Ramsey Winch - Brute Strength

Most off-roaders who purchase a heavy-duty truck do so for the necessity of function in on and off-road situations. What most people don't realize, though, is that there are a host of heavy-duty aftermarket products that can equip your rig for the most adverse and demanding circumstances. One product is Ramsey's RPH 12,000 winch, which is used with the hydraulic kit available from Berens Winch. This setup is tough - the ultimate heavy-duty winch for the Ford Super Duty truck.

Gage Hartman of Ramsey Winches in Tulsa contacted OFF-ROAD magazine when he heard we were looking for HD off-road products. Gage was very interested in showcasing a hydraulic winch system. It just so happened that Gage found out that Rustin Smith of Rubicon Express was in the process of ordering a new '99 Ford F-250 Lariat Super Duty truck. Perfect - a test mule for the article. Berens Winch & Hoist, of Oakland, California, was contacted next. They recommended that Doc Bailey Construction Equipment, also of Oakland, be used for the installation of this project. They are highly experienced with the repair and installation of hydraulic systems.

Some of the information that we uncovered during this installation will prove to be very valuable to you in choosing the correct winch for your application and will save you a lot of greenbacks in the future. It will also serve well as a how-to guide that will keep you from damaging your current winch. Then we will show you what is needed to install this system on a Ford F-250 truck

To being with, we researched the benefits of installing a hydraulic winch compared to an electric one. Here are the pros and cons

When the Ramsey RPH 12,000 hydraulic winch with the Berens hydraulic kit is installed correctly, it is able to meet almost any demand you can dream of putting a heavy-duty winch through. This system would work great on getting you out of being stuck, to moderate logging applications, and would answer most requirements during general farming use.

Thanks to the innovative design concepts of Ford, Muncie, Berens Winch & Hoist, and Ramsey winch, the installation was pretty easy.

Here are some of the key points that we learned during this project that you need to be aware of or ask about before you place your order for a truck or hydraulic winch system.

On the truck, you need to make sure that it has an option for a PTO unit. The Ford F-250, using the automatic transmission and the Power Stroke diesel motor package, does offer this option, but you have to specify it at the time of ordering.

For the hydraulic winch, you need to ensure that it has a spring-type applied hydraulic release braking system. This means that when the hydraulic system or PTO is off or not up to pressure that the winch brake is applied to hold the load in position. Another added plus is an efficient single-stage hydraulic planetary design as in the Ramsey RPH 12,000 winch.

As for the complete system design, a hydraulic winch is limited by gallons per minute (GPH) capacity, the GPM capacity of the hydraulic pump, and the storage capacity of the hydraulic fluid of the tank. To figure this out is simple math. You take the required GPM of the winch at maximum load and multiply it by 2.5 for the optimum conditions, and that is the recommended hydraulic tank size. In this application, these values turned out to be a 28-gallon tank using the Muncie hydraulic pump provided by Berens Winch & Hoist. Berens was also able to provide this tank with its kit. This unit was designed to bolt up under the passenger side of the Ford F-250, out of sight and above the frame, providing damage-free 'wheeling with heavy-duty mounts. Depending on your winch application, you can use a smaller tank, but you will also decrease the performance capability of the Ramsey RPH 12,000 winch.

For the winch mounting kit on the Ford F-250, the Ramsey mounting system was used. This system included the basic mounts and light brushguards. It also proved to be an amazingly simple mount. Along with meeting the requirementsof being as solid as the Ramsey RPH 12,000-pound winching system, this complete system was designed so that average people could install it themselves.

Something else to remember after you install this system: The availability of several hydraulic tools that can be used on the trail or in the field should be kept on board your rig with some simple additions that are very inexpensive. This could prove to be quite an advantage in the future.

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Hydraulic
90 percent duty cycle when correctly installed with a hydraulic tank and a seperate hydraulic PTO pump unit

Expandable to run various hydraulic tools

Designed for industrial use

Higher cost

More positive control for safety in lifting applications

Recommended for emergency rescue-type applications

Electric
Average 40 percent duty cycle because of motor heat and damage

Designed for intermittent use

Less cost