I initially bought this winch because I'm using an electric chainsaw and I thought it wasn't powerful enough to mill properly. Before the winch it was taking me about 3 minutes per foot to get through 12 inch pine. But what the winch does is invaluable because it not only gives a huge boost in PULLING power, but it's perfectly horizontal, leading to perfect boards.
Works very well. Just have to get the hang of applying the right tension on it to not bog the saw down.
Looks like a gimmick, a little bit of a wrestle when you get down to the last couple of slices (at first you need three hands, but eventually you'll figure it out). Oh, and you'll want to chase the threads where the plastic tensioner screw goes in since it's loaded with powder coating (it's metric). But wow! No shoulder pain from wrestling your cut. And nice consistent cuts! Get this thing!