Possible it is simply overload. Only winches I have had were much bigger. What are realistic expectations for a 2500 lb Polaris winch? The two times fuse blown, individually I could explain away, but both not sure if is coincidence or something going on. Haven't used the winch much to have a feel for it. Couple days ago l tried to pull a bush out of the flower bed. Sitting on grass thought it would either pull it out or slide ace on the grass, but it tightened up and burnt the fuse. Earlier this month I was stuck in a field where trail crossed wet spot, hooked to another machine and tried to use winch help out. Winch did work, too much noise to tell if it started and failed or didn't go at all, but the other machine did not have any trouble pulling me out. Little concerned that winch not going to do me much good if I get stuck with no one around to pull me out.