Ridge Rider (Supercheap) Winch any good?

[Lotz-A-Landies]

Has anyone had any experience witht he Ridge Rider brand, presumably Chinese, sold by Supercheap Auto? They were only just over $300 for the 9000Kg one the other day regular price more than $600.

At $300 if they only get you out of one bog they are probably worth it. Maybe!

[isuzurover]

As long as it is just a toy and you won't b expecting it to be reliable in remote areas.

As with all chinese winches, a dismantle, check and regrease is needed straight after purchase.

[Lotz-A-Landies]

As long as it is just a toy and you won't b expecting it to be reliable in remote areas. ...Reliability is what the Tirfor is for, at least as a last resort.

Was in the SC place and at $300 I just grabbed it, if only to fit onto the car trailer. Has to be better than a boat trailer winch.

[rangieman]

Reliability is what the Tirfor is for, at least as a last resort.

Was in the SC place and at $300 I just grabbed it, if only to fit onto the car trailer. Has to be better than a boat trailer winch.
Did you not say in the chinese locker post that you get what you pay for !:cool: or something alike (ducking for cover) :p

[Lotz-A-Landies]

Did you not say in the chinese locker post that you get what you pay for !:cool: or something alike (ducking for cover) :p
Ah yes, but for a car trailer I can choose to use or not to use and if it breaks down, I simply roll up the cable and leave it lying on the deck. Even if it's on the car, I still have my Tirfor so am not relying on it!

You can't do that with a locker in a diff, you can't simply choose to take it on your long trip or leave it at home, if it breaks down in the desert it may be life or death.

[jacobraftery]

Hey Mate,

I work for the company, have for a fair few years now, to be honest they are alright in their construction. They do sell fairly well, and I have got alot of good reports that they do the job. Make sure you regrease them, and keep it very clean.

BUT, having said that, I refund a heck of a lot too..
Keep it in mind.

Best of luck.

[VladTepes]

I'd think it would be fine, probably for occasional use but certainly not frequent / regular use and not one to rely on 100%



As with all chinese winches, a dismantle, check and regrease is needed straight after purchase.

What he said.

[dirtdawg]

cant be any worse than the aldi one and bear in mind those prices were 50% off so they cant be too bad

[Rangier Rover]

Yes, I have two here, expect the control solenoid box to be a bit ordinary..Seems to function. The gear set and motor are well made but not submersible unless you pack it with WR grease. The drum area is very fragile if the cable pinches. With care, I have no issues in trusting the winch to get you out of trouble. Not for being a hero and recovering a large truck.:angel:

I also have two of the the Auldi winches, in my opinion arguably neater but fair lead wont fit some bars.

I also tossed well under 300 for the above items. Not worth 600ish in my opinion.

[Blknight.aus]

Give it the same loving prior to installation as the aldi winch and grab a snatchblock, drag chain and some shackles to go with it and then issue the instruction.

Not to be used without the snatchblock.

If it was me and It was going onto a trailer as a crock winch (used only to get the vehicle onto the trailer and not for recovering it out of a bog) you really only need a 1t Winch, Ive seen quite a few trailers around here fitted with the cheap boat winches.

[Lotz-A-Landies]

Thanks everyone.

Am still considering re-fitting the original hydraulic PTO winch if the PO comes to a more reasonable price on a 20YO hyd winch, where you'd have to replace all the hoses and likely one of the two pumps/motors would require overhaul.

I could always mount the SC one on the rear below the tray overhang.

[Redback]

If it's anything like the one Aldi sell, go right ahead and buy one, because the Aldi one is pretty bloody good, we used one in our High Country trip that was on one of the vehicles and it was brilliant, still working perfect after winching a D2 and camper up a steep grade for 4hrs, I'd buy one.

Baz.

[Yorkie]

If it's anything like the one Aldi sell, go right ahead and buy one, because the Aldi one is pretty bloody good, we used one in our High Country trip that was on one of the vehicles and it was brilliant, still working perfect after winching a D2 and camper up a steep grade for 4hrs, I'd buy one.

Baz.

:wasntme: :angel:

[roverv8]

Ive had 1 on a while, 9500LBS
plenty of use, in the bush & recently in the sand at Robe S.A.
so far so good.

http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg341/scaled.php'server=341&filename=sam0187o.jpg&res=medium

Great to have some back up when there is no-one else to snatch you out.
Pic from when fitted new

[matti4556]

I have one of these winches and for some time only used it to pull a few shrubs out of the garden - then came the "ill fated school camp on Fraser Island". The D1 spent most of the late afternoon winching 11 vehicles through the soft sand onto the access track to Dilli Village camp. One was a brand new V8 Sahara with the fully loaded camp kitchen double axle trailer bogged up the the floorpan in soft sand. We were desperate and if the winch burned-out then I was prepared to let it just to get the Sahara onto the boards to complete the recoveries. It only cost 400 bucks and the camp cost way more than that, so it was a calculated sacrifice. It was a single line pull with winch extension strap and only 5 turns left on the spool - only just made the distance but the winch didnt give up or make any smoke - in fact it continued to pull through the remaining 7 troopies (yes 8 x Toyotas so far :)) and 3 various other vehicles with fully laden trailers. I have no hesitation in recommending this winch - however ----- It was fully disassembled and re-greased with marine grease when new - single line pulls are only recommended if the bogged vehicle has some drive. (that goes for just about any winch dont you think?) and yes good advice - double it up with a snatch block whenever you can. The worst part of this epic which took about 4 hours in total was not one of the perhaps 50 cameras there took a photo of the recoveries (so it didnt really happen)! The Sahara driver said he would delete the shots anyhow if he found them - go the Landies!

