Well I finally made my decision and bought a Ranch Hand Front End. I love it.
No Pics yet, but IMHO it looks TOUGH. Also took off the stainless steel tech tubes and replaced them with Ranch Hand steps. (if anybody is interested in them, just pm me)

Ranch Hand Legend series are in short supply right now (DFW area anyway) and it was going to be a few weeks if I ordered one. The dealer I went to had a "scratch and dent" Legend Series WINCH READY front end so I took it. The scratches were minor and easily repaired and I saved about $300.00 on it, so I was fine with it.

Now, on to my question. I know nothing about Winches and really didn't plan on buying one anytime soon....and may still not. But, the Front End has a mount and the space to put in a Warn Winch. Does anybody have any suggestions on where to get one (even a used one) for a good price? I really don't want to drop a grand on a winch that I will probably not use very often.

I would like to have one, JUST in case I ever need one. And mostly to fill in the space where there is room for one.

 

Ebay is hard to beat on a winch price with many to chose from .

 

Just Remember when it comes to winches YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR .

 

Your gonna need a winch with at least a 12,000lb pulling capacity.

 

TexasCTD, what dealer was this and are there any more scratch and dents? Thanks. I love the ranch hand front bumpers as well.

 

Would a 9500 not be enough? Truck weighs 8000 or so.

 

I went to the Ranch Hand Outlet in Irving off of Loop 12 and Union Bower. Very nice people.

They had at least one more winch ready Bull Nose for a Dodge (maybe a few of them), but I think I got the last Legend Series. They will be getting more in but most of them are already accounted for and are being shipped to community dealers. I negotiated free installation and printed off a 10 percent off coupon good through Oct. 31st on their website.

They also had plenty of the side steps and rear bumpers.

Their phone is (972) 438-4447. Ask for Jimmy.

Originally, I thought I was going to buy from Liquid Off-Road in Greenville, but I could never get them to answer the phone or return a call. Bad Business.

 

You should also factor in rolling resistance etc.

I had a 9500 on my old 1/2 ton and I shoulda gone bigger.

 

Your supposed to take the weight of the vehicle and multiply it by 1.5. So 8000lbs x 1.5 = 12000.

 

Ok thanks for the advice. Guess it is time to save a few more dollars.


"Money don't buy you happiness, but it sure makes being miserable a whole lot more tolerable" ....unknown

 

I live in Greenville and had the same thing happen. I was going to buy a programmer from them and tried for a solid week calling and driving by and never made contact with anyone. Not very interested in selling anything are they?

 

Warn 12K's and 15K's are about $40 bucks price difference lately.

Never hurts to have more than you want.


phox

 

I'm going to conflict with my Warn religion on this one, but If you really only want the winch for very rare use, you can pick up 12K milemarker electric winch or harbor freight made somewhere in southeast asia or china. They will do the job well and most likely never fail you, but if you wanted a winch that you depended your life on, go with a Warn. The "off brand" winches are all over ebay and I think you'd pay less than $500 for one, where a Warn 12K would cost you double that. You should get at least 12K if not 15K lb. winch. You'll need all of that 15K lbs. if you're stuck deep in mud.

 

Thanks for the info. I checked on ebay and found a few 12,000 Milemarker Winches for about $500 or so. Sounds pretty fair and perfect for my use. I do need to check though and see if they will fit my Ranch Hand.


Thanks for everybody's advice.

 

I had a Milemarker E8000. It had the same bolt pattern as the Warn, Ramsey, and Superwinch 8000 lb winches. I'd bet the milemarker would have the same bolt pattern as other 12K lb. winches. They have a decent website www.milemarker.com and very good customer service.