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Another Winch Debate...UPDATE...Bought an 8274

mikey_d05

mikey_d05

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I've been looking forever for an 8274, a guy in the off-road club popped up with one the very day my DD's rearend shredded itself. I put the cash into the DD (obviously) and asked him to hold it for me...he did for about a day and then mounted it to his car trailer for derby season. Understandable considering he didn't know me very well then. He likes the damn thing so much there he won't take top dollar to rip it off and sell it to me, which leads me to my current predicament.

Another guy has a Ramsey 12K worm drive (I think RE12000 is the model name) for sale for $800 that was used for one summer season on a stripped down pickup that didn't weigh a whole lot. Everybody I talk to said it's in great shape and he only spooled it out two or three times. It's the model without the outer drum rods that always get bent.

I don't know whether to hold out for a slightly used 8274, which I mainly want for the ability to rebuild it if it dies, not to mention the brute force, cable capacity, and the fact that you could buy an 8274 in good shape for that much, or to succumb and buy the Ramsey so I can stop worrying about finding a winch by the time next spring rolls around.

So please, share your stories about Ramsey's, good and bad...like I said, I don't know whether to spring for this one or to hold out. I'm going to have a winch front and rear eventually, and this unit would tuck up nicely in the rear if/when I get a different one for the front.
 
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I only have experience with Warn. However I would suggest when the time comes using a multi mount so that you save the cash and weight of having two winches.
 
If it is the worm gear, and not the planatary gear one, it is just as "industrial strength" as an 8274. However, as fast as the 8274 is, a worm gear winch is that slow. It's a great winch if you don't need speed, but $900 seems high to me.
 
I bought a 15k ramsey patriot as I got a smoken deal... still havent mounted it up yet (got mount last night). Will be installing it soon....

I was going to go mile marker at first but was talked out of it.. so my next was ramsey or warn.... i got the ramsey for alot less than a warn so I went that route..... I was told by a former member that yeah I got a ok winch but it is slow.... all I gotta say is I dont care how slow.... progress is progress..... if people get mad at me because it is slow.... "F"em....

also the only possible draw back to what I bought is the fact that it has 7/16 cable and not 3/8 cable.... well it is sweet that it is a big cable.. but cost me 30' of line...... as the 12k winches come with 120' and mine came with 90' :doah:
 
The RE12000 is the worm drive winch. Like mentioned above, it is an industrial winch and is basically bulllet proof. It's the same winch used by 90% of the wrecker drivers running electric winches.

I had one on my K5 for a couple years and had zero problems with it. I sold the bumpers I had on my K5 and the winch with them to 79Stomper who beat on it for a year or two before selling his rig...

The winch is mounted behind the bumper and between the frame rails for very good approach angle.

1616400_00020_1.JPG


http://www.ramsey.com/winches/re12000.html
 
The Patroit is a planetary style, totally different style. Another plus for the RE is it doesn't need a brake.
 
bigjbear said:
The Patroit is a planetary style, totally different style. Another plus for the RE is it doesn't need a brake.
Click to expand...

am I going to be disappointed with it then if it is planetary?

hope not... :doah:



THAT IS ONE FRICKEN BAD ASS BLAZER UP THERE!!!!!

40" hawgs? how much lift????
SPECS PLEASE!!!!!
 
All warn winches except for the 8274 are planetary gear driven, so no, you wouldn't be disappointed by a planetary gear driven winch.



RootBreaker said:
am I going to be disappointed with it then if it is planetary?

hope not... :doah:



THAT IS ONE FRICKEN BAD ASS BLAZER UP THERE!!!!!

40" hawgs? how much lift????
SPECS PLEASE!!!!!
Click to expand...
 
I doubt it. Ramsey makes a quality product and back it if/when problems come up. I just wanted it to be clear that the 2 winches have VERY different mechanics inside.
 
Check over on ebay. I have bought 3-5 8274 this summer for around 200-500 each depending on condition.

The last one I bought had "chipped gears" which all that amounted to is a new pinion and cam. 95.00 repair. Had a great 8274 for under 300 with cable and fairlead. Which got trashed anyways for synthetic.

You just can't beat warn's customer service.

http://www.warnserviceparts.com/

http://www.pirate4x4.com/tech/billavista/8274/index.html
 
So to sum most of your opinions up, the Ramsey is a good winch but if I'm not afraid to tear into it, I can rebuild an 8274 to excellent status for much cheaper...correct?

Whoever said it was correct, tech support for the 8274 is absolutely unparalleled, from Pirate articles and members to Warn itself, I guess I shouldn't be afraid to try and rebuild one.

The Warn on Pirate looks like a good deal except I want cable and shipping from New Hampshire to here would kill. I'm sure there are probably others out there, I'm just not looking hard enough.

Thanks for all your opinions, I'll see if I can talk the guy down in price, otherwise I'm probably gonna have another project on my hands. :D
 
Thanks man, now could you delete your post so everybody else doesn't jump on it? :D

J/K, thanks for the link, I need to start looking harder.
 
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If you get one with syn line I'll buy the line from you. I just through away a nice cable off of one because I got tired of tripping over it.
 
IMHO the ramsey brute force. The warn awesome strength and way quick. For me where I do alot of mud I would want the ramsey.
 
Kind of highjack, but want to ask a question.

Couple of post above mentioned line speed. Seems like everytime someone hears that I have a Warn 12,000 the response is "Those are slow!" Why is line speed so important? After working on fishing boats with smoking fast winches, I think I would rather have a slower winch. Gives you that extra second to make sure you are not doing something stupid. Plus my winch seems smoother than my buddies 9500. His seems to be really abrupt, jerking the truck more. The people I have wheeled with seem to enjoy figuring out the extraction problem, and time does not seem to matter. Does line speed offer a benefit I haven't seen or considered?
 
If you really look at the line speeds its the no load speed that is alot faster. Usually a truck only needs a couple of feet to get going and the faster no load speed allows the truck to continue on without winch assitance and not have to worry as much about getting the cable caught up. From what I have seen that is the advantage of faster line speed. Line speed totally aside I think the 8274 is probably one of the best all time winches
 
Line speed during recovery isn't a significant advantage besides clearing the trail, and can often be a hinderance because of the jerking and sometimes winding too quickly and piling cable up on one side of the spool, but powering in it sure can be nice because there are a lot of people (me, even though I've never owned a truck with a winch) that would rather have the cable on the spool than wrapped around a bumper or something waiting to get caught or abused on the next obstacle.

Thanks for everybody's opinions, but I think I'd rather get an 8274 and rebuild it. I've always been a person who likes to tear into things, and even if I get a junk one, rebuilding it will give me a greater appreciation for how it works and what/if something goes wrong, I'll probably know more about it, how to get myself off the trail despite it, and how to fix it when I get home.

I think I'm gonna buy a rebuildable or decent condition 8274 and do what I can with it. The line speed in unparalleled, the tech support is amazing, and I've never heard a person badmouth them.
 
On flat land (read: mud) line speed doesn't matter. But the steeper the obstical the more line speed, esp no load line speed matters. When you are on a wet and clay slickened obstical it may not be safe to stop, unhook and spool in the cable. Or, even though you made it past the spot you needed to be winched through, stopping will get you stuck again. A fast winch will allow you to keep making forward progress w/o driving over the cable. Last, if you are relying on the wich for stability if it can't keep up you'll likely end up on you side, or worse. Grimreaper (Eric) has a good story about an 8274 keeping him shiney (revelatively speeking) side up. These are my experiences living in the South so YMMV.
 
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