WARN 910500 Drill Winch Review & Testing

WARN Industries has an excellent reputation in the off-road community for producing a top of the line winch for vehicles. Many might not know that they also have a winch that is made for lighter duty use and power by a drill. This small drill winch has a capacity of single line pulling 500 pounds and includes 30 feet of wire cable. While this winch is small and lightweight, it still has all the features one would expect from WARN. The drill winch has a lock free-spool lever on the side to make rigging easy. For safety, there is an internal clutch that will ratchet out when the maximum capacity is reach, but it also locks and will hold the load.

The uses for this portable winch are almost endless and the price lends it to be affordable to most people.

Features

Lightweight and portable, with a 500 lbs. single-line pulling capacity
Powered by any portable drill
Free-spool clutch makes rigging fast and easy
Includes 30 feet of wire rope
Integrated hawse fairlead
Rigging hooks (front and rear)
PRICINGWARN 910500 Drill Winch 500lb capacity

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Drill Power

When looking at the WARN drill winch, our first thought was if any of our cordless drill would struggle when pulling at close to full capacity. Would we be able to use high speed? Could we use a compact drill? Those questions were quickly answered when we pulled out RZR into the trailer the first time. Our compact drill was easily capable of running the winch on high, so even some of the smaller less powerful drills would have little issue running this winch to full capacity. The audible clutch ratcheting is a nice indication that the winch is at its max capacity and you need to stop.

We were not able to pull our vehicle into the trailer with a single line setup, but we did create some rigging that will allow us to complete the task using a snatch block. While it is a bit slower, it allows us to winch in a car without the expense of a winch and battery. On top of that, this winch is small and light weight, so we can take it with us where ever it might be needed.

If anyone is looking for a compact winch for moving just about anything within capacity, this is a nice portable set up. The quality is there, so it will last a long time, even under abusive situations.

[obfuscated]

Dutton-Lainson make much stronger worm drive winches (no clutch or brake needed) with a hex drive so you can use either hand crank or a drill. I'd get one of those before the Warn design. No plastic, all metal and worm gear winches rule the towing industry (in larger sizes ) rule the towing industry for good reason.

[SuperCheese]

Could be useful in a shop if you have decent rafters/beams to pull from but don't want a permanent overhead hoist. But I think if I towed stuff onto a trailer regularly a typical winch is what I'd go for.

[jayrodathome]

Great video. Any details on battery life of your drills? Like how many lines out you could use on a battery? Considering something like this and a cart to drag a deer out of the woods

[grassroot]

Better have a few extra batteries for your drill and maybe an extra drill case it burns out. When away from power, you are stuck with battery powered drill motors. Not the best situation I'd say. Need to test to see how it performs pulling a truck. or jeep out of a ditch.

[cobrasvt]

Good way to burn a drill up. They are not meant for that much load for that long of a period. Wouldn’t be surprised if some of the cheaper drills that don’t have thermal protection catch fire.