Is there market for used winches?

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bigcountry78

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No no I’m not replacing it with a Chinese model, just thinking about getting rid of the winch altogether. I just didn’t know if anyone would buy a used winch when you can get a new one for the same price.
 

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Market, yes. Buyers and sellers both with wildly unrealistic expectations? A BIG yes.

Yep..I've gotten some of that pushback on winches that I've sold - "I'll give you $100...Why would I give you $500 for that old 9K Warn when I can go buy a brand new 12K at Harbor Freight for $200 less than that?!?!?

On the other side, I've seen it from sellers too...asking $1200 for a Warn M12000 that looks like it's been sitting outside behind the shed for a decade in a bucket full of water, missing the cable, remote, solenoid pack and all wiring, that the seller has no way of proving it works, because Warn's MSRP on it now is almost twice that (even though everyone sells it for far less) because - "hell, you can get all those missing parts for a few hundred bucks, and still come out cheaper than a new one. Of course I'll guarantee that it works!"

Or the people trying to pass off a Belleview or 5687 as a 8274, as they were very similar in appearance to the 8274, and were the predecessors to the 8274, but with two important distinctions - they had a cable actuated brake that typically only was functional from inside the cab and did not have a power out function, only power in. Not a huge deal if you're just pulling yourself out from snow or mud, but can be a real pain in the back side on technical rocky climbs when you need to inch back down just a little bit to get on a better line.

But yes, the cheap Chinese stuff has definitely affected the market and prices on used stuff, but hasn't killed it either. I've got a few of the Chinese winches, and they're fine as trailer winches, or on smaller, lighter weight vehicles. The HF on my Samurai works OK, but I wouldn't want to run one on a full size. One of the big things I've noticed on many of the cheap Chinese winches are brakes that could be described as lackluster at best. Even on the Samurai, the brake on the HF 12K won't hold it. It keeps the Sammy from freewheeling down the hill, but really is more of a "slow down" device than a holding device. Whereas I feel like I could hang the K5 completely off the Warn cable and brake and not worry about it going anywhere.
 

Arkansas_V8

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Market, yes. Buyers and sellers both with wildly unrealistic expectations? A BIG yes.

Yep..I've gotten some of that pushback on winches that I've sold - "I'll give you $100...Why would I give you $500 for that old 9K Warn when I can go buy a brand new 12K at Harbor Freight for $200 less than that?!?!?

On the other side, I've seen it from sellers too...asking $1200 for a Warn M12000 that looks like it's been sitting outside behind the shed for a decade in a bucket full of water, missing the cable, remote, solenoid pack and all wiring, that the seller has no way of proving it works, because Warn's MSRP on it now is almost twice that (even though everyone sells it for far less) because - "hell, you can get all those missing parts for a few hundred bucks, and still come out cheaper than a new one. Of course I'll guarantee that it works!"

Or the people trying to pass off a Belleview or 5687 as a 8274, as they were very similar in appearance to the 8274, and were the predecessors to the 8274, but with two important distinctions - they had a cable actuated brake that typically only was functional from inside the cab and did not have a power out function, only power in. Not a huge deal if you're just pulling yourself out from snow or mud, but can be a real pain in the back side on technical rocky climbs when you need to inch back down just a little bit to get on a better line.

But yes, the cheap Chinese stuff has definitely affected the market and prices on used stuff, but hasn't killed it either. I've got a few of the Chinese winches, and they're fine as trailer winches, or on smaller, lighter weight vehicles. The HF on my Samurai works OK, but I wouldn't want to run one on a full size. One of the big things I've noticed on many of the cheap Chinese winches are brakes that could be described as lackluster at best. Even on the Samurai, the brake on the HF 12K won't hold it. It keeps the Sammy from freewheeling down the hill, but really is more of a "slow down" device than a holding device. Whereas I feel like I could hang the K5 completely off the Warn cable and brake and not worry about it going anywhere.


Do you work for Warn? Lol, other post you had a 10k H.F. winch on the Samurai. Want to be taken seriously dont ********. I drive a full size. The 12k H.F. winch has not let my poor ass down yet. Your anti H.F. winch B.S. is annoying.

