Winch

J

jps4jeep

Super Moderator
I am going to look at a used winch some time saturday night. The gentleman on the other side of the phone tells me it is a 8000lb warn winch that he pulled off the front of a junk 85 chevy plow truck. He says that it has the roller hause and the 10 foot control cable. I really am not to farmiliar with electric winches (as some of you might know, the winch on my chevy was PTO)
What should I look for and what price should I offer?
He said it worked when taken off, and wants $300, he says all it needs is to be mounted, and new battery cables. I am going to look to see if there are any cracks in the housing, cable condition (no frays), and over all condition.
Does any one have an idea on where I can track the serial numbers?
Thanks folks!!
 
My winch is a 27 year old M8274, and I trust it completely. Used winches are fine and are, for the most part, completely rebuildable.

Call Warn with the serial number and date code, they should be able to give you an idea what year and month it was manufactured.

Sounds to me like you may have stumbled upon an M8274, they are over $1000 new, strong as an ox, and easily rebuildable. They don't wear as fast as other winches.

If the cable needs replaced, I'd barter down to $200 to $250 as a new cable will cost between $75 and $125 depending on where you get it. This would cause you to easily have $400 into a used winch, up to you.

If the clutch lever is frozen, or other simple problem, don't worry, it's easy to fix. There are many online articles that show how to dissassemble and repair Warn winches.

Let us know what model winch it is.
 
If it is the M8274, you'll want to remove the top cover to the gear case and inspect the gears for any damage. Mine was fine, no signs of wear.

Don't forget that you have the expense of buying or building a winch plate.
 

Well, I just got off the phone with the gentleman and I thik I have a diamond in the rough!
He gave me the serial code of the winch which was PN 38631
I went to warn.com and typed in the serial code and did some searching and it turns out the winch is a M8274, and I know these to be very good winches according to BH!

Well Bounty, I am going to take your advise and I am gonna offer him $200 to take it off his hands. He made a critical error in telling me that he has had it for sale for a year and not one person has called, saying that I am the first. If he says no, I will go to $250 and so on till we will only take $300, as far as I can tell it is still a deal. Thanks all!
 
Still a deal at $300, don't pass it up. There's a lot available on the web for maintenance and repair of this winch, let me know if you need anything. You can also order parts for it down to the last snapring and seal.

My M8274 is SN 37535 so looks like yours was made right after mine. My date code is JM6, which Warn believed was 1976.
 
He didn't give me a date code, but when I buy it, I am gonna check with warn on that. From what he has told me, It is pretty old. probably early 80's, It was off a 85 chevy, God knows where it was prior to that?

Thanks Bounty, I am gonna keep you as my wing man on this!!
 
Well, just got back from looking at the winch, It was junk! There was no motor, half the internal gears were either missing or stripped, the housing was cracked and the cable was junk. I offered him $50 and he would not budge from $300, oh well back to the tedeous search! I want a 8274 in the worse way. gonna keep looking!

Thanks for the help Bounty!
 
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