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Ramsey...

ryoken

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I know it's not a Warn, but how is the quality and service of Ramsey winches? Are they second in line behind Warn?

specifacally the REP8000? I know it's borderline on pulling power, but it really looks like it'd work well with my hidden winch plans, and I can get one for a smoking deal..
 
Ramsey's are ok winches. If you don't plan on using it much and the deal is right go for it. You can always double your power with a snatchblock. A good buddy of mine with a built truggy only has a Ramsey 8500 on his truck and has done ok with it. It isn't a pull monster but it has gotten the job done when it has been called upon.

Harley
 
cool... I'm gonna get it... it does need the solenoid pack. but I think thats a reasonable investment for the total I'll have into it...

guess it wouldn't be a bad idea to look around at the Warns for something with a similar shape/size, so if I upgrade at some point, it'll fit what I build for the Ramsey...
 
I have had a Ramsey 9500 Badboy on my Jeep for 6-7 years and we use it ALL the time. It has been flawless. Pulls fast and strong. In the last 6-7 years I have probably wheeled more than the average person. We have used it in ice and snow, moab, mud, underwater etc.


Warn makes a good winch, but I think at this point some of the appeal is the name. Kinda like having to have "Nike" shoes over "Addidas" or " Reebok".

I also have a Ramsey 15K on the front of the truck I am building.
 
I picked up a $250 REP8000 in great condition in December. I had a chance to use it a few weeks ago in the snow. I was stuck in the same place INTERCEPTOR is in this pic (those are 42's BTW).

301164382.jpg


The REP8000 wouldn't pull me out with a straight dead-pull. It didn't help there was quite a bit of cable still on the drum. I hooked up a snatch block and it pulled me right through. I will say it is no speed demon, that's for sure. But it pulled for at least 5min straight with no break and it never stopped 'til I was out.

The only thing I don't really like about the Ramsey is the controller. It has the IN button on one side and OUT is on the other side. I was having trouble not accidentally pushing the wrong one. I picked up an in-cab winch controller from 12voltguy to solve that issue.

Keep in mind this winch is old. I found a date stamp on it that said 11/94. I knew it was old when I bought it, but the previous owner took excellent care of it. You can tell it's old just by looking at the logo, it's completely different from the current one.
 
I've used my Ramsey 9500 a few times...

to pull out a tree and a few other things. Never used it on the trail, yet.
 
I have a Ramsey ProPlus 9000 that I bought new around '99. It's had no problems pulling my K5 on 1-tons and 38's on a single line so far, including up a hill in which the axles were bottomed out in the mud.

I have had a few problems with it not working. The winch sat in my garage for around 3-4 years at one point and after I started using it again it would sporadically not work. After taking apart the motor and cleaning it, and cleaning up all the other electrical terminals, it worked fine. Then it sat again outside for about 1.5 years and I had the same issue...cleaning the corrosion out of the motor again seemed to solve the problem.
 
there's a guy on ebay that sells soem decent stuff (from what i've read here)
IIRC there a 12000 lb winch for about 450 shipped... ?

Maybe someone will chime in...

Ramsey - I'd go bigger than 8000... i'm gonna do a 12,000... cause i plan on burying my rig... i get stuck.. it'll be good...

Like some one mentioned... you can use a snatch block to turn that 8000 into a '16,000' but still dead pull is where it's at.
 
I have a Ramsey Patriot 9500 and it is an awesome winch. Fast line speed and plenty strong. That said, comparing the patriot series to the rep series is apples to oranges (and close to a grand to more like $400). The patriot series use fast line speed and big hp motors, while the rep series use a small motor and low gearing. As a result they are cheaper and slower. My 2 cents: If you use a winch a lot, get something with a faster line speed and a higher pull rating. The REP is already slow and will be even slower if you have to double the line. However, if it is just for every once in a while, getting unstuck slowly is still getting unstuck.

Edit: After reading their website, apparently the REP series are more winch than I thought, 3.8HP and like 36fpm for the REP8000 (versus the patriot 9500's 5.5HP and 35ish fpm). I could have sworn that the REP was like 1.6HP or something tiny like that. Maybe they used to be, maybe I'm just plain wrong. Maybe the REP8000e is the little guy. Regardless, I like my Patriot 9500 for what it's worth
 
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