Warn is better. No **** at the price they are they should be. You must have one heavy ass Samurai.
 

K5_489

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I had 12K in my head from the beginning of the post, and I'm splitting my attention between work stuff and here....typos happen man..it's all part of being human. No, I don't work for Warn, but I do get paid to go off roading nearly daily. If I did work for Warn, I probably wouldn't be running non Warn winches on anything, lol. Oh man...how cool would it be though to get employee level access to something like that!

The cool thing about living in a free world? You're free to pass right on by my posts! You're also free to not like me, my posts, or what ever other sticks you decide to lodge up places. As John Lyndgate said, you can't please everyone all the time!
 

Arkansas_V8

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I had 12K in my head from the beginning of the post, and I'm splitting my attention between work stuff and here....typos happen man..it's all part of being human. No, I don't work for Warn, but I do get paid to go off roading nearly daily. If I did work for Warn, I probably wouldn't be running non Warn winches on anything, lol. Oh man...how cool would it be though to get employee level access to something like that!

The cool thing about living in a free world? You're free to pass right on by my posts! You're also free to not like me, my posts, or what ever other sticks you decide to lodge up places. As John Lyndgate said, you can't please everyone all the time!

Lol. Your like those Snapon fanboys. What kinda guy would I be if I didnt call out your B.S.
 

Arkansas_V8

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Oh and I know my problem. I am absolutely jealous. Warn, a big block, 20x14 wheels with 33s, squat, Snapon, hell anything that costs money. I am too damn poor to afford any of it.

110% jealousy.
 

bigcountry78

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Well that escalated quickly lol. In other news I may be selling the winch after all. I’ve hit upon the idea of putting a low profile winch behind the factory bumper. That way I can have a clean stock look and still have the winch if I need it. I can keep my push bar too. Of course my 8274 will never fit in that configuration, so it would have to go. But I can get a low profile m8000 for around $600 new. And yes I would go with a warn again, I had a Ramsey one time that was defective out of the box. I personally wouldn’t run anything else on a truck, although I did replace my 2k warn on my atv with a 2500 mile marker. It was $150 vs $400 for a comparable warn. And so far it has done the job.
 

bigcountry78

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I think I’m going to try to come out from under the bumper, instead of cutting mine. That picture is from a four wheeler magazine article, where they built an 86 CUCV truck. They tucked a warn 9.5 Xp winch in there, but I will probably go with an M8000 since they are a good bit cheaper. I wish I could find the whole article.

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bucket

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I think I’m going to try to come out from under the bumper, instead of cutting mine. That picture is from a four wheeler magazine article, where they built an 86 CUCV truck. They tucked a warn 9.5 Xp winch in there, but I will probably go with an M8000 since they are a good bit cheaper. I wish I could find the whole article.

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I've got that magazine and article somewhere. I 'might' even be able to find it, lol.
 

bucket

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But iirc, they drilled large enough holes in the underside of the frame rails and welded bolt sleeves into the holes at specific depths. Then the winch was bolted to a cradle/plate, which then lifted into place and could be bolted to the sleeves.
 

bigcountry78

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But iirc, they drilled large enough holes in the underside of the frame rails and welded bolt sleeves into the holes at specific depths. Then the winch was bolted to a cradle/plate, which then lifted into place and could be bolted to the sleeves.
I think you’re right. I used to have that magazine but I think it got thrown out. I seem to remember them welding threaded bungs inside the frame rail, and then using spacers to drop it down to clear the bumper. And just a universal warn winch plate. My dad has a warn xd9000i with the integrated solenoids across the top that he isn’t using. I’m going down tomorrow and will see if it will fit and if he will trade winches. If he does then I’ll see about making up an extension cable for the remote and see about mounting the receptacle in the grill so I can reach it.
 

bigcountry78

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This is the model he has, I think there might be just enough room to wedge it under there. It would be nice to have the 9k capacity, vs the 8k I have now. Now I can’t wait to get down there and do some research lol. Whenever I make this happen, I will be sure to document the process and post here.

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