Would you buy it?

BoarderX · Posted: Dec 16, 2006 2:01 pm Post subject: Would you buy it?

A quality winch comperable to if not exceeding the current commercial versions like the Grinch and the Blackbox. Sporting an 8hp motor, a torque converter, a minibike throttle and hand brake, 900' of rope, an innovative and functional design plus other currently unmentionable features... for $1500-$1800?

I'm looking into a possible business venture.. Curious if the market is as ready to be undercut as it seems to be.

scott a · Ladies Man Joined: 13 Jan 2003 Posts: 9810

wakeboardin2k4 · Soul Rider Joined: 28 Oct 2005 Posts: 355 City: Wilmington

not for 1500-1800. I know thats how much they should cost, but unless you are able to get down to the ocean all the time or you have a local spot that you know is going to be perfect for a winch, I just cant justify it. I love the idea of breaking into the market because of how many people dont like the grinch or the black box. Best of luck

BoarderX · Posted: Dec 17, 2006 11:01 am Post subject:

yea its tough to judge.. but i got an engineer and mechanic interested and ready to help. its just a matter of guaging the profitability and how many should be kept on inventory. who knows, could be a fun venture.

scott a · Ladies Man Joined: 13 Jan 2003 Posts: 9810

Kento911 · Addict Joined: 07 Dec 2004 Posts: 958 City: Devore

as a winch builder I can tell you building a good winch is a bad buisness to be in building a shitty winch however seems to work out well for some

BoarderX · Posted: Dec 18, 2006 12:06 pm Post subject:

after talking to the engineer and providing him a spreadsheet with a quality component list and their retail prices again this week, he did some of his own cost analysis and the mechanic who has patented and marketed a few products before.. it pretty much came to the conclusion this could be profitable if there was a bigger market. but with the current market there isn't much worth going into a business for. Maybe more as a fun side project or favors one at a time per request.

with an 8hp motor and with all quality parts and all the convenient bells and whistles to at least exceed the features current commercial ones going for 2k.. and adding in say a 30% profit margin it would need to go wholesale around 1600-1700. Thats not counting shipping costs. Now if i got say a 15% OEM discount on parts not counting the frame that would drop closer to 1400-1500.. but this is assuming I'm doing the assembling myself and just paying labor and materials to a welder and a powder coater. professional liability insurance generally costs around 5% of you total sales per year so thats also tacked on for insurance.

So say i marketed it myself.. you have marketing expenses. but then since i would be offering a more powerful and fully featured winch i could sell it maybe at 1800 to even 2k and increase profit margin.. but doing wholesales to distributors would be much easier.. but then they would probably mark it up around the 2k mark anyways if not more.

What it comes down to is there is money to be made.. but probably not enough demand to make it worth it. Like Kent said.. hard market to be in with a quality winch. Seems the only way to make any money is build a cheap piece of junk and put some cool stickers on it and mark it up. Which would defeat my whole purpose of creating a higher quality and more powerful winch at a competitive price.

I've not done away with the idea all together... where there is passion there is a will. but for now, I'm going to go have a stiff drink.

Peace~ Confused

frymantcu · Outlaw Joined: 18 Apr 2005 Posts: 111 City: Fort Worth

BS we made a sweet winch for under 500, even with a brand new motor. Or throttle control and crap are nothing special but it is totally doable. We just built it to mess with my buddy's welder, you'll probably see it for sale on here for cheap once we get bored!

BoarderX · Posted: Dec 18, 2006 1:45 pm Post subject:

Believe me I know it can be done that cheap. A lot of people say it cant, but its totally doable. But we're talking marketable features and appearance too. Name brand parts and not just bare bones. At least a 8hp engine with torque conversion, deep water starts, hard edges without engine bogging, minibike throttle and hand brake, kill switches, easy to use ground mounting plate, trailer hitch, chain and sprocket guards, heavy duty chain, wheels, 900' of rope, and an innovative design.. Plus those figures I put is with a profit margin. If you can do all that for 500 thats bad ass. I tip my hat to you. Pay a welding shop for a good frame design and guards for the moving components and your looking at 300 there give or take a hundred alone in material and labor. Just being realistic here for a marketable design.. Can you build a usable 500 dollar winch? Absolutely.

Kento911 · Addict Joined: 07 Dec 2004 Posts: 958 City: Devore

my winch is 16 hp and 11-12 ft lbs of torque with five gears and the smallest lightest winch line in the industry(and the first true winch line I dont wanna be a dick to bullet lines b/c they got a good product, but 1st is 1st) plus a disc brake and a NON friction based clutch for 2200 plus shipping I can pull from 5 mph to 50 the best footage of it in action is on alliancewake.com and its also been on pull for the blacktop oasis 2.0. . .its not worth patenting, and the market is too nicher to persue it at a full on buisness level. . .

frymantcu · Outlaw Joined: 18 Apr 2005 Posts: 111 City: Fort Worth

Kento911 What's the name of this magical winch line? Our rope was never meant to be used as long as it has and it is really showing some wear and tear!

Kento911 · Addict Joined: 07 Dec 2004 Posts: 958 City: Devore

its mastline mainline from piratewinch, we have 2 different sizes one is .07in. diameter with 750 lb break strength its super tiny and plenty strong but it lacks the durability of the 2.5mm dia. which has 1200 lb break strength the advantage of the .07 is that you can fit 4x the amount of rope without modifying your drum, the 2.5 is still smaller than anything Ive seen on that market yet and compared to hyperlite a-line (coating removed) you can still fit 2x the rope. Currently Im trying to find a source to have mine coated like the bulletlines which will increase the durablitly of both for 07 but so far I haven't found a cost effective source for that yet

bulletlines · Newbie Joined: 20 Apr 2006 Posts: 29 City: New Braunfels

Kent,

I want to make sure we are not misquoted. You may have had the 1st commercial winch line, but to date the only winch lines we have seen have been just a large spool of rope. What I have said is that we are the first to produce a rope made specifically for winching. Our ropes are researched, designed, and produced specifically for winching. We did not just go out and purchase rope in bulk, and call it winch line.

Thanks,

Ken Land
Bullet Lines
www.bulletlines.com
kland@bulletlines.com

Kento911 · Addict Joined: 07 Dec 2004 Posts: 958 City: Devore

neither did I