter drive ratio.
Either way, both the Warn and the Rough Country
use the same 4.5x10-inch mounting dimensions
and both offer ways to remotely mount the power
going to the motor.
The Rough Country, you can remotely mount the entire
solenoid control box somewhere else,
whereas the Warn ZEON comes with a remote mounting plug
that wires to the integrated solenoid box.
The Warn does have a little better waterproof
and dustproof rating at an IP 68 compared to
the Rough Country's IP 67 rating,
giving the Warn a little extra edge and peace of mind
that you're not gonna have any water or dust or salt spray
or any corrosion happening inside the internals of the Warn.
As far as the drum brakes go,
the Rough Country list theirs as automatic in the drum,
whereas Warn list theirs as a mechanical cone style.
And I did a little bit of research on winch brakes
and there isn't a whole lot of information out there,
at least that I could find in the short amount of time
that I had to check, but I can't say exactly
what the difference is between the two at this point
or even really have a good understanding
on how winch brakes work.
But I do know one thing that both our Warn and Rough Country
didn't have any issues with holding the line tight
and the vehicles in place
whenever we let go of the winch and button.
I also know that you are not supposed to use your winch
to hold down your vehicle in place on your trailer
as the constant bouncing will eventually
either wear out or break the winch brake.
So then, what do we get with our winches
when we order them?
Obviously, the winch itself, the electric remote controls,
both being 12-foot leads,
both come with the power and the ground wires,
both come with the house-style fair lead for synthetic rope,
proper grade mounting hardware, and the Warn comes with
80 feet of their proprietary high endurance, military grade
Spydura PRO synthetic rope that features a urethane-coded,
12-strand braid that is heat-treated under tension.
Plus, 20 feet of it is a Nomex heat sleeve
that protects the rope on the layer nears the drum
and can be used to tell you when to stop winching out
as most of that 20 feet or so covers the first wrap
on the drum and out to the house fairly.
The Rough Country comes with 85 feet of your standard
rigging synthetic role and both companies have fairly decent
install instructions that are easy to read
and easily accessible on their websites.
One other very notable thing
that each winch comes with is a warranty.
Rough Country protects you from any manufacture defects
for mechanical components for up to two years
and one year for any electrical component.
No warranty on the rope or the finish of the winches
or anything you might screw up on it accidentally.
Warn, on the other hand, offers a limited lifetime warranty
for mechanical components and a limited seven-year warranty
for a electrical components.
Obviously, a bit of a difference there,
but that is also one of the major advantages or differences
between spending the extra money on a Warn winch
compared to the Rough Country winch, not to mention,
with the Warn, you will also get higher grade components
in hardware used in and on their winches
from the extra thickness of the electric remote cable
to the electrical contactors that are inside the remote
and the solenoid control box itself.
You get a higher grade quality rope,
a unit that is sealed better and overall something
that is designed to perform a little bit better
and is a winch that is going to last you
at least six years longer than a Rough Country
when we compare the electrical warranties
and a lifetime when we compare the mechanical warranties.
On the other end of the spectrum,
if you don't mind swapping out winches when or if it dies,
you could purchase three Rough Country 12 PROs
for the price of one Warn ZEON 12-S.
Yeah, you don't get that line speed that the Warren has,
but you're also saving more money initially.
So then the question becomes, save up for a while
and spend the money once to get a high performing,
high quality Warn that could potentially be the last winch
you ever need to buy, if well taken care of, of course,
or spend less money up front and take your chances that
you might need to replace it at some point down the road.
And that could be 10 years from now or even longer
if really well taken care of or it could be in a few years
that you may need to swap it out for a new one.
I can tell you one thing, though.
Both will get the job done and both are absolute workhorses
that aren't gonna let you down.
Well, as long as you're taking good care of them
and using them properly, not like what we do. (chuckles)
Regardless of the brand of winch you decide on going with,
just make sure to thoroughly read through
the install instructions first and properly follow
all maintenance and care guidelines to help ensure
your winch is going to be there for you when you need it.
But, guys, here's what I'm really interested in
is, I'm curious as to what winch you guys are running.
But more importantly, how has it been for you?
Has it ever let you down?
Does it work really well?
How do you like it?
Just make sure to let us know in the comments below.
Don't forget that we'll have that link posted
in the description that brings you right to all the winch
and winch products on our website at TrailBuilt,
but before you click that link, make sure
and hit that subscribe button, the little bell next to it,
and guys, as always, we appreciate all of you for watching
and all of your support.
I'm Josh from TrailBuilt
and we'll see you guys out in the trails.