I got this old Ramsey winch for free. The motor is supposed to work, but I haven't tested it yet.

Assuming the motor does work, would this thing be worth repairing? It's missing several parts. What is it's rated pulling capacity? How old is it?

Thanks.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid77/p6f6c53496ebb4780c06941860f1a3359/fb337507.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid77/p24c2505b781c50338e59f9cadadf846c/fb3374fe.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid77/p6d4cd97bec8996b1529c5f0b612d950a/fb3374f5.jpg

I know a few guys with ancient Ramseys ...damn reliable winch, strong pulling power, never lets them down...

but...

I can use a hi-lift to free my rig and another rig before they'll pull one rig loose. S...L...O...W ...painfully slow...worse than those new Milemarkers....

But for the right price, it beats walkin :D

Yeah, those old Ramsey worm gear winches will pull forever. Looks like that one is in rough shape though.

i too have one of these gems, are there rebuild manuals or replacement parts out there?

You can get the owners manuals online:

http://www.ramsey.com/automotive/manuals.html

The manual for the RE8000 I had was pretty extensive. They also have supplements for the manuals available.

They're not worth a whole lot, but (assuming it has all of it's parts) they're incredibly slow line speed is compensated for by the fact that they never break, and they pull like you have two HS9500 rigged up.

If you do a TON of winching, sell it to someone who wants a winch for a superduty or other behemoth type rig, and get an 8274... pulls nearly as hard, but about 8 times as fast. :)

i have one sitting in my garage. i ran it for a couple of years and it does pull but it is big, heavy, and S L O W !!!!! i hated it.

Originally posted by High5
i have one sitting in my garage. i ran it for a couple of years and it does pull but it is big, heavy, and S L O W !!!!! i hated it.

Ok, stupid question I know. :flipoff2:

Seriously, what difference does it make how fast it is if you are not competing? (Under a time restraint)

Also, what's your definition of slow? Does it take an extra 4 hours with this particular winch? Or maybe an extra 10 minutes?

You guys have dates or something waiting? :flipoff2:

Just curious. (stir, stir, stir) :D

A slow winch can be a real pain. When you're trying to "drive" the truck to assist the winch you can temporarily get traction getting too much slack in the cable. Then the damn hook drops and you're disconnected.

I guess with a beast like that you don't need to assist it but there are still times when you need to spin the wheels to pop-up out of holes.

If you can fix it for cheap and don't have a winch keep it, save for a better winch in the future and bolt that old one to your trailer.

slow winches suck because you can not assist with the rig or you'll run over the cable. drag 100ft of cable out on one of those winches and then respool it. it'll take for ever. i finally got a m8274 and i love it. i plan on putting the ramsey on my trailer.......then again i have been planning that for the last 2 or 3 years :p

The guys talking about slow winches have a point.... to a point :p ;)


They are correct in that a slow winch really DOES suck on long pulls where you tend to over-run the cable.



BUT


If you don't have a winch, a slow one is better than nothing :p


And to the gooberhead (you can quote me there ;) ) who said they would rather use a hi-lift than a slow winch, you obviously have never used a hi-lift as a winch... IT SUCKS :mad3:

BTW, it looks form the pictures like you are missing the carrier/mount assembly from the end of the spool... am I correct?

If so, it may cost you a bit of $$$ to get the thing up to working condition. I bet you can get a couple hundred as-is on eBay, so that may be an option.

Originally posted by krawlr
A slow winch can be a real pain. When you're trying to "drive" the truck to assist the winch you can temporarily get traction getting too much slack in the cable. Then the damn hook drops and you're disconnected.
.

Thats why before I had a positive locking hook I used a shackle instead of a hook on the end of my winch line....

Originally posted by DRM
And to the gooberhead (you can quote me there ;) ) who said they would rather use a hi-lift than a slow winch, you obviously have never used a hi-lift as a winch... IT SUCKS :mad3:

hey, I got called a gooberhead! :D :D :flipoff2:

I was making a point...a slow winch is better than no winch, but not by a whole lot. I've been on the waiting end of a BRAND NEW Milemarker Electric, a old Ramsey, and a unknown vintage Superwinch. I'm now more selective about who I bother asking to pull me over. I could have winched myself back over quicker than that useless Superwinch. Even my cable operated 1974 Bellevue kicks ass over most other winches for line speed and pull power.

BTW, it looks form the pictures like you are missing the carrier/mount assembly from the end of the spool... am I correct?


yes you are.

that end that is missing controlls the free spooling of that winch and it is useless with out it. yes you could use the reverse to spool out the cable but at the speed that winch moves i could take 10 mins to spool out the cable.

i have a RE12000 and it will pull you house off it's foundation, but it's painfully slow.

i would make a mount in the rear of your rig and stick it back there if you could

Originally posted by DRM
BTW, it looks form the pictures like you are missing the carrier/mount assembly from the end of the spool... am I correct? If so, it may cost you a bit of $$$ to get the thing up to working condition.
Yes, you are correct. Thats the biggest problem, I don't even know what all is missing. I don't know anything about this winch or where I could dig up the parts.

Originally posted by DRM
I bet you can get a couple hundred as-is on eBay, so that may be an option.
You really think so? I didn't think this thing would be worth a quarter of that amount in it's current condition.

I'd really rather have an 8274. I'm not real hung up on the slow line speed, I'm in the, "a slow winch is better than no winch" situations. That and I'd probably rarely use it. If I had the money, I would have bought one of the $399 electric MM's that was posted in the vendor section.

Originally posted by cbassett
You can get the owners manuals online:

http://www.ramsey.com/automotive/manuals.html

The manual for the RE8000 I had was pretty extensive. They also have supplements for the manuals available.

Hey thanks. That helps a lot. I didn't think they'd still have the manual for this one online.

Originally posted by tv_larsen

Yes, you are correct. Thats the biggest problem, I don't even know what all is missing. I don't know anything about this winch or where I could dig up the parts.


You really think so? I didn't think this thing would be worth a quarter of that amount in it's current condition.

I'd really rather have an 8274. I'm not real hung up on the slow line speed, I'm in the, "a slow winch is better than no winch" situations. That and I'd probably rarely use it. If I had the money, I would have bought one of the $399 electric MM's that was posted in the vendor section.

That manual should help you figure out what all is missing. I would follow that research up with a call to Ramsey to get part #'s and maybe prices on what it will cost for you to get it up and running.

I said it woul dbring a couple hundred on eBay and I don't doubt it - even considering it's damaged/missing condition. Depending on what it would cost to replace the missing vital parts, I could seem myself paying $100 or so for that unit as-is.

Definately start some research and find out what it will take (Effort and $$$) to get the thing going... that should tell you whether you should dive in, or liquidate it on eBay or the likes.