well... sir dub....good questioning though...
a stand up jet ski only weighs about 200-300 lbs. and i can confidently jump in my bumper with no problems and im 200lbs. so that weight doesnt worry me much, plus it wouldnt be levered very far away from the bumper so there isnt much multiplication of weight.
and the force of winching isnt all that much. 1. your pulling, not lifting. 2. thats a receiver hitch going through SQUARE STOCK and being welded on both sides, i would say its fairly strong for pulling.
im thinking that you didnt realize that this bumper is made out of steel square stock. so its extremely strong. and i could be wrong but im pretty sure the whole thing is 1/4", not 1/8"...
so, the hitch is welded to two 1/4" steel frame pieces...
however, i dont have much experience with trailer hitches, so i could be completely wrong and out of my element here.
the welder (armorology) told me that he completely stands behind all of his work. so if i put a 300lb jet ski on the bumper and it deformed it, you bet ill be takin it back (especially for 1250). and keep in mind that i will more than likely NEVER use that hitch, it was just added there incase i wanted to get a slide in winch to help me out of a little mud here and there. i have a full heavy duty trailer hitch on the rear of the car that im confident would pull anything the motor could handle.