[Didge]

I've got one but as I don't trust its waterproofing I have mounted it up high near the top of the bull bar and the cable then feeds vertically down, around a 3" diameter pully and out the fairleads which are housed in the bullbar as usual. Will try to post some pics shortly. Dragged me about on a single line pull around 5m along clay on the diffs until the wheels touched solid ground again. Didn't even flinch during that operation. Only problem was dodgy contacts in the remote rocker switch which was fixed in seconds. I also regreased it.

[Didge]

Here's a few pics (not good due to light contrast) of my bracket. It's a simple post and lintel setup on top of the alloy bullbar. Underneath the allow bar I have made a steel frame from 100 x 100 x 6 angle which I had laying around. So the alloy bar is effectively sandwiched between the steel frames and plays no part in resisting the winching loads

[THE BOOGER]

Gerald I hope thats removable for rego checks:D But i suppose its no worse than having a spare wheel on the bonnet:)

[Didge]

Hi Geoff, yep! 4 bolts and out she comes. I had a read of the RTA rules regarding bull bars and from memory it doesn't really cover objects protruding above the bull bar but mainly is concerned with objects protruding out in front of the bull bar. I am aware that there is a rule about objects extending more than 50mm I think above the bonnet but I don't know where this is measured from and the winch isn't connected to the bonnet, is it? so I think I may be able to get away with it on a technicality (hope anyway - any RTA gurus on the forum to confirm?)
Yes, I was thinking about the obstruction a spare wheel would produce and the winch is far less.

[Bushie]

any RTA gurus

No such animal.

So that's what a high mount winch looks like. :D:D


Martyn

[Didge]

No such animal. Haha - I'll have to pop around and show you Martyn, yeah high mount all right - I sort of feel like it's sticking out and up like a honeymoon dick - a bit embarressing really:)

[Blknight.aus]

the 50mm ruling is paraphrased thusly.

a 50mm tube is to be rolled along the vehicle, any protrusion that contacts above the centerline is considered not roadworthy.

fortunately, Series rovers and some counties do not require to be compliant with this rule because of their age,

[Didge]

Thanks Dave, but mine's a 96 Def so they'll probably nab me for it sometime but plenty of cops have had a gander at it and not worried so if necessary I'll just take it off for a rego check. Anyway, sorry for highjacking the thread guys but I'm still happy with the $400 supercheap winch anyway. The RTA rules are really quite strict - have a look at the rules regarding tyre sizes and most people will be shocked at how little variation from standard is allowed.

[Missing my Umbrella]

ok.. my Gf has been asking what i would like for my birthday.. with a super cheap cat in my hand i pointed to one of these .. thinking i did not wish her to blow to much money on me.. then when i got the chance i searched the reviews.. so now you guys have a new member here and reading this and a few others talking about the same winch.. i am happy to let her buy one of these ..thank you guys for this info :)

[Leroy_Riding]

Ive had both the 9500lb adn 12000lb Ride Ryder Winches, not one issue with either, the 9500lb stayed on an old 4WD when I sold it, and the 12000lb replaced a 9000lb Tigerz11 2 speed that burnt out, the 12000lb never missed a beat nor did the 9500lb ride ryder. the solenoids are rubish though, i kept mine high and dry for the 9500lb and had no issues, the 12000lb though copped a little water and died almost instantly! replaced it with the solenoid from the 9000ln 2 speed Tigerz and had no further issues,

after upgrading to the Defender I have not yet fitted a winch, though I have rebuilt the 1200lb ridge ryder with the 2 speed gearbox off the 9000lb Tigerz11 winch. it moves fast as hell in high speed and crawls slow as slow gets in low speed, cant wait to have it fitted so I can top snatching mates out (I hate snatching, I would rather dig a car out of the sand or mud than snatch it!)

after stripping the 1200lb appart i was pleased with the amount of grease and sealing it had, I added a small amount more, if nothing else only to replace what I had removed during teh strip and rebuild with the 2 speed gearbox. Quality seems to be up there with most others I have rebuilt for friends. (other chinese brands, i.e. ironman/monster/maxiwhateveritis from repco)

my 2c

Leroy

[rutmutt]

we had one of these on my old mans nissan patrol when we did the canning stock route, and i bogged it deep. we burnt this out trying to dead weight pull his patrol out
. Finally jacked it high enough that the winch started pulling and we got it out (4hrs later). All the water that got in did not get out and after pulling it apart 4 times and seeing all the rust, ordering a new control unit as we fried the last one when the water shorted it out and cutting all the cables to make it work, super cheap still honoured the warranty on it and replaced it with a complete new unit (which we are taking to cape this year). At a good price they are worth it if they only save you twice.