Considering buying this M12000. Thoughts and opinions? (1 Viewer)

[culturedredneck]

Here it is.

I hate to post a "should I buy this" thread, but my winch knowledge is zero, and the seller takes a long time to respond to questions and doesn't have a lot of info. I'll be in their neck of the woods on Sunday (bout 1.5 hrs from my house) and thought I'd take cash with me and pick it up if it looks like a good deal. Price seems ok considering I could sell the bumper it's attached to and recoup some $$$. It's going in my ARB bull bar on my FZJ80. Any thoughts, concerns or red flags would be very much appreciated from the more knowledgeable folks.


The good:
- Warn M1200
- Appears in OK condition. Listed as "like new" which is obviously incorrect.

Bad/Unknown
- Owner won't separate from the Ford F250 bumper. No clue why...
- No idea of its history
- No better pics than the ones provided
- owner doesn't know age.

 

[culturedredneck]

Pics in case the link doesnt work.

 

[gnob]

Looks clean. What are you asking? Imo price is a bit steep.
If you're worried, run it before purchasing.
Imo if the factory paint and noid box aren't fubar, its worth the risk

 

[culturedredneck]

Thanks @gnob, that's basically what I'm asking. I dont spend much time looking at used winches, so I just wanted to gut check it with the folks here. Hard to find anything to compare it to price-wise. Most of my searching turned up info on prices from years ago when they sold for <1k.

 

[subzali]

Seems high to me too. I doubt you'll get much from that front bumper, that's probably why they want you to take it off their hands. There are some around here I've been watching in the $550-$700 range.

 

[culturedredneck]

They’ve been tough to find used in my area for a while now. This is the only one I’ve seen pop up. I was considering buying new until I saw this. Would be nice to save 600 bucks but hate to over pay and really don’t want to have to unload that bumper.

 

[chbrow10]

heads up, that looks ALOT like an industrial series winch on a Warn Transformer winch tray. The industrial series winches DO NOT have the same bolt pattern as a M12000. Note that they have bolt holes for both forward and down. 6 holes in total. They have a different brake system and are made for tow trucks. the fairlead may also be a nonstandard pattern. I say this because it likely will not work on your existing bumper.

that doesn’t look like an M12000. I have both and M15000 and an industrial series 15. That looks like the latter.

 

[culturedredneck]

heads up, that looks ALOT like an industrial series winch on a Warn Transformer winch tray. The industrial series winches DO NOT have the same bolt pattern as a M12000. Note that they have bolt holes for both forward and down. 6 holes in total. They have a different brake system and are made for tow trucks. the fairlead may also be a nonstandard pattern. I say this because it likely will not work on your existing bumper.

that doesn’t look like an M12000. I have both and M15000 and an industrial series 15. That looks like the latter.

Thanks for the info and the heads up. I looked a little closer at it and it looks like the label would indicate its an M12000. If you zoom into the FB marketplace photos you can barely make out the all red letters of M12000. Whereas it looks to me (via warns website) that the Series 12 label would be in black letters and non bolded. Now, depending on age, this could be wrong and admittedly I know nothing about the history of warn winches. I will ask to confirm just o be sure. Its being listed by a woman for a man, so everytime I ask a question she has to get ahold of him and a day later I get a "he said he wasnt sure" type answer. I may just bypass this and buy a new one to be sure.

Thanks again for the info!

 

[chbrow10]

FWIW, that is definitely a Warn Trans4mer tray, and those can be expensive. You could sell that separately. You just need the brackets that match to the specific truck. The large hoop and the light mounting bar are also sold separately by Warn.

 

[chbrow10]

FYI, here are photos of my two winches.

 

[culturedredneck]

Thanks for the pics. Dang, so hard to tell. They changed the labels and covers so often over the years that its almost impossible to match it up. I see what you're saying though. I'm leaning a little more towards M12000 if for no other reason than the owner said "he doesnt know what year it is but said its an M12000." Tough to tell without driving out there and measuring the bolt holes.

 

[chbrow10]

I would recommend you measuring what will fit in your existing bumper and measuring the M12000. My M15000 is a hoss. big and heavy. But it will pull.

 

[culturedredneck]

It's the Arb Bullbar so it was designed to fit the M10000 and M12000. If it's an M12000 it will fit, but like you said if it's an Industrial series it may not. I'll definitely measure in any case.

 

[secretasiansam]

I have an industrial warn 12k winch. I got it on Craigslist for $400-450. It is well used but still reliable. Needs a rebuild but haven't done it.
Ask for a pic of the entire label , mine says series 12 where it would say m12 if that's what it is.
Mine fits a 4X4 labs bumper made for the m12. It did require some additional supports to mount it bolts in front as recommended by warn.

 

[culturedredneck]

Was able to speak with the seller and asked for a pic of the label. Definitely an M12000. The owner says it works well. It might not be the best deal on the planet, but it seems like it's not the worst. And if I could recoup some costs with the bumper then I think it's worth it. Still saves 700 over buying new.

 

[chbrow10]

Well, that mystery is solved.

 

[chbrow10]

Did you buy it?

 

[Warn Industries]

Just a bit of info: The M12, M15, and 16.5ti do all have the same mounting bolt pattern. However, our Industrial Series winches are indeed different and will not bolt up to a traditional mounting plate.

Andy

 

[chbrow10]

Oh, Andy, I think you messed up posting. Now we all know who you are and will pester you incessantly. .

Honestly, I love your products and love your company’s ability to support them, no matter how old they are.

 

[4xfcuk]

What other winch motors will fit my series 12 as I have the 24v and want to go 12v